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photogcourt 's review for:
Twilight / Life and Death
by Stephenie Meyer
I will be honest: when I first heard of this I was actually kind of excited about it. Skeptical, of course. I was a big fan of Twilight in high school oh - 9 years ago, right after it was published. But then I grew up and I've never looked back (okay so maybe I've seen the movie once or 10 times...guilty!). As far as the books go, once the saga wrapped up I was left disappointed and completely over Edward and Bella's story.
But then Stephenie Meyer had to come out with Life and Death and once again I was 15 years old and excited about vampires again. *sigh* What intrigued me the most was of course, the gender swapping. Meyer is right in that many people critique Twilight based on the portrayal of Bella as a weak woman, a total no-no. And those people are right, to be completely honest. So for me it was very interesting that she would take that and try to prove that it didn't have to necessarily be a woman in Bella's shoes: it could also be a man. A very exciting prospect. So, let's dig in.
I was pretty disappointed that ALL of the characters were gender swapped, except for Charlie and Renee, in Life and Death. While it does make sense, for me it was more confusing to re-learn who everyone was meant to be. It was distracting from the actual point of this retelling: the gender swap of Edward and Bella. I was not so much interested in seeing how it would be if all of them were swapped, but how the two main characters would function within the same world. This fell extremely short and I wish she would not have done this.
Meyer failed in a few ways in proving her point with the gender swapping. For example, in Twilight, Jane Austen novels are amongst some of Bella's favorites. In Life and Death, it's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Why the change, Meyer? You are shooting yourself in the foot with this! Why isn't Beau allowed to call Pride and Prejudice or Sense and Sensibility favorites? That to me proved that she wasn't fully grasping what her gender swapped story should actually be like. If you want the reader, and ultimately, your critics, to back down and admit that anyone could be in Bella's shoes, then you need to stop with the "traditional gender roles" nonsense.
It's been quite awhile since I've read Twilight, so it's hard for me to say if Life and Death really is just a lacking retelling (social issues aside) or if both of the stories really are just not that interesting.
I did re-learn that Meyer's writing is not as great as I once would have thought (9 years and 900 books ago). In the beginning it was very choppy and I felt that I was stumbling through her too short and uninteresting sentences.
All-around Life and Death did not live up to my expectations. I wish it would have been more true to Twilight, with just subtle changes here and there to fit Edyth and Beau. While I enjoyed the alternate ending, and found it to be very satisfying in its own way, I think it ultimately failed in backing up the entire point of changing all of the characters genders. If you are a die-hard fan or have some time on your hands, feel free to pick this up. I wouldn't go out of my way to get my hands on it, though.
But then Stephenie Meyer had to come out with Life and Death and once again I was 15 years old and excited about vampires again. *sigh* What intrigued me the most was of course, the gender swapping. Meyer is right in that many people critique Twilight based on the portrayal of Bella as a weak woman, a total no-no. And those people are right, to be completely honest. So for me it was very interesting that she would take that and try to prove that it didn't have to necessarily be a woman in Bella's shoes: it could also be a man. A very exciting prospect. So, let's dig in.
I was pretty disappointed that ALL of the characters were gender swapped, except for Charlie and Renee, in Life and Death. While it does make sense, for me it was more confusing to re-learn who everyone was meant to be. It was distracting from the actual point of this retelling: the gender swap of Edward and Bella. I was not so much interested in seeing how it would be if all of them were swapped, but how the two main characters would function within the same world. This fell extremely short and I wish she would not have done this.
Meyer failed in a few ways in proving her point with the gender swapping. For example, in Twilight, Jane Austen novels are amongst some of Bella's favorites. In Life and Death, it's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Why the change, Meyer? You are shooting yourself in the foot with this! Why isn't Beau allowed to call Pride and Prejudice or Sense and Sensibility favorites? That to me proved that she wasn't fully grasping what her gender swapped story should actually be like. If you want the reader, and ultimately, your critics, to back down and admit that anyone could be in Bella's shoes, then you need to stop with the "traditional gender roles" nonsense.
It's been quite awhile since I've read Twilight, so it's hard for me to say if Life and Death really is just a lacking retelling (social issues aside) or if both of the stories really are just not that interesting.
I did re-learn that Meyer's writing is not as great as I once would have thought (9 years and 900 books ago). In the beginning it was very choppy and I felt that I was stumbling through her too short and uninteresting sentences.
All-around Life and Death did not live up to my expectations. I wish it would have been more true to Twilight, with just subtle changes here and there to fit Edyth and Beau. While I enjoyed the alternate ending, and found it to be very satisfying in its own way, I think it ultimately failed in backing up the entire point of changing all of the characters genders. If you are a die-hard fan or have some time on your hands, feel free to pick this up. I wouldn't go out of my way to get my hands on it, though.