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gaymoonreader's review against another edition
3.75
THIS BOOK WAS AMAZING. I ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT!! IT GAVE ME ALL OF THE NOSTALGIC TWILIGHT FEELS. AND IT WAS JUST ASDFGHJKL...
pewterwolf's review against another edition
3.0
Review Taken from The Pewter Wolf
Most (if not, all) of us know the story of[b:Twilight|41865|Twilight (Twilight, #1)|Stephenie Meyer|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1361039443s/41865.jpg|3212258]. But Life and Death follows Beaufort (or Beau, for short), as he moves to Forks and, not long after that, he meets Edythe Cullen, a girl unlike any he has met before. But, on their first meeting, without even saying a word to him, Edythe reacts like she hates him. Only to act normal and, even pleasant, the next time they meet a week later.
As Beau tries to figure the mysterious Edythe out, he doesn't realise that he's putting himself in danger. His frenzied first love makes him blind to the dangers crashing towards him. Soon, there will be no turning back...
Ok, I am going to start by saying this: I forgot how much fun reading a Stephenie Meyer book was. Yes, she gets some stick for her writing, but she's fun. I was planning to read this as a side project while I read my "real" book, but this took over my life for a week. Stephenie still knows how to hook her readers.
The story itself was interesting. While gender-flipping characters isn't anything new to fan-fiction writers, this is new for published author and it was fascinating to see what the story would have been like if the roles were reversed. If it was a human boy that fell in love with a vampire girl? I get why Stephenie did it - she got sick of people saying Bella was a damsel in distress all the time and wanted to see if this would be the case if the genders were flipped - and there are elements when this works really well.
However, there are times when this doesn't work or it feels jarring. At times, the characters were saying things and I would stop for a moment as what that character said didn't feel right. It didn't feel true to these "new" characters. For example, The whole of chapter 13 - the famous Meadow scene - just felt out of place with the rest of the book. And what the characters - Beau and Edythe - were saying never felt right. It felt like they should be saying the others's lines. I wonder if it's because I am so use to this chapter, I just expected it to flow the same way.
I wonder if I would have the same reaction if it was a LGBT reimagining. With the love story being Bella/Edythe or Beaufort/Edward? Or maybe even a Jacob/Edward?
And the names. I liked most of the names used, but some characters names were either "Huh?" or just laughable. I mean, Royal? Royal?! Are you actually kidding me?
Another thing that I had problems with was Beau's and Edythe's actions. In Twilight, both Bella and Edward don't exactly do sane actions in their relationships. But when Beau and Edythe do them, these actions take a sinister turn. There were several moments I thought it was going to go Single White Female on us. If you were reading this for relationship advice, what you would been reading is a love story about one dangerously unhealthy relationship.
Now, I have read some blogpost about the ending. I won't go near that as... well... spoilers. But fans will love it, while casual readers might find it a bit rushed and maybe wanting an extra 50 pages.
But my biggest rant is how you can read Life and Death. You have to buy a special hardback edition of Twilight: Ten Year Anniversary Edition. So you get one HUGE bind up, which isn't necessary as most/all fans will have at least one edition of Twilight. This is the same if you buy the eBook edition of the audiobook edition. You have to get both Twilight and Life and Death. This could be seen by many people - myself included - as a money-making ploy - not exactly the best way to thank fans for their loyalty nor to show respect to a book that many people see as the book that truly kickstarted YA.
I read this as bonus content, and while I had fun enjoying it, it still has issues and with that price tag... am quite torn over my feels on whether you should buy this or not. If only you could buy Life and Death SEPARATELY...
I think my reaction is mostly this: as a fan, I had a fun time reading this and I want to reread the series again (maybe next year. Or maybe just Twilight and [b:New Moon|49041|New Moon (Twilight, #2)|Stephenie Meyer|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1361039440s/49041.jpg|3203964]. Maybe even [b:The Host|1656001|The Host (The Host, #1)|Stephenie Meyer|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1318009171s/1656001.jpg|3328799] and this rumoured adult thriller that is in the works). But as a reader, I feel a bit disappointed. So very mixed feels on this, I'm afraid, dear blog readers.
Most (if not, all) of us know the story of[b:Twilight|41865|Twilight (Twilight, #1)|Stephenie Meyer|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1361039443s/41865.jpg|3212258]. But Life and Death follows Beaufort (or Beau, for short), as he moves to Forks and, not long after that, he meets Edythe Cullen, a girl unlike any he has met before. But, on their first meeting, without even saying a word to him, Edythe reacts like she hates him. Only to act normal and, even pleasant, the next time they meet a week later.
As Beau tries to figure the mysterious Edythe out, he doesn't realise that he's putting himself in danger. His frenzied first love makes him blind to the dangers crashing towards him. Soon, there will be no turning back...
Ok, I am going to start by saying this: I forgot how much fun reading a Stephenie Meyer book was. Yes, she gets some stick for her writing, but she's fun. I was planning to read this as a side project while I read my "real" book, but this took over my life for a week. Stephenie still knows how to hook her readers.
The story itself was interesting. While gender-flipping characters isn't anything new to fan-fiction writers, this is new for published author and it was fascinating to see what the story would have been like if the roles were reversed. If it was a human boy that fell in love with a vampire girl? I get why Stephenie did it - she got sick of people saying Bella was a damsel in distress all the time and wanted to see if this would be the case if the genders were flipped - and there are elements when this works really well.
However, there are times when this doesn't work or it feels jarring. At times, the characters were saying things and I would stop for a moment as what that character said didn't feel right. It didn't feel true to these "new" characters. For example, The whole of chapter 13 - the famous Meadow scene - just felt out of place with the rest of the book. And what the characters - Beau and Edythe - were saying never felt right. It felt like they should be saying the others's lines. I wonder if it's because I am so use to this chapter, I just expected it to flow the same way.
I wonder if I would have the same reaction if it was a LGBT reimagining. With the love story being Bella/Edythe or Beaufort/Edward? Or maybe even a Jacob/Edward?
And the names. I liked most of the names used, but some characters names were either "Huh?" or just laughable. I mean, Royal? Royal?! Are you actually kidding me?
Another thing that I had problems with was Beau's and Edythe's actions. In Twilight, both Bella and Edward don't exactly do sane actions in their relationships. But when Beau and Edythe do them, these actions take a sinister turn. There were several moments I thought it was going to go Single White Female on us. If you were reading this for relationship advice, what you would been reading is a love story about one dangerously unhealthy relationship.
Now, I have read some blogpost about the ending. I won't go near that as... well... spoilers. But fans will love it, while casual readers might find it a bit rushed and maybe wanting an extra 50 pages.
But my biggest rant is how you can read Life and Death. You have to buy a special hardback edition of Twilight: Ten Year Anniversary Edition. So you get one HUGE bind up, which isn't necessary as most/all fans will have at least one edition of Twilight. This is the same if you buy the eBook edition of the audiobook edition. You have to get both Twilight and Life and Death. This could be seen by many people - myself included - as a money-making ploy - not exactly the best way to thank fans for their loyalty nor to show respect to a book that many people see as the book that truly kickstarted YA.
I read this as bonus content, and while I had fun enjoying it, it still has issues and with that price tag... am quite torn over my feels on whether you should buy this or not. If only you could buy Life and Death SEPARATELY...
I think my reaction is mostly this: as a fan, I had a fun time reading this and I want to reread the series again (maybe next year. Or maybe just Twilight and [b:New Moon|49041|New Moon (Twilight, #2)|Stephenie Meyer|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1361039440s/49041.jpg|3203964]. Maybe even [b:The Host|1656001|The Host (The Host, #1)|Stephenie Meyer|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1318009171s/1656001.jpg|3328799] and this rumoured adult thriller that is in the works). But as a reader, I feel a bit disappointed. So very mixed feels on this, I'm afraid, dear blog readers.
paginasdealex's review against another edition
4.0
The review is for Life and Death only.
3.5/5 stars.
It was really interesting to read this with a boy as the main character. Somehow, aspects that I found normal were suddenly dangerous.
When Jessica tells Bella that nobody is good enough for Edward, I thought 'who turned you down'.
When Jeremy said it to Beau, somehow it sounded worse. Like he was making her guilty for not liking him or something.
When Bella gets Edward she's the bitch that's not good enough. When Beau gets Edythe he's got 'game'. Double standards suck.
The ending tho... I did not see that coming and at the same time, this is how I first thought twilight would end. It was interesting to see this perspective.
The stories of the Cullen clan changed too, this made me think differently of them, and also it changed my favorites.
Carlisle was with his father chasing vampires, but Carine was a revenge victim.
When Esme jumped from the cliff it was because she lost her baby. But Earnest's daughter was killed by his wife. He jumped after them.
Alice and Archie share similar stories. Emmet and Eleanor do too. Edythe's and Edward's are the same.
Jasper got what he bargained for, he joined the militia and left his family. Jessamine was kidnapped and who knows what else. It made her story ten times worse than his.
And Royal was beaten to death by his fiancé 's lover. Also, the whole 'Eleanor is not worth the life" thing, ugh. At least I was sure Rose loved Emmett.
It was little, but somehow it made victims of some of them, when before I believed they had it coming.
Meyer said she wrote this to prove Bella's choices were courageous and I agree. To me Love is the one thing you should never give up on, and both Bella and Beau fought for it. I hope this makes some people think of it again.
Edited: nov/07
3.5/5 stars.
It was really interesting to read this with a boy as the main character. Somehow, aspects that I found normal were suddenly dangerous.
When Jessica tells Bella that nobody is good enough for Edward, I thought 'who turned you down'.
When Jeremy said it to Beau, somehow it sounded worse. Like he was making her guilty for not liking him or something.
When Bella gets Edward she's the bitch that's not good enough. When Beau gets Edythe he's got 'game'. Double standards suck.
The ending tho... I did not see that coming and at the same time, this is how I first thought twilight would end. It was interesting to see this perspective.
The stories of the Cullen clan changed too, this made me think differently of them, and also it changed my favorites.
Carlisle was with his father chasing vampires, but Carine was a revenge victim.
When Esme jumped from the cliff it was because she lost her baby. But Earnest's daughter was killed by his wife. He jumped after them.
Alice and Archie share similar stories. Emmet and Eleanor do too. Edythe's and Edward's are the same.
Jasper got what he bargained for, he joined the militia and left his family. Jessamine was kidnapped and who knows what else. It made her story ten times worse than his.
And Royal was beaten to death by his fiancé 's lover. Also, the whole 'Eleanor is not worth the life" thing, ugh. At least I was sure Rose loved Emmett.
It was little, but somehow it made victims of some of them, when before I believed they had it coming.
Meyer said she wrote this to prove Bella's choices were courageous and I agree. To me Love is the one thing you should never give up on, and both Bella and Beau fought for it. I hope this makes some people think of it again.
Edited: nov/07
des92's review against another edition
4.0
I'm not sure what I was going to get when I went into it but I know I was hoping for something refreshing and I did like the aspect of the gender swap and I liked the alternate ending except for the fact everything was very rushed in. I don't think that was necessary to put everything they did in it, it wasn't in the first twilight book so I think with that ending it should have went smoother. But I gave it a four star because I do like the twilight book
caffeineaddict980's review against another edition
3.0
Well, here goes nothing..
So, for the tenth anniversary of Twilight, Stephenie Meyer decided to release a alternative version with gender swapped characters.
Beaufort and Edythe??
I was skeptical about this, especially with the obscure names.
It was actually pretty good, I enjoyed that some parts were completely changed to fit into a guy's perspective.
I enjoyed all of the characters being gender switched (aside from Charlie and Renee), that was entertaining.
THE ENDING WAS BRILLIANT.
(But it felt a bit rushed)
All in all, not the best but not the worst.
So, for the tenth anniversary of Twilight, Stephenie Meyer decided to release a alternative version with gender swapped characters.
Beaufort and Edythe??
I was skeptical about this, especially with the obscure names.
It was actually pretty good, I enjoyed that some parts were completely changed to fit into a guy's perspective.
I enjoyed all of the characters being gender switched (aside from Charlie and Renee), that was entertaining.
THE ENDING WAS BRILLIANT.
(But it felt a bit rushed)
All in all, not the best but not the worst.
paperqueen69's review against another edition
1.0
DNF this. I don't wanna rate this cause I actually enjoyed what I read of life and death more than what I enjoyed of twilight. But I won't finnish it just because I'm seriously not in the mood for books this shitty.
sheilafromhr's review against another edition
4.0
I ABSOLUTELY LOVED THIS BOOK. MAYBE EVEN MORE SO THAN TWILIGHT. I will always have a special place for these characters in my heart and I loved seeing the Cullens in different genders. I think that this was a very interesting version of twilight. I enjoyed reading it very much.
applejay99's review against another edition
3.0
Life and Death is an interesting twist on the original Twilight. While there are some parts that I found lacking, there are also some parts that became infinitely more entertaining. Overall I gave it the same rating as I gave Twilight because honestly, the pros and the cons carry equal weight. There are some major and minor spoilers in this review, and not all of the minor spoilers are marked.
Cons:
There are some times that gender roles become overly prominent in Life and Death. I was expecting some minor changes due to the gender swap, but some changes were completely avoidable. For example, instead of Beau remembering how he used to take dance classes at the dance studio, Beau remembers how his mom used to teach at the studio. Why did that need to be changed? Beau still could have taken dance classes at the studio at no cost to the story or to the affect of the change of gender. There are a few other minor transgressions such as this incident sprinkled throughout the story.
Some of the names Meyer chose make very little sense or do not flow well with the character's personality. This is my own opinion, but it's worth mentioning. I frequently got very confused by the name swaps, but that may just be me.
The book is ridiculously expensive. I know that doesn't really have to do with the story, but it's true. I'm paying for a story line I've already read, so it's not like it was new material. Meyer even states herself that it was a quick write. I don't mind paying for the book because she did put work into it, but paying that much for the book is a drawback. Not to mention the fact that it has to come with Twilight. I understand that the price was intended to cover the cost of two books, because that's how many it comes with, but why would anyone want to pay for two books that are nearly identical, one of which they most likely already own? I was hoping I could purchase only Life and Death, but sadly that was not the case. I had to spend extra money because it only comes with a book I already own. Why?
The relationship between Edythe and Beau is still just as abusive as the relationship between Edward and Bella. I won't go into detail.
*Major Spoilers* The ending felt very rushed. I was wondering the entire time if she planned to make sequels. This thought stuck with me as I wondered how she would manage to bring up the baby. As I got to the ending, I realized how she planned to mend that. Beau becomes a vampire after Joss bites him. Edythe cannot suck the venom out without killing him, and lets Beau choose whether he wants to die or become a vampire. He chooses vampire. The next 50 or so pages became rushed. It may have been from excitement or a time limit, but it was frustrating. All of the Cullen's back stories are told and all of the rules of the vampire world are explained within a very short amount of pages. Although it is most likely expected that the reader has read the other books in the Twilight series and therefore doesn't want to read the rules they already know, the reveal is too rushed to flow well. I was very excited to see how Beau would react to his new life, but it was only given a small amount of pages. The ending should have been longer and Meyer should have better explained the changes in Beau's life.
*More Spoilers* Why can't Beau call his parents before the vampires have to make it seem like he died? I mean, where's the harm in a simple phone call? He could have called and then gotten in the "car crash" right after.
Pros:
Some of the gender barriers that appear in most literature are actually semi-broken down. It's not perfect by a long shot, but it's something. Meyer does a good job of clearly pointing out her idea that she doesn't want Bella to be a "damsel in distress", but a "human in distress" instead. The story is nearly identical to Twilight, which some found annoying, but I found fascinating. I actually enjoyed that there are almost direct quotes from Twilight because it helps Meyer make her point about her philosophy behind Bella/Beau being a "human in distress". The dynamics between characters is only slightly altered by the change in gender, making the book an interesting read. I went into the book expecting chaos due to the change, but Meyer's writing is strong enough to eliminate those roles.
Beau is a lot funnier than Bella. He cracks a few jokes here and there, and that makes him feel more realistic. In fact, many of the relationships in Life and Death are made more realistic.
Edythe is in some ways more interesting than Edward. She's also lacking in some areas, but she has her moments. For example, she experiences many more mood swings. Her anger is onset due to many factors, some seemingly random. She becomes both more and less realistic because of it.
The way Beau handles some of his conflicts is sometimes more interesting. His internal dialogue is entertaining, and his ignorance is amusing. His relationship with Charlie is less in depth than Bella's which is both good and bad.
Some dialogue between Edythe and Beau seemed more natural than the dialogue between Edward and Bella. The conversation flowed better and the topics appeared less random and more geared toward how teenagers can think.
The change in the plot at the ending was exciting. It was intriguing to see the differences between the plots and the differences between how Bella and Beau handled being vampires. Again, it felt rushed, but the concept was interesting.
Cons:
There are some times that gender roles become overly prominent in Life and Death. I was expecting some minor changes due to the gender swap, but some changes were completely avoidable. For example, instead of Beau remembering how he used to take dance classes at the dance studio, Beau remembers how his mom used to teach at the studio. Why did that need to be changed? Beau still could have taken dance classes at the studio at no cost to the story or to the affect of the change of gender. There are a few other minor transgressions such as this incident sprinkled throughout the story.
Some of the names Meyer chose make very little sense or do not flow well with the character's personality. This is my own opinion, but it's worth mentioning. I frequently got very confused by the name swaps, but that may just be me.
The book is ridiculously expensive. I know that doesn't really have to do with the story, but it's true. I'm paying for a story line I've already read, so it's not like it was new material. Meyer even states herself that it was a quick write. I don't mind paying for the book because she did put work into it, but paying that much for the book is a drawback. Not to mention the fact that it has to come with Twilight. I understand that the price was intended to cover the cost of two books, because that's how many it comes with, but why would anyone want to pay for two books that are nearly identical, one of which they most likely already own? I was hoping I could purchase only Life and Death, but sadly that was not the case. I had to spend extra money because it only comes with a book I already own. Why?
The relationship between Edythe and Beau is still just as abusive as the relationship between Edward and Bella. I won't go into detail.
*Major Spoilers* The ending felt very rushed. I was wondering the entire time if she planned to make sequels. This thought stuck with me as I wondered how she would manage to bring up the baby. As I got to the ending, I realized how she planned to mend that. Beau becomes a vampire after Joss bites him. Edythe cannot suck the venom out without killing him, and lets Beau choose whether he wants to die or become a vampire. He chooses vampire. The next 50 or so pages became rushed. It may have been from excitement or a time limit, but it was frustrating. All of the Cullen's back stories are told and all of the rules of the vampire world are explained within a very short amount of pages. Although it is most likely expected that the reader has read the other books in the Twilight series and therefore doesn't want to read the rules they already know, the reveal is too rushed to flow well. I was very excited to see how Beau would react to his new life, but it was only given a small amount of pages. The ending should have been longer and Meyer should have better explained the changes in Beau's life.
*More Spoilers* Why can't Beau call his parents before the vampires have to make it seem like he died? I mean, where's the harm in a simple phone call? He could have called and then gotten in the "car crash" right after.
Pros:
Some of the gender barriers that appear in most literature are actually semi-broken down. It's not perfect by a long shot, but it's something. Meyer does a good job of clearly pointing out her idea that she doesn't want Bella to be a "damsel in distress", but a "human in distress" instead. The story is nearly identical to Twilight, which some found annoying, but I found fascinating. I actually enjoyed that there are almost direct quotes from Twilight because it helps Meyer make her point about her philosophy behind Bella/Beau being a "human in distress". The dynamics between characters is only slightly altered by the change in gender, making the book an interesting read. I went into the book expecting chaos due to the change, but Meyer's writing is strong enough to eliminate those roles.
Beau is a lot funnier than Bella. He cracks a few jokes here and there, and that makes him feel more realistic. In fact, many of the relationships in Life and Death are made more realistic.
Edythe is in some ways more interesting than Edward. She's also lacking in some areas, but she has her moments. For example, she experiences many more mood swings. Her anger is onset due to many factors, some seemingly random. She becomes both more and less realistic because of it.
The way Beau handles some of his conflicts is sometimes more interesting. His internal dialogue is entertaining, and his ignorance is amusing. His relationship with Charlie is less in depth than Bella's which is both good and bad.
Some dialogue between Edythe and Beau seemed more natural than the dialogue between Edward and Bella. The conversation flowed better and the topics appeared less random and more geared toward how teenagers can think.
The change in the plot at the ending was exciting. It was intriguing to see the differences between the plots and the differences between how Bella and Beau handled being vampires. Again, it felt rushed, but the concept was interesting.
bi_bia_na's review against another edition
4.0
Foi difícil tentar imaginar as personagens com os géneros trocados, mas gostei de voltar a esta história. Gostei das alterações no final também ;)