Life and Death: Twilight Reimagined - Book Review

There are two sides to every story...

You know Bella and Edward, now get to know Beau 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 realize 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....

With a foreword and afterword by Stephenie Meyer, this compelling reimagining of the iconic love story is a must-read for Twilight fans everywhere.

After reading Midnight Sun during the pandemic and now reading Twilight for the first time this year, Stephenie Meyer's gender-bent retelling of her infamous vampire love story has truthfully sat on my shelf unread since I bought it while I was at university. I am currently on a nostalgia reading trend about halfway through Meyer's reimagined Twilight - Life and Death. Although this is almost word-for-word, a scene-for-scene retelling of its predecessor, I actually prefer Beau and Edythe's story in terms of prose, characterisation and chemistry.

As Meyer stated in an author's note, there are differences between the original pairing and the reimagined one that become more apparent as you read further. Beau is much more laid back and hasn't got Bella's chip on her shoulder. Still, his OCD was the biggest deviation from his counterpart - it was handled quite well in its portrayal. The most significant contrast between Edythe and Edward was their tempers. While Edythe was much more endearing as a character and less hot-headed, the relationship difference was sometimes interesting. While I liked this take on these characters, I will always have a nostalgic soft spot for Bella and Edward.

Aside from Beau's parents, every gender has been swapped, and the dynamics are mostly faithful to their original counterparts. As I'm listening to the audiobook, Michael Crouch was an excellent casting choice and ironically captured many traits Kristen Stewart conveyed in the films and voiced the other characters exceptionally well.

After recently reading the original Twilight novel, the narrative beats were relatively fresh in my mind as I read this new spin on the iconic vampire romance. While the gender-swapped version of the leads worked surprisingly well, I thought the author missed an opportunity to challenge further gender norms in this book. In the Twilight universe, there are no characters who are explicitly confirmed as LGBTQ+, and I think this book would have been a perfect opportunity to bring that representation to the fandom. I think Alice/Archie and Jasper/Jessamine or Rosalie/Royal and Emmett/Eleanor could have easily been written as a same-sex pairing and still stayed faithful to their characteristics.

As I stated earlier, I enjoyed the prose, but there were changes that I thought were a bit unnecessary because the mortal in the relationship was male. Beau being attacked by a gang wasn't random and was triggered by an interaction that happened weeks, maybe even a month prior. Granted, Beau trying to be a gentleman to a girlfriend who is supernaturally faster and stronger resulted in some surprisingly comedic scenes.

The ending of this book was the most significant leap away from the source material, and I had mixed feelings about that. This felt like wish fulfilment for fans who wanted a specific ending that has been debated for nearly twenty years while simultaneously stopping any speculation there will be alternative versions of the following three books. While Beau and Edythe get their happily ever, it has a morbidly tragic undertone, confirming I much preferred the canon ending.

Despite the ending, I enjoyed reading this alternative version of the series that defined my teenage years. I will be curious to read what Meyer has planned for the potential two sequels. However, this is a perfect read for Twilight fans who want a fresh take on a favourite of theirs.

My rating for Stephenie Meyer's Life and Death: Twilight Reimagined is ★★★.