Twilight Reimagined: Life and Death

My Thoughts on Life and Death

I just finished listening to Life and Death a few days ago, no I haven't held the book yet but I plan on doing so soon. Lately, audible has been my book reading method simply because I'm short on time. I much prefer to hold a hardback book and enjoy that first read, but these days my time is split with Amino Communities, my grandson and a class I'm taking. So, for now audible works because I can use every spare second, while driving or doing mundane chores, but I am looking forward to reading my hardback copy!

I'm posting this to mainly discuss the ending, because it is quite a bit different from the end of Twilight. I may rant a little, so please excuse me, I don't mean to make it sound like Stephenie Meyer was a bad person because she wrote Life and Death. In fact I actually really liked it, but I have included a small rant about Midnight Sun. To me, MS has great potential to be my favorite book in the Twilight Saga, and that's why I get a little passionate about it.

I apologize for the length of this blog! I just couldn't do this half way, so this is a warning, there's quite a bit here, so please forgive me and read on......

****Spoiler Alert****

I know many people haven't read Life and Death before, so here's a heads up! Life and Death is oh, so similar but the ending is much different and I guess I have mixed emotions about it. I want to share my thoughts and hopefully hear from someone else who has also read it. So, you have been warned!

If you do not want to know what happens in Life and Death, stop reading now!

Twilight Reimagined

If you haven't read Life and Death, but are braving this blog anyway, I would like to explain Stephenie Meyer's reasons for writing it. As the 10 year anniversary was approaching, of Twilight's release in October 2015, her publisher asked if she wanted to do something as a celebration of the event. She decided that creating a gender swapped version of Twilight would work for her, because she had always said that the story would be the same even if Bella was a male.

Stephenie knew immediately that a tremendous amount of her Twilight fans would beg for her to finish Midnight Sun, before she wrote anything else. In fact, she addresses that in the forward of Life and Death. She writes that she didn't have the time to write a full fledged Novel, as the decision to do was too close to the release of the double and flipped anniversary book, Twilight on one side, and then flip it and you have Life and Death.

...here's the rant and please feel free to skip it if you disagree or just want to skip passed....

A huge chunk of Twilight fans, and of course myself, would argue that Midnight Sun was half completed and could have been finished just as easily as going through the entire Twilight novel to change the story to reflect the gender swap.

That said, no matter how grouchy I get on this subject, I'm not going to second guess Stephenie. It's not my place to do so when I don't know what really went through her mind and her feelings for her book. I will always wish for Midnight Sunday to be completed, but this blog is about what she did write, Life and Death. Onward bound....

Beau and Edythe

Right of the bat I have to say I never really liked the voice of the person, Michael Crouch, who read L&D on audible, but the story was good and I wanted to get on and "read" it. The flip side of the book, Twilight and all of the other books, are read by Ilyana Kadushin, whose voice I adore! She is Bella as I listen. Enough commentary on that because many of you may never listen to this book.

I will admit that it's awkward as you meet and learn these characters, with new names and gender switches. It took me a bit to latch on to Archie as a male Alice, Royal as Rosalie, Earnest as Esme, etc. You have to wrap your head around the fact that this guy is actually that girl. In the beginning, I kept thinking ok that's Rosalie......and Jessamine, that's Jasper....I finally had to let go of the characters from Twilight completely! From there I just experienced the book with fresh characters, and acknowledged that the story was very similar.

Good Book, Bad Book?

I freely admit that once I dropped the need to compare it to Twilight and treated the book as a novel similar to it, I actually liked it. I have read a lot of reviews from people who literally hate Life and Death, and I read so many that I hesitated to buy it. However, I changed my mind several months back, after a member here wrote about loving it. I can't remember who you are but thank you for pushing me in the right direction! I know that there will still be those who really dislike it, those who do I respect your opinion because I know it can be difficult to read if you can't get passed the gender swap.

The Tracker/Hunter: Joss

Like all of the other characters, the 3 villian vampires became opposite genders, and we now have Joss, Viktor and Lauren. Joss is the tracker who decides that he must have Beau, and sets the trap for him in Phoenix. She is just as devious and evil as James is, and her story with the Beau and Cullen's also ends up in the ballet studio in Phoenix, with same evil trap. What does change is that her bite turns Beau into a vampire, because it is too late when Edythe and family arrive.

Charlie

This is the biggest twist, or change, that breaks my heart and makes me happy all at the same time! I'm thrilled that Beau is turned when we reach the end, but the funeral is nothing short life heartbreaking! :broken_heart: Charlie is so devastated, and I feel sure that this will haunt Beau for his eternity as a vampire. I'm not saying that Renee is equipped to handle this devastating loss, but Charlie doesn't have anyone to help him get past this tremendously sad event.

Charlie in Twilight.....

The following is excerpt from Midnight Sun, from Edward's perspective....and now Edythe's....

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"Though Bella's father's thoughts were past words, the panic and concern emanating out of the man's mind drown out just about every other thought in the vicinity. Wordless anxiety and guilt, a great swell of them, washed out of him as he saw his only daughter on the gurney."

"Washed out of him and through me, echoing and growing stronger. When Alice had warned me that killing Charlie Swan's daughter would kill him too, she had not been exaggerating."

"It wasn't until I heard him speaking, forming perfectly coherent sentences despite his panicked, that I realized that his anxiety and concern were not wordless. I just could not hear the exact words."

~Edward's/Edythe's thoughts right after saving Bella from Tyler's van in the school parking lot.

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Charlie in Life and Death....

The epilogue of Life and Death broke my heart. It was devastating to have their relationship end, especially after the way they parted. Like I said, I think it will haunt both of them for the remainder of their lives.

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"Charlie and my mom were pallbearers. Even from this distance, I could see that Charlie looked 20 years older and my mom moved like she was sleepwalking......my mom and dad each throwing a flower into the hole after the casket....

"Charlie was holding up better, but he looked brittle.....

"....Charlie stayed alone while the funeral home employees filled the hole in. He didn't watch. He sat in the chair that my mom had used and stared away to the north....she nudged me when Charlie left, so I could watch him drive away...

~Beau's thoughts while watching the funeral

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Beau and Bonnie Black

This conversation takes place near the very end of the epilogue, when Bonnie Black meets with the Cullen's after the funeral.

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"My dad...Please, just.....take care of him? Don't let him be alone too much. I never wanted to do this to him...or my mom. That's the hardest part of all this. For me, it's fine. I'm good. If only there was anything I could do to make it better for them, I would, but I can't. Could you please watch out for him?"

"...Do you think.....you could let me know when if there ever is something I can do? You know, from behind the scenes?"

~Beau's conversation with Bonnie Black, after the funeral.

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Twilight/Midnight Sun/Life and Death

I have melded Twilight with Midnight Sun because they are the story from both Bella and Edward's sides. I can't separate the two actually and when I consider Edythe, then this is also from her perspective as well. Hope that makes a bit of sense!

This excerpt is a look into Charlie's heart and it breaks my heart. I was literally crying as I was reading /listening. I love Charlie and he became a huge part of Bella's/Beau's life. Their bond became as strong, if not much stronger, than Bella/Beau and Renee's. We can really see this in Breaking Dawn when the newly married Bella is whisked away for her honeymoon.

Somewhere in the back of my mind I was thinking or hoping that Beau and Charlie would have a similar relationship as Bella did in Breaking Dawn. Unfortunately that was not to be and it made me extremely sad, because it meant that the father son relationship was over. I know that this means there are going to be deep regrets on both sides and that simply won't be or can't be resolved. And so the end is bittersweet, I'm very happy that Beau didn't have to beg Edythe to turn him into a vampire because it was already done.

Stephenie Meyer's Afterward

At the very end of Life and Death, Stephenie left another message to the readers, in her Afterward. She apologizes for not sticking to the story, as it is in Twilight, but enjoyed writing an alternate ending. Then she explains that having Beau turned into a vampire, at the end, wasn't because she felt Twilight ended wrong, or that she changed the end because Beau was male versus a female Bella. Instead she had just held a "what if" the story ended differently, so many variables in Twilight that would change the story simply by changing a single event.

Stephenie also said that the end of Life and Death, brought a great sadness, and Bella had to endure a lot more pain then Beau simply by changing when he was turned into a vampire. We are left to imagine what happens next, will Viktor seek revenge? Will Beau and Edythe marry? Lots of new variables and we are left up to our imaginations.

The last message Stephenie imparts with us is that she did not make a playlist like she did with all of the Twilight Saga novels. She explains that she listens to music that didn't exist in 2005, and what she was listening to felt off for Life and Death, but if we are interested there 3 albums inside her head: Royal Blood, by Royal Blood; Seeds by TV on the radio; and 2.0 by Big Data.

Have You Read Life and Death?

I would love to hear what other readers think about the book. Did you like I? Love it? Or hate it? Please share because I am eager to hear what others think about the ending.

~⋅purplependulum⋅~

Sources:

:book: Life and Death

:book: My own opinions