Is Stephenie Meyer a one-hit wonder?
Long suffering Stephenie Meyer fans finally got some good news. Well, Good-ish. On October 6th, Meyer released a new book called Life and Death.
Yay! Another twilight novel! Right?
Well, yes…and no.
It is a Twilight book, but it’s far from new. It’s a complete retelling of the very first novel in the series.
I know what you’re thinking. Yay! Stephenie Meyer finally decided to finish the long awaited Midnight Sun novel, featuring the story from Edward’s perspective.
Sorry folks, put your pom poms away, and wipe those eager smiles off your faces. Edward’s book is still in the doghouse, apparently, for having accidentally slipped out from behind its veil of secrecy and flashing itself to the general public…kind of like Edward did in New Moon. Rawr.
But just because he had his dangly bits out for all to see doesn’t mean we still don’t want him!
Instead we get a reimagined version of Twilight where the gender roles have been reversed. Bella is now a man named Beau, and Edward is a female named Edythe. Other than that, according to reviews, nothing much has changed.
One has to wonder if Meyer noticed how well Fifty Shades of Gray did and decided to write her own fan fiction based on Twilight. Well played, Meyer, well played. No one expected that.
Albeit, for good reason!
Meyer’s reasoning for this switching of genders is a result of all the flack poor little Bella got for being called weak, stating that of course Bella seems weak being a mere human around wildly strong supernatural creatures. And Meyer has a point about that. Bella was just a human while most everyone else was something special. However, eventually, and sorry if I spoil the surprise, she does become one badass vamp—after teaching us the dangers of unsafe sex!
So Meyer’s puts fourth this question: Would those who accuse Bella of being weak say the same of a man in an identical role?
But, Miss Meyer, would those same people bother reading your newest book? They clearly didn’t like the first one to begin with.
Call me cynical, but now that I think of it, everyone will probably label female-Edward a crazy bitch for being so pushy and bossy and stalkerish.
Unlike those who like to bash Twilight or the characters (godawful movies excluded), I understand that not every female character is going to be Barbarella Queen of the Galaxy. I wouldn’t want that in every book, anyway. And I was fine with how Bella was in the books. It only made sense that she was the way she was, and there wasn’t anything wrong with her, IMO.
That said, there’s a clear movement happening as far as female characters are concerned that I couldn’t be happier about. These days, women in books and movies are often portrayed as stronger, smarter, or more powerful than their male counterparts.
I say, instead of trying to teach us all a lesson about sexism, maybe we could’ve had a sequel to The Host. Hmm? When is that coming out? Me want!!!
But no. I get to re-read Twilight—again—with the newly embedded confusion of mentally fitting Bella with six pack abs, not to mention twig and berries.
And yes, even though I’m kind of bitching here, I will be reading Life and Death…eventually. *Shrug* what can I say. I’m a glutton for punishment, I guess. However, I’m certainly going to wait until the outlandish price is reduced.
What do YOU think of the new gender roles?
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Yep Outlandish price indeed! Just another money grab I feel. But in saying that I will also read "probably" at some point in time.
I had no issue with Bella the way she was. I admittedly have read the books more than once; and they are of the very few audio books I have and have listened to it more times than I can count (Yes I own two copies of the books. I also watch Twilight whenever I can't fall asleep). In my opinion, the person who reads the books did much better acting than what was in the movies. I probably think that because I think the big breasted women in the Carl's Jr. commercials are better actors than Kristen Stewart.I feel like this is an attempt at making more money than proving a point. How many years has Meyers had to write something interesting for her tenth anniversary? Oh, wait. She had ten years. If she wanted to prove a point, why not write a different novel all together with reverse gender roles?
I am starting to feel that instead of feeling totally betrayed by the leaking of Midnight Sun, the rewriting of Twilight from a totally different perspective may have been too overwhelming for Meyers. So many fans loved what was outed, so why not just finish it. I liked it better because it was much darker than what was going on from Bella's perspective, maybe it was too dark for Meyers. Who knows. I for one will not be wasting my time or money on buying Life and Death.
Maria wrote: "...maybe it was too dark for Meyers. Who knows. I for one will not be wasting my time or money on buying Life and Death ..."You make a good point. I'm willing to bet Edward thought about sex a great deal more than he let on and maybe Meyer wasn't so comfortable with writing that.
Kiersten wrote: "Maria wrote: "...maybe it was too dark for Meyers. Who knows. I for one will not be wasting my time or money on buying Life and Death ..."You make a good point. I'm willing to bet Edward thought ..."
Right! I think that if you look at Edward closely and see the stuff that is hinted at and his abilities you would realize that he isn't all roses and sparkly sunshine. Sex on a hundred year old teenager's mind, hearing other teenager's thoughts; being privy to Alice's visions (which if you think about it would be filled with violence, blood and gore because every time she has one something bad happens). He struggles with not ripping out Bella's throat because it is his own special drug. He also has a violent murderous past that I am sure he thinks about from time to time. All this along with the other vampire's thoughts he hears would add to a much, much darker Twilight than what Meyer's wants to be known for and publish for YA.
As far as gender roles being reversed, I wouldn't think it wouldn't change anything all that much because you have to realize that when it comes down to it, you have a human in a supernatural world. You could have Dwayne Johnson as Beau and he would still not be strong enough to contend with vampires and shifters.
