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stindex's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
0.25
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Stalking, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Confinement, Torture, Toxic friendship, and Animal cruelty
ananya_b's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.75
I try to hold myself back, but really, this is just going to be a rant on how badly I want my money and time back. This book was not worth either of them. Here we go!
Why is Edward so straight-up horrible? I don't remember Twilight being this awful, even though that was written from the point of view of a self-insert. He just appears to think himself superior to everyone around him, just because he can hear their thoughts and judge them based on that. But does he ever hear himself? Why is he so snarky and judgmental? He's either criticising people for thinking a certain way, or beating himself up for merely existing. I almost pity the other members of his family, who have to put up with such a mood-dampener on a daily basis, for eternity. And I wish he would either stop thinking about leaving, or just pluck up the courage and actually do it. I know that's the point of the book, but it's just so irritating - you'd think he'd have something else to think about!
And then let's talk about him as a boyfriend. He treats Bella like a fragile infant who isn't old enough to make her decisions. He dismisses her requests and believes that he knows what's good for her, better than she does herself - just like an adult with a child. I know he's technically over a hundred years old, so he should know better than someone who's seventeen - but he's stuck at seventeen, too! His brain is just as immature as hers - what gives him the right to make her decisions for her? It's not even about objective things like food or shelter - he refuses to accept the future she wants because of his misguided religious beliefs, as if he's the only one who's allowed to be right on such a subjective topic.
I won't even talk about how boring or irritating Bella is. Edward even comes close to admitting, although not deliberately (Stephenie Meyer wouldn't dream of writing that!), that he's only drawn to her for her scent and the mystery of her thoughts. But here's an idea: maybe Edward can't read her thoughts because she hasn't got any!
Apart from a few luckily written phrases, the book also suffers from extremely poor writing. For instance, here's an actual sentence from the book:
He ran and I ran.
It can't really get much worse than this.
I could go on, but I'll end this tirade here. This has to be one of the trashiest books I own. I'm so glad I survived the ordeal of reading it.
Graphic: Blood, Torture, Animal cruelty, Body horror, and Violence
Moderate: Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Animal death
Minor: Death, Grief, Death of parent, Addiction, and Suicidal thoughts
sav_22's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Car accident, Bullying, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping, Toxic relationship, Body shaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Stalking, Violence, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Medical content
a_wren_that_reads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Gore, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Cultural appropriation, Emotional abuse, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Death, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Car accident
Minor: Fire/Fire injury
louisar's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I was very intrigued throughout this book with the “monster” inhabiting Edward’s head. I’m not sure if it was supposed to be a metaphor or figurative or if Edward has multiple personalities, which would honestly make sense. I like that this book is basically just a constant stream of consciousness, Edward’s consciousness. It’s funny to be reading all his “I hate myself” “the monster in my head rejoiced” that takes up multiple pages, and compare it with the movie where it’s just a shot of rob Pattinson looking constipated. Basically Edward goes through life (or death, I guess) with an inner dialogue that sounds like someone reading the Bible in KJV (you know his favorite verse would be Psalm 38). Pretty relatable, tbh.
One thing that I actually liked was that it’s basically confirmed at this point that Bella is neurodivergent—the way both Charlie and Renee are described indicates that they are as well so it makes what we know about Bella make a lot more sense.
The rest of my notes are incoherent:
Love the fact that Edward is an incel. I feel like I could take out large chunks of this book and replace it with passages from You and it would be exactly the same.
The further you get into this book the less Edward is the gentlemanly, “Tom Hiddleston” sort of dude s meyer wants me to think he is (did we ever see him that way, tbh?) and more of an awkward Mormon nice guy in a bowler hat who insists on opening doors for you because of “chivalry”.
Here is a list of some of my favorite quotes:
“All these other HUMAN MALES”
“The sound of my growl shook the frame of my car but did not distract me”
“How many ways I wanted Bella. And which one would end up killing her?”
And now, I give you the WORST line in the entire book:
“I may not be a human, but I am a MAN”
And my favorite line:
Edward is basically like, “Wow, this teen girl and I are alike because we both like somebody” and then the next second he’s like (direct quote), “She was human, and he was human, and the difference that seemed so insurmountable in her head was truly ridiculous compared to my own situation. There was no reason for her broken heart. What a wasteful sorrow,” like damn, Edward. Welcome to his twisted mind, I guess. Peak teenage edgelord shit.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Cannibalism, Gaslighting, and Stalking
Loll the content warnings say it aller1nmoore's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Blood, Violence, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Torture, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Murder, Mental illness, Grief, Gore, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Misogyny, and Rape
Moderate: Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Toxic friendship, and Genocide
Minor: Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Car accident, Pedophilia, Fire/Fire injury, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Ableism
manarnia's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Moderate: Blood, Death, and Violence
Minor: Animal cruelty, Car accident, Stalking, and Torture