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A review by kiarrasayshi
Twilight / Life and Death by Stephenie Meyer
3.0
2.5 stars. And that feels r e a l l y generous.
I was excited to read this. I pretended I didn't care when it originally came out, but I was immediately intrigued. After rewatching Twilight with my roommate and spending the past year watching and reading content produced by the "Twilight renaissance", I felt comfortable enough to admit that I was nostalgic for the days when I was obsessed with this original book and eager for a fresh take.
This was not a fresh take, as the author warned in the forward, this is literally the same book except with "she" changed to "he". To the point where the male characters have a feminine feel to them and the female characters almost all have deep voices and the when they go bad, they go twisted in the way you'd expect a man to go twisted. It felt lazy, it felt weirdly sexist potentially, and it lead to many outbursts on my part. But once I got past some of the initial bore and annoyance, I was still hooked. I couldn't put it down, this the three stars. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone. It's not a creative look on what the story if Twilight would be if Edward were an Edythe and Bella were a Beau, it's just if Edward was shorter Bella and "Edward" were spelled E D Y T H E. The most exciting parts for me were when their interactions changed a handful of times to reflect their new genders: Beau wanting to offer Edythe his jacket (but realizing that's dumb), and Edythe sitting in Beau's lap instead of vice versa. That's it.
I will say this: The frustrations I had with book made me uncomfortable with how I view gender. I don't want to think that girls can't act the way we traditionally expect men to act.
Something to work on, but I do still fin it strange that this entire town seems to have switched it's gender roles.
I was excited to read this. I pretended I didn't care when it originally came out, but I was immediately intrigued. After rewatching Twilight with my roommate and spending the past year watching and reading content produced by the "Twilight renaissance", I felt comfortable enough to admit that I was nostalgic for the days when I was obsessed with this original book and eager for a fresh take.
This was not a fresh take, as the author warned in the forward, this is literally the same book except with "she" changed to "he". To the point where the male characters have a feminine feel to them and the female characters almost all have deep voices and the when they go bad, they go twisted in the way you'd expect a man to go twisted. It felt lazy, it felt weirdly sexist potentially, and it lead to many outbursts on my part. But once I got past some of the initial bore and annoyance, I was still hooked. I couldn't put it down, this the three stars. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone. It's not a creative look on what the story if Twilight would be if Edward were an Edythe and Bella were a Beau, it's just if Edward was shorter Bella and "Edward" were spelled E D Y T H E. The most exciting parts for me were when their interactions changed a handful of times to reflect their new genders: Beau wanting to offer Edythe his jacket (but realizing that's dumb), and Edythe sitting in Beau's lap instead of vice versa. That's it.
I will say this: The frustrations I had with book made me uncomfortable with how I view gender. I don't want to think that girls can't act the way we traditionally expect men to act.
Something to work on, but I do still fin it strange that this entire town seems to have switched it's gender roles.