Opposition by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Title: Opposition

Series: Lux #5

Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout

Publisher: Entangled Teen Publishing

Date Published: August 5, 2014

Genre: YA fiction, sci-fi, supernatural, action

Pages: 306 (ebook - not the Special Collectors Edition)

Age Range: 13+



Summary


Katy knows the world changed the night the Luxen came. She can’t believe Daemon stood by as his kind threatened to obliterate every last human and hybrid on Earth. But the lines between good and bad have blurred.

Daemon will do anything to save those he loves, even if it means betrayal. But when it quickly becomes impossible to tell friend from foe, and the world is crumbling around them, they may lose everything to ensure the survival of their friends…and mankind.


 Review


I think this cover is the least cheesy out of the series! My favorite cover is still from the first one (Obsidian) but this one is nice too. 

So many things happened in the last 50 pages of this book and it was...intense. Like, wow. Was not expecting some of them to happen and others were just flat out shocking and horrible. But, before I talk about the ending, let me start with the beginning and middle. There will be spoilers here and there.

We see a lot more Archer in this book and it's awesome! I love him as a character and I wish there was more of him! I want more Archer! He's a very reserved character that has a fantastic sense of humor. He shows up in the first few pages and pokes fun at Katy. He really strengthens as a character in this book and even ends up with one of the most important characters in the book!

Speaking of Archer ending up with one of the most important characters... Even though I knew Dee would be back to her normal-self before the book was over, I was really nervous about her. I was worried everything that happened would affect her badly. I think having a connection with Archer kept her grounded.

Again, I really liked being able to read from not only Katy's perspective but also Daemon's. It gave us a lot of insight for what was going on and to get an understanding for what both of them were feeling and thinking throughout the book.

Okay! So the ending.

I feel like we should have gotten more closure with Nancy. Her death was too said-and-done. I wanted more. After everything she did, I wanted more of a show-down or more of an actual death-scene.

DAEMON WAS SHOT! HE WAS SHOT AND KATY AND DAEMON AREN'T CONNECTED. KATY WOULD HAVE GONE ON IF HE HAD DIED AND THAT'S TERRIBLE!

I wasn't too worried but I was not expecting Daemon to get hurt. He doesn't really get hurt in the series so it was rather shocking when that happened. I was pretty sure he wouldn't die but I was worried that there would be some sort of harmful outcome other than death. 

What happened to Katy's mom was something I was not expecting. I really thought that she was okay. I thought there would be some sort of huge reunion, but as soon as everyone got out of the car and they sensed that there was a Luxen near by, I immediately knew that something was up. Although, I was not expecting what was actually waiting for Katy...

The ending to this series was nice! I was happy that Beth and Dawson finally got their "happy ending"--that they could relax and finally be together without struggle. I loved Katy's reference to Twilight. She was holding Dawson and Beth's little girl and said that she was tempted to call her Nessie. Aaaaahh! This series has been a lot like Twilight (in a good way. I felt that a lot of things were better) but to have Katy actually mention something from Twilight saga's Breaking Dawn was funny!

Very nice ending...BUT I WISH THERE WERE MORE!!

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Origin by Jenniger L. Armentrout

Title: Origin

Series: Lux Series #4

Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout

Publisher: Entangled Teen

Date Published: August 27, 2013

Genre: YA fiction, sci-fi, supernatural, action

Pages: 400 (paperback)

Age Range: 13+



Summary


Daemon will do anything to get Katy back.
 

After the successful but disastrous raid on Mount Weather, he’s facing the impossible. Katy is gone. Taken. Everything becomes about finding her. Taking out anyone who stands in his way? Done. Burning down the whole world to save her? Gladly. Exposing his alien race to the world? With pleasure.

All Katy can do is survive. 

Surrounded by enemies, the only way she can come out of this is to adapt. After all, there are sides of Daedalus that don’t seem entirely crazy, but the group’s goals are frightening and the truths they speak even more disturbing. Who are the real bad guys? Daedalus? Mankind? Or the Luxen?

Together, they can face anything.  

But the most dangerous foe has been there all along, and when the truths are exposed and the lies come crumbling down, which side will Daemon and Katy be standing on? And will they even be together?

Review


Aaaand we're back to cheesy book covers *fake applause* This is a book cover Daemon would make fun of. I can picture him cracking jokes about the guy being shirtless, and--ironically--Daemon is on the cover...shirtless! I poke fun at the covers for this series but I really do feel like they go with the series. The covers are very fitting, in a good way!

Now, let's get down to it.

Let's get all of the boring stuff out of the way first. The writing was amazing, as usual! I think this book was more intense than the others! It was action-packed from beginning to the end! Once I started, I could not put it down! I can't believe I ever put this series on my "paused" shelf, but I'm glad I'm finishing it now! 

The last book (Opal) left off with a major cliff-hanger where Katy is captured by Daedalus. Things are intense from the moment you pick up this book. Katy is scared, fierce, and unsure of how exactly things are going to play out. She fights back against the people that are holding her there and refuses to cooperate from day-one!

Meanwhile, Daemon is locked up as well. But that only lasts for a few pages because he's awesome and manages to break out of the place so he can go find Kat. He ends up giving himself over to Daedalus and makes a deal with the groups evil leader, Nancy, in order to see Kat. As soon as he gets there, Kat is happy and relieved, but, at the same time, totally horrified that he's turned himself over and is deciding to go through this with her.

Not long after their little reunion, Daedalus start their experiments. A lot of things are revealed that I wasn't expecting and there's a lot of terrible deaths involved.

This book was fun even when things were supposed to be series. I feel like Daemon's sense of humor helped ease some of Katy's tension while they were in Daedalus. I think there were only 2 things that kept Kat from breaking down sooner.
1. Daemon's presence and not wanting him to see her lose it. She wanted to stay strong for him.
2. She didn't want to give Daedalus's the satisfaction of seeing her break down.

I could feel that Katy got stronger in this book. Physically and mentally, she grew as a character. I also loved reading from Daemon's perspective. I really enjoyed reading from both their point-of-views!

We had a bunch of new characters introduced but my favorite has to be Archer. I find Archer very intriguing and I can't wait to see what else he brings to the table. I feel like he will be a big asset in the next book. Which, I'm downloading to my iPad right now. As I type this. And I'm going to start reading it right after I finish this review...It's done downloading so.....BYE

4.5 STARS

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Oblivion by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Title: Oblivion

Series: Lux series #1.5

Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout

Publisher: Entangled Teen

Date Published: December 1, 2015

Genre: YA fiction, romance, sci-fi, action, supernatural

Pages: 352 (paperback)

Age Range: 13+


Summary

Experience the epic love story of OBSIDIAN as told by its hero, Daemon Black…
 
I knew the moment Katy Swartz moved in next door, there was going to be trouble. Lots of it.
And trouble’s the last thing I need, since I’m not exactly from around here. My people arrived on Earth from Lux, a planet thirteen billion light years away. Plus, if there’s one thing I know, it’s that humans can’t be trusted. We scare them. We can do things they only dream about, and honestly, we make them look weak as hell. ‘Cuz they are.

But Kat is getting to me in ways no one else has, and I can't stop myself from wanting her—or wanting to use my powers to protect her. She makes me weak, and I’m the strongest of our kind, tasked with protecting us all. So this one simple girl…she can mean the end for us. Because the Luxen have an even bigger enemy—the Arum, and I need to stay on my game.

Falling for Katy—a human—won't just place her in danger. It could get us all killed, and that’s one thing I’ll never let happen...


Review


This series is keeping to the cheesy/fun book cover theme and like it! The cover actually reminds me of one of the book covers Daemon was teasing Kat about.

It was great reading--basically--Obsidian from Daemon's perspective. It answered a lot of questions I had while reading Obsidian. Now I know he's not such a jerk. He did what he had to do, even though he had crazy mood swings. He really did like Kat from the start and tried to do right by her by trying to keep her away. He went about it the wrong way (by being a total jerk face half the time) but he felt like he needed to drive her away so I can understand to an extent. Yet he couldn't keep from being pulled toward her.

Reading from Daemon's POV was very steamy...and shocking a few times. I wasn't expecting a few things to happen but...it was good otherwise lol. I was reading from a guy's POV so I guess such things should be expected (totally kidding lol).

I still love Daemon and Katy's banter. It's cute and, now that I've read from Daemon's point-of-view, I know they both really did genuinely care about each other during the first book. It wasn't one-sided on Kat's side, and it almost happened immediately. Daemon was drawn to Katy just like Katy was drawn to Daemon.

Daemon's arrogance might aggravate you a few times (or possibly more than a few) and the way he reacts to Katy sometimes is upsetting because he's reacting the wrong way for the right reasons. 

This is a rather short review but it's because I've already reviewed Obsidian so I don't feel the need to talk about the characters. The writing was good, naturally. Armentrout always writes spunky-fun and steamy books and writes them beautifully. Daemon and Katy always make me laugh. If you're a fan of the Lux series, I would recommend picking up this book. It will answer any questions that you had while reading the first book from Katy's perspective and it was very enjoyable and fast read.

Though, I will admit that I was hoping for a little more action and insight to Daemon's life and the Luxen. Didn't really get much outside of what we originally read in Obsidian. 

So, I haven't finished the rest of the books in the Lux series BUT I'M GOING TO NOW. I have 2 books left to read but now I'm back into it and excited to get my hands on them!

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New Allegiant Trailer

New Allegiant trailer has been released!!

From what I've heard, the Allegiant book wasn't that good but that won't stop me from checking this movie out. I haven't read the book because I've heard it's bad but I want to finish watching the movies to know what happens.

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Ashley's Favorite Books of 2015!!!

Here are my favorite reads of the year!!  

Well, 2015 has come and gone, and now 2016 is right around the corner! I've read so many good books this year! I've past my Goodreads goal this year! I've read so many different books; some good, some bad but I'm glad I read them regardless. I hope to read just as many good books next year!

Click on any of the titles below to read their reviews. There might be a few spoilers so watch out!

  1.  The Infernal Devices series by Cassandra Clare. I cannot praise this series enough! I really can't! There are no words to describe these books. They are just breathtaking.
 This series has everything you could possibly want in it! Romance, action, and wonderful characters. Cassandra Clare's books always seem to knock me breathless. I can never put down her books once I pick one up! I am always excited to read her books! I'm so glad I read this series and I always recommend these books to everyone I know!

TEAM JEM CARSTAIRS!! <3

  2.  If He Had Been With Me by Laura Nowlin. This book was heartbreaking, and I loved it! This book actually made me cry, and if you know me, that doesn't happen often. The characters are wonderfully unique and special, but the two main characters are so frustrating! It bothered me whenever Finn and Autumn weren't together or talking. It made me so happy to see them finally get together...Then the ending crushed me.
 You know immediately from reading the Prologue, that Finn is going to die, so you set yourself up for the bad ending. But then there are 336 pages of you falling in love with Finn and Autumn. And then, the ending hits you like a brick wall and it's so sad.

  3.  Never Fade by Alexandra Bracken. Jude...I was sad for days after finishing this book. I was emotionally scarred. One second, Jude was there and everything was fine. They all got out, it's all good. But then! But then Ruby realizes that it isn't Jude. It's a guy that looks like him but it's not him and it was just so crushing to find out that one of my favorite characters was crushed...
 It was really, really good and exciting regardless of this tragedy! I couldn't put this book down! I hope they turn this series into a movie series. I would really like to see it on the big screen.

  4.  Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover. This story was very original! This is the first Colleen Hoover book I really loved. I genuinely enjoyed this book! The characters are unique and the story is very original to me. I took American Sign Language as my foreign language in high school and I've been searching for a YA contemporary with a deafy since I started learning ASL. It was amazing to find one and I was totally excited! I was not disappointed! I loved this book and finished it in no time!

  5.  In The After Light by Alexandra Bracken. I loved the characters in this series and I was sad to see it end. It was so frustrating to watch Liam and Ruby be so mean to each other, and it was hilarious to see Chubs and Vida get together! I saw a few deaths I didn't see coming, and there was a death I wish had happened. Regardless, I was pretty okay with the ending to this series, aside from it ending.
 I did feel like we didn't get a enough time to process Liam's brother's death. It made me sad. I wanted to grieve even though I was happy it wasn't Liam who was murdered! 

 6. Sacrificed by Emily Wibberley. This book was so exciting! I really enjoyed reading Clio's story. This story was very unique and gripping, despite its rather slow beginning. I found myself rooting for Clio throughout the whole book. And I am obsessed with Riece! If the mixture of Clio's innocence and Riece's steamy/hotness doesn't get you fired up then nothing will!

  7. Forsworn by Emily Wibberley. I love this series setting, the characters and almost everything about it! I especially like Riece and Clio and I'm just dying for them to get together in the third installment of The Last Oracle series! I think the first two books were about equally good. I can't decide which is my favorite.

  8.  Onyx by Jennifer L. Armentrout. The Lux series doesn't have the best writing but the characters are lovable! The story is quirky and different, and the book also reminds me of Twilight a lot. The characters keep me hooked throughout this series! Daemon is so snarky, cute, funny, and tough! Totally drool-worthy!

  9.  Opal by Jennifer L. Armentrout. The Lux series doesn't have the best writing but the characters are lovable! The story is quirky and different, and the book also reminds me of Twilight a lot. The characters keep me hooked throughout this series! Daemon is so snarky, cute, funny, and tough! Totally drool-worthy!

  10.  Life and Death by Stephenie Meyer. I had quite a few problems with this book but I enjoyed visiting the world of Twilight again. I wouldn't really recommend this book to anyone. If you're a true Twiheart, you will pick up this book but you will most likely be disappointed. Stephenie Meyer should have done the smart thing and released Midnight Sun.

What was your favorite book of the year? Comment below!

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Forsown by Emily Wibberley

Title: Forsworn

Series: The Last Oracle #2

Author: Emily Wibberley

Publisher: CreateSpace Publishing

Date Published: June 27, 2015

Genre: YA fiction, romance, action, thriller, fantasy, paranormal, suspense, mythology

Pages: 410 (paperback)

Age Range: 12+



Summary


Clio can see the future, but what she doesn't know about her past could destroy her.

It's been a year since Clio made her sacrifice to the Deities and embraced her destiny as the Oracle to save her people.

The only family she has left is a brother who wants her dead.
The prince, her oldest friend, is a king with his own agenda.
And the man who once loved her, now hates her.

All she can do is try to forget about Riece, the enemy commander whose heart she broke to save his life, as she serves the Deities. Her days are filled with Visions and bloodshed in a never-ending war against the Untouched. To add to her problems, she must pose as King Derik's mistress to conceal her forbidden powers from the Emperor's spies.

When Riece unexpectedly returns to Sheehan with a new and beautiful ally, Clio knows she must put him out of her mind once and for all, but first, they are thrust together into battle against a mysterious Untouched warrior with otherworldly power.

To reclaim her city, she must team up with the man she hurt, the man she still loves but can never be with, and finally confront the questions about her origin-questions with answers that Clio may not be prepared to face.


Review


This cover looks better in person than it does online! I think it's one of the coolest book covers on my shelf!

I bought the book without reading the summary because I was just too excited about getting it. I read the summary when it came in and was shocked to find that the book is set a year after ending of the first book (Sacrificed). I immediately started panicking because that meant that Clio hadn't seen Riece in a year and that was not okay for me.

And, speaking of Riece, let's focus on him for a second.
He's brave, strong, and muscular yet he's very loving and soft. When I started reading the book, I was a little pout-y because all I wanted was for Riece to show up again. I wanted things to be okay between him and Clio again. But Clio clearly didn't want that. As soon as he showed up and she laid eyes on him, Clio's emotions came back in a wave. It was wonderful! The sight of him made her feel faint and breathless and shaky. It was a good way to bring Riece back into the story.

But then! SPOILER AHEAD! But then you find out that Riece is traveling with someone else. A woman. And she is engaged to Riece. I immediately wanted her dead lol. I was not okay with that. Not okay at all. SPOILER END.

There were a few new characters as well. Clio took on Vessels to help her protect Sheehan.

The parts between Derik and Clio and Riece were hilarious to read about! I loved it every time they were in a room together because, even when they weren't saying anything, you could feel the tension! It was so...ugh! You could feel that Clio wanted to open up to him but wouldn't let herself because of what she Saw. But also Derik knew that Clio wanted to be with Riece but knew the reasons why she couldn't. And then Riece has no idea that Clio still loves him and doesn't know that the reason she really left him is because she Saw that he was going to die, so he hates her because he thinks she used him! It was so frustrating and exciting at the same time!  

The only downfall I saw in this book was that Riece and Clio didn't have enough romantic scenes. I know why; I understand. They are both stubborn and Riece has a fiance now but I mean...C'mon! I waited very patiently and I didn't get much in return! I mean, there were a bunch of parts of them talking/fighting and then, later, kissing and sharing moments but it wasn't enough.
 There better be some steamy scenes in the third book, Emily Wibberley, because this book was a tease. 

QUICK SPOILER; BEWARE
OH! When Derik finally showed up toward the end of the book, I almost screamed because I knew that he had been marked by Daizon! I was on the edge of my seat during the ending, when they were battling at Sheehan! So thrilling and so exciting! OKAY; NO MORE SPOILER.

Emily Wibberley certainly takes you on an action-packed story that has many twists and turns that you don't see coming. I'm never sure about what's going to happen next! I'm not sure what has me so drawn in, whether it's the characters, the story, or the setting, or all of it! I'm just not sure but I love it and I can't wait for the third book!

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Sacrificed by Emily Wibberley

Title: Sacrificed

Series: The Last Oracle #1

Author: Emily Wibberley

Publisher: CreateSpace Publishing

Date Published: January 5, 2015

Genre: YA fiction, romance, action, thriller, fantasy, paranormal, suspense, mythology

Pages: 350 (paperback)




Summary


Knowing the future can save her city - but not her heart.

Born to serve the merciless Oracle, Clio wants nothing more than to break free. But when her entire family is murdered by Mannix, the king's adviser, Clio inherits the Oracle's power, a power she never wanted and doesn't understand.

Hunted by Mannix, Clio is forced to flee her home in Sheehan and seek refuge in a foreign city where oracles are forbidden. If she's found out, she will be sacrificed atop its great pyramid.

Clio has no choice but to win the trust of Riece, an enemy warrior. Despite the undeniable attraction between them, Clio knows that if he finds out who she really is, he won't hesitate to execute her.
Clio tries to hide her budding powers, but the Visions she keeps having of Mannix and his barbarian army slaughtering her people torture her conscience. She alone has the strength and foresight to stop him, but only if she can embrace her destiny and sacrifice everything.


Review


This book caught my interest from the very beginning! The summary sounded good so I decided to give it a try, and ended up loving the book just as much as its synopsis! The cool book cover also caught my interest.

The writing was good, not amazing but pretty great. The characters were...genius! Riece is sexy and enticing and mysterious; yet open. Clio is tough, smart, and daring. And Mannix is evil beyond a doubt.

Derik is pretty nice too but he wasn't in the book very much so there wasn't much time to get a feel for who he was. I actually thought he was secretly siding with Mannix for a while, and was intending to betray Clio. That did not happen, thank goodness! Because now book two will have a very interesting love triangle (that, at the same time, isn't really a love triangle because Clio considers Derik as family).

I really liked how Clio grew up so dramatically. It's always refreshing to read about a character that evolves so strongly. I felt really sad for her in the beginning even though I knew what was going to happen to her family. I felt like the author captured Clio's pain pretty well considering that she didn't have a strong bond with her family. Clio cared about her family and grieved for them but it wasn't overdone.

Mannix. Everything about him was amazing! He was such a good villain! There was one thing about him that I hadn't seen coming though 
(SPOILER AHEAD)...that he was Clio's sister!! I was totally caught off guard with that one! I figured he was an Untouched but I wasn't sure how since he still had his tongue. This detail was very believable for this book.

SPOILER FREE ZONE

The last 50 pages or so were so action-packed!! The whole book is pretty action-packed but the last pages had me on the edge of my seat! I could not put it down!
I am pretty excited about reading the sequel soon because I really want to know what will happen between Riece and Clio, Clio and Derik, and Mannix and Clio. I need answers!!! Where did Mannix go? What is he going to plan next? Will Clio go back for Riece? Will Riece take Clio after everything she said to him to drive him away? Will Derik make a move for Clio now that Riece is sort of out of the picture?
So many questions!! And I really need answers! 

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Holiday Giveaway!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

The Darkest Light

by Ashley Earley

Giveaway ends December 31, 2015.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

Cyber Monday Sale!

The Darkest Light is on sale on Smashwords.com!!

Originally $2.99 - Now $1.50

  Just in time for the holidays! The Darkest Light is 50% OFF!! Today is the last day so don't miss out!  Visit Smashwords.com to purchase The Darkest Light as an eBook for $1.50 when typing in the code: CQ59Y. Then download the eBook to your reading device!

Here is the link to the website: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/542697

Thank you for the support! :)
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Shadowhunter News: New Trailer Released

Calling all Shadowhunters! A new trailer has been released!

Who else is totally excited for this TV Series?! EEEEEEPPP!!!

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Black Friday Book Sale!

The Darkest Light is on sale on Smashwords.com!!

Originally $2.99 - Now $1.50

 Just in time for the holidays! The Darkest Light is 50% off as of today and until the end of the month (November 30th)! Visit Smashwords.com to purchase The Darkest Light as an eBook for $1.50 when typing in the code: CQ59Y

Here is the link to the website: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/542697

Thank you for the support! :)
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Holiday Book Sale!

Ashley Earley's Blog: Holiday Book Sale!

The Darkest Light is on sale on Smashwords.com!!

Originally $2.99 - Now $1.50

 Just in time for the holidays! The Darkest Light is 50% off as of today and until the end of the month (November 30th)! Visit Smashwords.com to purchase The Darkest Light as an eBook for $1.50 when typing in the code: CQ59Y

Here is the link to the website: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/542697

I will be doing another sale before Christmas as well so stay tuned! :)
Thank you for the support!

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Shadowhunter News: Shadowhunters Character Posters

   Shadowhunters is scheduled to air January 12th, 2016 at 9/8c on ABC Family/Freeform. And I'm so excited!!! 

Shadowhunter News: #Shadowhuntersposter (Shadowhunters Poster)

 Good news Shadowhunters! The poster for the show has just been released!!

 Since 2 o'clock, I've had to stare at this blurry picture and a percentage-calculator until #Shadowhuntersposter was trending and 50,000 tweets were reached. It was torture to the whole fanbase!!

  And here it is, Shadowhunters!!

Who else is ready for this show?? Only 53 days left! :D

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Allegiant Trailer

   The first trailer for Allegiant has been released!

 So I haven't read the book because everyone I've talked to that has, encouraged me not to. They all said the same thing--that Veronica Roth got sloppy and just threw this book together without giving it much thought. After watching the trailer, I can kind of see the sloppiness. Though, this won't stop me from watching the movie. I don't think I'll finish reading the series but I would like to finish it by watching the movies.

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Life and Death: Twilight Reimagined by Stephenie Meyer

Title: Life and Death: Twilight Reimagined
and also Twilight Special Tenth Anniversary edition

Series: Twilight saga #5

Author: Stephenie Meyer

Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers

Date Published: October 6, 2015

Pages: 752 (hardback)




Summary


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.


Review


I bought this book for 2 reasons. The first is because I wanted to feel the same things I felt while reading Twilight for the first time. The second was because it was a gender-swap and I thought it would be hilarious.

What ended up happening was that since this book has 2 novels wrapped into one, I ended up reading both Twilight and Life and Death at the same time to compare. I got more emotion out of re-reading Twilight for the possibly-fourth time than I got out of reading Life and Death.

Now, I was completely wrapped up in Twilight when I first read it, up until the movie for Breaking Dawn Part 1. I was pretty done at that point. Twilight was out of my system because I had read dozens of better YA books since then. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy Twilight for many reasons--and I might name them at the end of this review--but there are many problems with it.

Life and Death just left me disappointed. The book started out exactly the same up until about chapter 8 or 9. I got bored because of the short sentences, Beau's ridiculous thought-process and because I was basically re-reading a dumber Twilight. I know, I said it was exactly the same as Twilight as it started out and it was, but with very short sentences. It was too choppy and boring.

In the beginning, Beau's thoughts were too much like Bella's, but as the book progressed, they started to progress and differ from Bella's. 
I was also having slight difficulty in puzzling together who all the characters originally were in Twilight--because there were too many names that started with "E"--but it became less confusing throughout the novel.

I found this book just as, if not more sexist than the original Twilight. I can understand why Stephenie Meyer felt the need to change some things, but she could have left others alone! Boy or girl, some of the original plot could have stayed! But I suppose Meyer thought we all didn't want to get bored and complain about how it wasn't any different from Twilight.

I feel like Stephenie took this book much too seriously when she should have written it as a joke kind of thing. Instead, she decided to shove this down our throats.

Now here are some spoilery/fun things:

When Edythe and Beau were about to leave the meadow: when Edythe wanted Beau to ride piggyback on her but he refused because she was tiny, I was laughing because it was ridiculous how she sped off to yank a boulder out of the ground to bring it back to Beau. I thought it was a funny, girl-power moment! 

I noticed something while I was reading. When Beau took the phone and Joss started talking to her, how could not hear her? Joss was telling Beau to follow her instructions while Archie was standing in the same room, and vampires are, evidently, supposed to have super hearing so how does this make sense? Same thing with the original Twilight. How could Alice not have heard it too??
There were several other plot holes but this was the one that hit me the most.

My favorite line in probably the whole book was when Joss and Beau were at the ballet studio. Joss was explaining how she'd manipulated him while Beau was wondering why she was bragging about outsmarting a "weak human." And then I busted out laughing at the next line: "Where was the glory in beating some weak human? I didn't feel the need to rub it in to every cheeseburger I conquered."

I liked how Stephenie Meyer did this big "what if Bella had left 5 minutes sooner" ordeal. It was very interesting in the beginning, then the ending became more scrambled than scrambled eggs. It was like all the Twilight books were wrapped up into one and it was just too much. Some of the information didn't even need to be there. If I was someone who hadn't read the original Twilight saga before this Twilight Reimagined, I would have been confused by all the new, overbearing information that was almost randomly thrown in there.

2.5 STARS


I would have been much happier if Stephenie Meyer had released Midnight Sun. And she had enough time to finish writing it; I don't care what she claims. She knew that the 10th anniversary of Twilight's release was coming up, and if she had enough time to think about and write Life and Death, she had enough time to finish Midnight Sun. I'm sure we all would have been happier. I'm not sure how much happier, but I'm sure it would have been better than what she ended up releasing.

Reasons why Twilight will always be kinda special to me: Stephenie Meyer's Twilight opened the door for YA fiction. The young adult genre is the most popular book genre now because Twilight blew up.
And Twilight was the first book I read and liked, and it encouraged me to read more. If it weren't for this book, I don't know if I would have gotten into reading, which would have led to me never trying out writing and falling in love with it.

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