If I Made The Movie Soundtrack Of... LIFE AND DEATH

While I was reading Life and Death by Stephenie Meyer, I was wondering. I was going "What if this was turned into a movie? What would the music be like?". Now, I know that this will NEVER happen  (am sure Stephenie has said in interviews that Life and Death isn't going to be turned into movie) but while I was reading this, I wondered...

And because I tried this with three different books at the beginning of the year - the Night School series by CJ Daugherty, Broken by AE Rought and A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness - this was just a perfect idea. So, without spoiling the book, am going to pick a few songs that might be interesting picks for the imaginative movie in my head...

Now, if I was in charge of the music for the movie, I would want new music to keep it in the same style as the other Twilight Saga soundtracks. I like discovering new music and new songs and what is more perfect that a soundtrack with new songs?

I had two rules when I was picking songs (I've only picked a few, not many). The first (which I broke so quickly, it's a joke!) was I couldn't use songs from the Twilight movie. And the second was that I couldn't use Muse. I love Muse, but when I read Life and Death, I never heard them (whereas when I read Twilight, they were there very clearly in my head).

So, let's get started, shall we?


FULL MOON by The Black Ghosts
Told you I broke my first rule quickly. But this isn't the first song that popped into my head when I thought music. This came later. I have two reasons why I start with this song. First: I am selfish and I love this song. But second, and more importantly, I like symmetry. I feel that, as Life and Death is a reimagining of Twilight, it would be a small nod to the fans to say "Yes, this is a reimagining and the music is going to reflect this up to a point". Which is why I was curious over if this song could remixed in a style to reflect Beau moving to Forks (oh yeah, this would be the first song we hear. No changing that about!).


MONSTERS by Ruelle
Oh, foreshadowing! I love a bit of foreshadowing and I think this would be perfect when we meet Jules down on the beach and she's telling Beau her scary stories...


TEN TONNE SKELEON by Royal Blood
As soon as I read that Stephenie Meyer listened to this band while working on Life and Death, I knew instantly that this would be the song that Beau would be playing while researching vampires. I could even see Charlie doing that typical parent thing of banging on Beau's bedroom door or shouting up the stairs, telling Beau to turn it down! I saw it so clearly that I knew it would fit perfectly.



UNDER THE SHADOWS & CLOSER by Rae Morris
I'm torn over which song by Rae Morris fits better with Life and Death. Under the Shadows has lyrics which fit Life and Death but I discovered Closer when I was reading Life and Death so I have a fondness for this song as well. Now, where would they fit? I'm not sure, if I am toward honest with you. I think maybe it's more the artist I like - I discovered another song by her while finding the above two - Cold (featuring Fryars) - which I think works perfectly. So, I think I would like her on the soundtrack in one form or another...



CAN'T WAIT FOR TONIGHT by The Hot Damns
Oh, a fun song, you guess are thinking. Where will this fit into the movie? This is my calm before the storm before Lauren, Victor and Joss. So, this I can see playing just before their arrival, during the baseball game. It's fun, rocky and will leave you all into a false sense of security... (PS - sorry for not being able to find the song in full. Instead, here are two promos that use the track. Hope that's ok!)


FLIGHTLESS BIRD, AMERICAN MOUTH by Iron & Wine
I broke my own rule again! I know, I know. But hear me out. I wanted that symmetry again. I wanted to tie Life and Death to Twilight. Now, I did consider very briefly tying this movie up with the last song played in Breaking Dawn: Part Two to bring closure. But I personally think this song fits Life and Death's epilogue much better (if you have read it, you know where I mean...)

I know my music choices are a little odd and believe me, if I had free reign, I would pick a real mix of artists to create new songs for the movie (Bright Light Bright Light, Greg Laswell, the list could go on!) but am curious over what songs/artists you would choose if you were in charge of the music for Life And Death movie. Leave your comments before as I always love hunting for new music! 

GoodRead - Life And Death

Of course I was going to read this. Of course I would! I read Twilight nearly ten years ago (just before New Moon came out. I couldn't buy the hardback - it had an awful cover!) and now, here we are, celebrating it being published for 10 years. And, out of nowhere, Stephanie drops Life and Death on the fandom and the fans are freaking out over it. A new Stephanie Meyer?!

Well, technically, yes and no. It's a reimagining of Twilight, but nearly all the characters have been gender-swapped (Bella is now Beaufort or Beau and Edward is now Edythe). The only characters that have stayed the same are Charlie and Renee (Stephenie explains why in her foreword). But, interestingly, we have more words/pages. And it might not be the words you'll be expecting.

But let me come to that later.

So, most (if not, all) of us know the story of Twilight. But Life and Death follows Beaufort (or Beau, for short), as he moves to Forks and, not long after that, he meets Edythe Cullen, a girl unlike any he has met before. But, on their first meeting, without even saying a word to him, Edythe reacts like she hates him. Only to act normal and, even pleasant, the next time they meet a week later.

As Beau tries to figure the mysterious Edythe out, he doesn't realise that he's putting himself in danger. His frenzied first love makes him blind to the dangers crashing towards him. Soon, there will be no turning back...

Ok, I am going to start by saying this: I forgot how much fun reading a Stephenie Meyer book was. Yes, she gets some stick for her writing, but she's fun. I was planning to read this as a side project while I read my "real" book, but this took over my life for a week. Stephenie still knows how to hook her readers.

The story itself was interesting. While gender-flipping characters isn't anything new to fan-fiction writers, this is new for published author and it was fascinating to see what the story would have been like if the roles were reversed. If it was a human boy that fell in love with a vampire girl? I get why Stephenie did it - she got sick of people saying Bella was a damsel in distress all the time and wanted to see if this would be the case if the genders were flipped - and there are elements when this works really well.

However, there are times when this doesn't work or it feels jarring. At times, the characters were saying things and I would stop for a moment as what that character said didn't feel right. It didn't feel true to these "new" characters. For example, The whole of chapter 13 - the famous Meadow scene - just felt out of place with the rest of the book. And what the characters - Beau and Edythe - were saying never felt right. It felt like they should be saying the others's lines. I wonder if it's because I am so use to this chapter, I just expected it to flow the same way.

I wonder if I would have the same reaction if it was a LGBT reimagining. With the love story being Bella/Edythe or Beaufort/Edward? Or maybe even a Jacob/Edward?

And the names. I liked most of the names used, but some characters names were either "Huh?" or just laughable. I mean, Royal? Royal?! Are you actually kidding me?

Another thing that I had problems with was Beau's and Edythe's actions. In Twilight, both Bella and Edward don't exactly do sane actions in their relationships. But when Beau and Edythe do them, these actions take a sinister turn. There were several moments I thought it was going to go Single White Female on us. If you were reading this for relationship advice, what you would been reading is a love story about one dangerously unhealthy relationship.

Now, I have read some blogpost about the ending. I won't go near that as... well... spoilers. But fans will love it, while casual readers might find it a bit rushed and maybe wanting an extra 50 pages.

But my biggest rant is how you can read Life and Death. You have to buy a special hardback edition of Twilight: Ten Year Anniversary Edition. So you get one HUGE bind up, which isn't necessary as most/all fans will have at least one edition of Twilight. This is the same if you buy the eBook edition of the audiobook edition. You have to get both Twilight and Life and Death. This could be seen by many people - myself included - as a money-making ploy - not exactly the best way to thank fans for their loyalty nor to show respect to a book that many people see as the book that truly kickstarted YA.

I read this as bonus content, and while I had fun enjoying it, it still has issues and with that price tag... am quite torn over my feels on whether you should buy this or not. If only you could buy Life and Death SEPARATELY...

I think my reaction is mostly this: as a fan, I had a fun time reading this and I want to reread the series again (maybe next year. Or maybe just Twilight and New Moon. Maybe even The Host and this rumoured adult thriller that is in the works). But as a reader, I feel a bit disappointed. So very mixed feels on this, I'm afraid, dear blog readers.