Review: Life and Death by Stephanie Meyer + Giveaway

Title: Life and Death 
Author: Stephanie Meyer
Series: The Twilight Series #4
Acquired: Purchased Barnes & Noble
My Rating: 3.0 out of 5.0



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.
Twilight has enraptured millions of readers since its first publication in 2005 and has become a modern classic, redefining genres within young adult literature and inspiring a phenomenon that has had readers yearning for more. The novel was a #1 New York Times bestseller, a #1USA Today bestseller, a Time magazine Best Young Adult Book of All Time, an NPR Best-Ever Teen Novel, and a New York Times Editor’s Choice. The Twilight Saga, which also includes New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn, The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner: An Eclipse Novella, and The Twilight Saga: The Official Illustrated Guide, has sold nearly 155 million copies worldwide.

Like many of you, The Twilight Saga was a big part of my younger years. After much convincing from some friends at the time, I picked the books up, devoured them and became instantly obsessed with the entire franchise. I wouldn't say it was made me start reading as I was I always an avid reader, but it was what made me reach out and find other book lovers like me. Books and reading become cool and EVERYONE started talking about it. 

I have been fortunate to have attended many book signings throughout the years and have met many of my favorite authors, but the top two authors on my list that I was still dying to meet was Stephanie Meyer and J.K. Rowling, so when I found out that Stephanie Meyer was holding two signings in Los Angeles for the release of Light and Death I was determined to attend one. It was a wonderful experience to meet her in person. By the time we got to the event it was standing room only, but I was able to listen to her speak from the back. We were too far back to get any decent pictures, but this is show marvelous Stephanie looked that day!  Now on the book itself. Read down below for my review. 


Photo Credit: Stacee from Adventures of a Book Junkie 


My Review:

What if Bella was a boy and Edward had been a girl. Would the story still have worked? Would it have the same impact on readers as the original? In Life and Death, Stephanie Meyer sought out to get answers to those exact questions.  When I heard about the gender swap, I was definitely intrigued and wanted to dive into it as soon as I got my hands on the book. Almost immediately I was drawn into the story. Yes for the most part the story is exactly the same, but it never claimed to be otherwise. But almost as soon as I started reading the story, the emotions I feel everytime I re-read Twilight came back. I kept looking for passages and quotes that I loved from Twilight. Some of them were changed somewhat, or placed in different chronological order, but all those lines that we loved still appear. However that being said, I didn't really have the same connection to Beau and Edith's relationship. I know some readers had an issue with Bella being a "damsel in distress." Frankly, I didn't and to be honest, some of the issues I had with this re-imagining had to do that with that very thing. Having Edith carry Beau around does not have the same effect emotionally as Bella being carried by Edward. And that entire imbalance just did not work with me. And I could not find myself as emotionally connected. Did I enjoy reading Life and Death? Yes. Did really enjoy it? No. I am and will always be a Twilight Fan and nothing will change that, however I am in agreement with other fans, that something better could have been done for the 10th Anniversary! 



And since I know there are many Twilight fans out there that may not have had the chance to meet Stephanie Meyer and would love to have an autographed copy of Twilight on your shelves. And because it Thanksgiving week and I am so thankful to the amazing followers on this blog, I have a surprise! This Thanksgiving I am giving away 3 signed copies of Life and Death!  So want to enter to win, this is how. I am giving away:



1  Copy here on the blog  - Enter the raffelcopter below!
1 Copy on Instagram - Follow, Repost and Tag your friends for more entries
1 Copy on Facebook - Like, Share and tag your friends for more entries! 
a Rafflecopter giveaway





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