Every now and then the average millennial will get a sudden desire to re-watch or to re-read Twillight, the vampire phenomenon which ruled our youth. For those of us who discovered a passion for reading about the time of this vampire revelation Stephenie Meyer's books feel like returning to a comforting corner, yet they aren't necessarily giving the same life they once did. If, like me, you found yourself reaching back to an old copy of Twilight, looking for the comfort of nostalgia, I would like to present to you instead the strange alternative that avoided my radar when it was first released. Life and Death. The gender swapped retelling of Twilight by Stephenie Meyer.
From the blurb;
'There are two sides to every story... 'You know Bella and Edward - not get to know Baeu and Edythe. 'When Beaufort Swan moves to the gloomy town of Forks and meets the mysterious, alluring, Edythe Cullen, his life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn. With her porcelain skin, golden eyes, mesmerizing voice and supernatural gifts, Edythe is both irresistible and enigmatic. 'What Beau doesn't realise is the closer he gets to her, the more he is putting himself and those around him at risk. And it might be too late to turn back...'
Written to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Twilight in 2015 Meyer says that she chose to recreate the first novel with gender swapped characters to prove that the passion of the love story would be just as potent had Bella been a boy. Aside from gender swapping all of the characters, bar Baeu's parents, Meyer also took the opportunity to fix elements of the original story which had bugged her for the predecessing decade and put new questions to the characters in the processes. By her own account Meyer had a great deal of fun translating Twilight into this new skin, and for readers it becomes a heady spot-the-difference as we take the book, the majority of which is a copy-and-paste job, and search out the plot points which have changed beyond characters sex.
Going into Life and Death readers may find themselves rejoiced to once more have the excitement that came from reading Twilight for the first time. For while much of the book remains word-for-word the same, the new plot points and male perspective create a buzz unlike rereading the original novel. For those who stick through to the end Meyer hides her biggest plot change into the final moments. Surprising readers who have been lulled into a state of familiar comfort by the otherwise familiar story up to this point.
Though Life and Death came out now ten years ago, for any wishing the celebrate Twilights twentieth anniversary this year Life and Death may be the perfect read to reignite the Twilight buzz.
Aside from being a fresh take on some classic nostalgia it is worth talking about the changes that have been made. While many slip by naturally, others do feel almost laughable. It is clear that while Meyer dose not entirely fail to capture the male perspective, it is not as much in her comfort zone as the female view. Baeu has some rather unbelievable qualities to him, which make it hard to fully loose yourself in his perspective, and his friends are harder to buy into to, they're busk and very "male" reactions lowering some of the original elegance of the budding love story. While it takes time to adjust to this lanky, tall, awkward version of Bella, the female version of Edward is much more believable. This stands true throughout all the gender swaps. In my opinion Carlisle for example is a far stronger character in female skin, with even the back story of this head of the Cullen household coming across as much bolder and stronger when shed into a female perspective. Of course the opinions on whether the gender switched narratives have worked are all subjective, as each reader connects to each character differently, though I stand by saying that this gender swap overall is in no way a failure, and the changes it blooms throughout the novel are a highly interesting exploration of what could have been, refreshing Twilight in a new and exciting way.
While Life and Death preceded Midnight Sun, the Twilight retelling from the perspective of Edward, I feel it got an unfair amount of less fan-fair and so on the twentieth anniversary of this series I would encourage any who missed out on this gender swapped retelling to go and read it now.
We give Life and Death Four Stars
ISBN - 978-0-349-00293-4 Cover Price - £9.99 First published in the UK by Atom in 2015
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