Publisher: Little, Brown
Release date: October 6th, 2015
Finished date: October 11th, 2015
Pages: 442
Read in: English
Synopsis
Celebrate the tenth anniversary of Twilight! This special double-feature book includes the classic novel, Twilight, and a bold and surprising reimagining, Life and Death, by Stephenie Meyer.
Packaged as an oversize, jacketed hardcover “flip book,” this edition features nearly 400 pages of new content as well as exquisite new back cover art. Readers will relish experiencing the deeply romantic and extraordinarily suspenseful love story of Bella and Edward through fresh eyes.
Source: GoodReads
Rating
Life and death is a complete gender swapped version of Twilight, written by Stephenie Meyer to prove that Bella wasn't really a damsel in distress, but a human in distress. Did Stephenie prove her point? I'm not sure, but I really think not. What Stephenie did was show us in not such big words what a screwed up society we live in. But I'll get into that in the spoilery section of this review. The point is this is not Midnight Sun.
Now, what everyone wants to know: IS IT WORTH BUYING?
Let me start out by saying that I'm not a Twilight hater. I started out as a gullible Twilight lover, actually. As I grew up, I begin wondering why my 14/15 year-old self loved this book so much. I went back and reread it. I did not enjoy the story that time around, but I couldn't deny the feeling of nostalgia that came with reading it. You see, back in 1999, 6 year-old me began reading the Harry Potter series. I got a new book every few years, and can you guess what I read in between? The ones that were already out. So by 2007, with the release of the last Harry Potter book, my reading life fell to a standstill. I was in a book hangover for a very long time, during which I read mostly classics.
It's easy to see why Twilight revolutionised my reading - I began reading YA again. I began reading fantasy again. And even though I loved Harry Potter with all my heart, I could finally move on.
It sounds overly dramatic, I know, but everything feels this way when you're 15.
So back to the question, do I believe you should buy this book?
No.
Unless you want to read the Twilight series for the first time, and never came in direct contact with the franchise, in which case, if you're curious enough, go ahead.
If you're just super super curious but don't wish to spend that amount of money on it - lets be honest, the cash cow is moaning right now - and you already know Twilight, try reading the spoilery section to make sure you really are that interested.
All in all, I didn't hate this book - I actually thought it was better than Twilight in some ways -, but I couldn't really take it seriously. Because even though the characters were gender swapped, their dialogue and especially Beau's inner turmoil remained mostly identical to their opposite gender counterparts.
The following extended review contains spoilers
If you have not yet read the book and/or do not wish to be spoiled, please do not read any further.
