Let's be honest- Stephanie Meyer just wanted to jump on the Twilight fanfiction bandwagon with the rest of the internet. 😂

Surprised by my disappointment that it’s not “Edwina Cullen.” No shade to Edith, just would have been fun to have a romantic lead called Edwina. Both old-fashioned names, but Edith feels like it’s come back into fashion and awareness, where Edwina hasn’t.

The amount of time I heard manly man made me question if man was even a word anymore

7:01 as a man with brown eyes, I can confirm that the authorities are currently shaking down my house as I hide in the closet desperate to not make a noise s I don't get arrested.

‘There’s no great need to take it apart and analyze it. BUT I WILL!’ This is why we love you Mikaila

You're so right about how Bella is weak, but she's also not just physically weak, she is a weak character. Which is far more damaging than her needing to be rescued. Her life revolves around her bf of 2 months, she is suicidal when he leaves and she gives up any and all ambitions solely for him. She tolerates him breaking her car so she can't see someone he doesn't want her to see. It doesn't matter how physically strong she is a vampire, because the problematic aspects are not the physical ones

Stephanie Meyer could have written about Jasper's turn from Confederate officer to vampire warlord but she chose this instead.

the fact that Beaufort is the name of my favorite cheese really stops me from taking the character seriously like- "oh hi PARMESAN! How you doing CHEDAR CHEESE?" So many name options Stephanie, so many 😭😭

the women dont breathe part needs to be a short with no context given 😭

in regard to the "why did Bella/Beaus eye color change" thing, I'm pretty sure it's because in the original book there was an emphasis on how Bella looks so much like her dad so Meyer kind of also flipped that so Beau looks like his mom :) hope that helps?

"if you are a man with brown eyes the authorities are coming to your house rn" My Asian ass👁👄👁

LOL, the hilarious irony of Stephanie writing this to show that the OG book isn't sexist but the gender-swapped re-write reinforcing gender roles is peak 😅😂😂😂

"theres no need to take it apart and analyze it...but i WILL" you just summarized all KZfaqrs in a nutshell and im so here for it

OHMYGOD, CHARLIE!!! He did NOT deserve that change, WTF Stephenie???

Haven't seen the video yet but you know it's a good day when Mikaila posts

Being human is not necessarily an excuse to look and appear so weak compared to all these supernatural creatures. There are plenty of things that humans could equip themselves with to run with them. Not necessarily win in a fist fight but at least not be weak: Exhibit A) Teen Wolf - The Argents = What can I say? The Argents were totally human hunters who made werewolves fear/be wary of them. Even their daughter, Allison Argent who wasn't informed of the supernatural ahead of time used S01 and S02 to train herself. Exhibit B) Teen Wolf - Stiles Stilinski - Stiles, by his own admission is "...147 pounds of pale skin and fragile bones, sarcasm is my only defense." And yet he's not constantly being saved by his supernatural friends. He studied every myth and legend he could find on supernatural creatures, he kept his handy baseball bat with him, and knew when he wouldn't be physically able to do anything and hung back. Exhibit C) TVD - Elena Gilbert = Elena annoys me. SUPREMELY. But, despite how her seemingly go-to answer to every supernatural threat was either let the Salvatores save her, ask Bonnie for help, or sacrifice herself. There were at least moments where she armed herself with vervain and asked Ric for self defense training. Exhibit D) TVD - Matt Donovan = Again Matt ANNOYED me. But he was completely human, armed himself with crossbows and wooden bullets and wooden stakes to not only defend himself but to help protect the town he lived in. Exhibit E) Supernatural - The WInchesters = I mean, if you've seen Supernatural, this doesn't need much explanation. Not even just the Winchesters, every Hunter in SPN is proof that humans don't need to be supernatural to go toe to toe with them. These are only some of the characters (and only on TV) that come to mind when thinking of humans who find themselves immersed in the world of the supernatural. Are they at a disadvantage? Undoubtedly. Does that mean they should be a trouble magnet who expects their supernatural friends to save them? Absolutely not.

I agree about the internal monologue! I felt so mature and wise reading Bella’s voice in Twilight, and it felt like one of the first times I read a female-led romance-forward YA book that didn’t try to dumb down language or give us “hip, cool teen talk” so it’s a shame if it was supposed to be a one for one gender swap that teen boys wouldn’t be able to have that same experience.

MICHAEL CROUCH? I JUST HEARD HIS VOICE AND I WAS LIKE, "MAGNUS?" he read the audiobook for Magnus chase ship of the dead

I'm sure there are good names that are like Bella, ben, beau, Berri, belle, bello, BELA

Completely unrelated to the video, but I love the new haircut, Mikaila!

I had no idea this book existed, it sounds like something a fan would write on Wattpad 😭

Thank you for making this. I actually bought the book recently and wanted to read it. I got 2-3 chapters before I had to put it down and mark it as DNF. Seeing the toxic words and behaviors come from a girl (Edythe) only further highlighted how ridiculous and problamtic the whole thing is. As a teen in the mid-2000s, I was obsessed with Twilight. I thought it was so dreamy and cool to have a guy obsessed with you and fawning over you. Then as an adult I actually had a relationship with a guy that obsessive and yes it was fucking toxic and abusive. I can't go back and re-read that without the reality coming in to remind me how fucked up it is in real life. Seeing it with the genders reversed made it even worse. That said, I did want to know what happened. So I'm glad you read it for me lol.

It's been a while since I read it, but one thing I remember that stood out to me was how Beau described Edythe's beauty. I think there's a time when he talks about the twig of her collar bone, and another one where she's got a tight shirt on and he can see the outline of her ribs, and these both are part of him being in awe of her beauty. Those are terrible things to equate to beauty that are just going to cause damage to young readers as well, and I was floored that it was how a woman would describe a beautiful girl. Do better.

I can't wait for the 20 year rewrite of Bella as a badass, and the 30 year Isekai Manhwa.

he justifying why a guy is hot just makes it looks more and more gay to me JASHJASHAJ

Your commentary at the end was just perfect, summed up all my thoughts about this re-imagining in the best way

Dear Stephanie, since it seems that you have soooo much time in your hands I wish for a Rosalie/Bella fanfi- I mean, book au or Beau/Edward I dont care. Please! (Anyway opening AO3 rn) ps. they are actuals fanfics about Beau and Edward

It’s been a few years since reading Life and Death and honestly can’t remember half of it. The beginning and the end are honestly it lol. But I’ve started re-reading the saga. Actually a couple chapters into Midnight Sun since finishing Twilight. I honestly forgot how much I detest Rosalie. She is shallow and honestly brings nothing to the story until telling Bella her story and why she’s voting no to Bella becoming one of them. She’d trade Emmett in a hot minute if it made her human again. Honestly don’t see what Emmett sees in Rosalie other than the person who gave him a second, stronger, chance at life.

*JUSTICE FOR CHARLIE!!!!!* I'm a huge Twilight fan but I read the first line and cringed, it ended up thrown across the room! I didn't end up reading it! The names were torture enough!😂 Although I'll give it to Stephenie for giving us something other than a Facebook post for the anniversary.

As the token French viewer, I'm afraid I must inform you that Beaufort is a type of cheese 😂😭🧀 💀 It's one of the most well-known hard-type of cheese in France. Imagine being called Cheddar Cullen 😩😆😭🧀

The manly man-bun is amazing.

I am only vaguely aware of a phenomenon called 'Twilight' but enjoyed your enthusiasm and insights immensely! It didn't mean much to me but was still fun...

Now read Midnight Sun and Life and Death at the same time just to see if the dynamics are better if it's gay.

Wait, what? Men aren't allowed to have brown eyes? Well, this is awkward. Why did nobody tell me this!? If I'd known this was a problem, I'd have swapped out my eyeballs years ago. Bad joke aside, this was both hilarious and an excellent commentary. Having read the Twilight series as a dumb teenager (and having not grown much smarter since), these aren't things that I often think about when reading. Mind you, it is amusing that Meyer felt a need to reinforce Beaufort's "manliness". As a straight man, I actually identified with Bella's character in many respects.

Great video Mikaila! Always love hearing your thoughts on unhinged media! The takes got a lot deeper by the end than I was expecting too! You made a lot of good points, thanks for sharing!

"I haven't breathed once" *breathes*

I loved your final commentary. I enjoyed the commentary as you were going through the book, but the final comments really made the video. Keep it up!

Stephenie didn’t realize Bella isn’t a weak character because she doesn’t lift. Bella is a weak character because she’s self-absorbed, has a martyr complex and is interested in literally nothing besides her vampire boyfriend. Girl, reading twice in four books isn’t a real hobby. At least crochet something, I don’t know. In all seriousness, Stephenie’s characters are all weak, no matter how many vampire necks they can break. Leah is the best character, and Stephenie hates her and has zero compassion for her. What does that woman even know?

"if you haven't noticed 🙄I haven't breathed ONCE THIS ENTIRE VIDEO 😡 if you saw me breathing, it was trick of the light 💡 *TAKES DEEP BREATH* it was the florences" this is why I love her 😂

I knew I never wanted to read this book. But you telling me about that ending with Charlie broke me a little. I love Charlie. He's such a great character, I had no idea the book did that to him. That's so horrible.

I think it's totally true what you said at the end about giving everything up for love, and the double standard on it. I'm really glad Stephenie tried to reinforce that she meant nothing like that, even if it might not have panned out exactly how she planned, I felt very empowered reading that book, and totally think that Edythe becomes all the more alluring of a character in this book

I read a Wattpad story with Edythe and Bella!!! I wish Stephanie Meyer would’ve done that!

THANKYOU YOU TOOK MY REQUEST!!! ❤

Wow your conclusion was so eloquently and clearly explained and covered all sides. Well done!

I very much enjoyed this take on the books and Bella’s character! You have incredible insight and you still made it fun/funny 🥰

What’s crazy is I actually have this version of the original Twilight where if you flip it upsidedown and start from the back you can read Life and Death. I had no clue what it was. I mostly got the twilight books as a joke although I will read them someday solely because I hear they’re better than the movies lol

I'm happy I watched this because I was definitely feeling some Twilight nostalgia and thought I might read this, but I can't deal with what poor Charlie goes through at the end 😭 It hurt to even be told about it without being immersed in the story. Good lord. My emotions.

Okay, the video and all the information aside ... your hair is FABULOUS

I love how you explained the problems of our society, really well spoken. You convey the point really well and I know that it's not easy discuss these topics, some problems are hard to explain in words but you did it really well and I hope more people watch your videos to understand what you're saying

Both the existence of this book and your reaction are unhinged. I love it.

You're so real, I enjoy your videos so much! I did not know about this so TIL lol! I enjoyed your thoughts on weaknesses vs being human and gender.

When I read this book I was so confused

I read Twilight and 85% of New Moon before they were “cool”. I read them as an angsty teen who wanted to pointlessly teenage angst, and these were *excellent* books to pointlessly teenage angst to. I think part of that was that Bella’s internal monologue just lends itself to that pointless teenage angst. I say I read 85% of New Moon because that was about as far as I got before I resurfaced from my pointless teenage angst phase. Finishing New Moon without that melodramatic need to angst was a huge slog. Investment in the characters was the only thing that got me to the last page. I made a note to myself to read the sequel and kind of forgot about them. When Eclipse came out and became a huge cultural moment I was so confused. I seriously did not think my weird vampire books from that “angsty phase” could possibly have national, nay _international_ attention. In some ways I still can’t believe it. I’m seriously struggling to comprehend how Twilight would even work without that angsty internal monologue, if “Beaumont” really has such a different internal “voice”. It takes away the only decent aspect of the book.

I think the points about the ending are really important, not only for the characters, but to reflect real life situations. Permanently breaking ties with someone, even if it's for the better isn't pain free, and there will always be someone or something that gets left behind, and that hurts. It's not just a "whatever I have a new life now", it's a back and forth about if you made the right decision or if you can somehow compromise. It's a really big thing and the guilt shouldn't just be written off as a "who cares I'm better now"

You're a delight, keep it up!

I really loved all of this analysis, thank you! I found your point about the child caregiver aspect really interesting. For me that stood out in the first chapter with Bella describing her worry over leaving her impulsive, free-spirited/childlike mother behind. That and the fact that she was moving to Forks so her mother could freely travel with her new partner made it seem that adult maturity and personal sacrifice was baked into her character from the first page. I think that makes her pursuit of love as a primary fixation more interesting. She is determined to pursue something she truly wants for herself, perhaps for the first time ever in her life. And so in that context I’d argue that the ‘sacrifice it all for love’ aspect of the story could be read as an act of agency and self-determination, as opposed to being the sacrifice of agency that it might have read as for a differently characterised MC. (Agree about the therapy though, I’m not arguing it was healthy at all 😂)

I ship beau and royal :D

i swear we go through the same fandom phases. its crazy every single one.

First of all, can I just say that I absolutely love your videos!! Also I was wondering if you had read The Lunar Chronicles or the Keeper of the Lost Cities series? Because I feel like you would love those series

I borrowed the ebook at the beginning of this video. I'm thinking of returning it now that I got to your ending recap...

I started reading it without having recently read twilight so I missed some of the most unhinged changes and you’ve just reminded me 😭

It was interesting hearing you talking about the changes in the book, because I've been studying English Language, and there's actually a whole topic on how gender affects language, with theorists who have done studies and found these differences in the way men and women talk. It makes me realize this book must be very well researched, and even though you don't like the stereotypes Stephenie Meyer has enforced, it's actually very accurate to what I've been learning. I love your videos. You always have really interesting thoughts on books! ❤

I am no God of literature, but I did study English literature and had to do quite a bit of essays and speeches about analysis and my god was a good and compelling video. I loved the way you've written, said and directed this video, you've made some very interesting points.

Please don't say this is going to be some kind of Twilight Multiverse going forward

I'm so glad I have you, cuz I wouldn't be able to go so far in the books. I tried reading the first one but I was totally bend backwards from the thought process of this girl. Other girls and women around me said it's because I have never been in love, but it doesn't matter if I was 13 or 30, cuz I still can't get into her state of mind. The sleep podcast with rain sound here on YT almost got me through the second book but tbh there is still a lot I don't get emotionally, choice wise and again her thought process 🤸🏼‍♀️🙈

Wow! No matter how many times it gets me, I will ALWAYS fall for the sponsorship lead in 😂😂

This is the literary analysis the world needed

I get that it can be difficult to write about a woman giving up everything up for love, but... from everything I've heard about the books (and I'll admit, I didn't get far in the first one, it just didn't work for me), it wasn't just her giving up everything for love, but that it wasn't really a healthy love? Even the video even mentioned how controlling Edward was and Jacob forcing a kiss (essentially sexual assault), and she decided to be with Edward before they ever became equals, she had no way of knowing whether that treatment would continue and she'd be forced to remain submissive to him So yeah, there might have been a degree of people not thinking she should give up everything for love, but a lot more of it was a young girl, who wasn't even 18 when she first met Edward, giving up everything for a likely abusive relationship with a much older man. It might not have ended up that way, but at the point where she made the choice that kind of does seem like the decision she's made. And the change in this book to where Charlie lets Renee keep Beau not for his sake, but so he can look after her, makes this much worse. If that context applied to the originals, then Bella's a girl from a broken home who gives up everything for what's likely to be an abusive relationship, likely at least in part to get away from that home, and the fact the relationship works out is just pure luck on her part, and very much not how that kind of scenario would usually play out

"There's no need to take it apart and analyze it... BUT I WILL!" That. That got me.

I love your analysis and in general the way you speak and explain things. English is my second language and luckily I can understand you, but it’s clear you are a cultural person from the way you explain 😊 it seems like listening to an audio books 😂 you can easily visualize your perspective and get transport by your words 😊 Anyway, I’m curious about reading the gender swaps version now 😂

I'm now curious what you'd think about Branches by Tatiana Carey (maybe not as curious as I am about your reads on the rest of the Percy Jackson, Heroes of Olympus, Trials of Apollo, Magnus Chase and the rest of the Riordanverse, but still)

i loved all of your points, oml

The question is not if the story still works with a "weak boy" in the lead, the question is why the decision was made to originally have a "weak girl" in the lead. Also, regarding the "Mary Sue" allegation: This allegation is never raised against male characters. Star Wars Ep. VII The Force Awakens ("TFA") was highly criticized for two things: 1. "It's the same story as the original Star Wars (Ep. IV / ANH), Rey = Luke" 2. "Rey is a Mary Sue" If Rey is a Mary Sue, and TFA is the same as ANH, doesn't that make Luke a Mary Sue, as well? I know and appreciate it is a bit more complex than that, but the point is that a lot of people have both opinions at the same time and see neither the contradiction nor the irony. (And yes, there is oh so much wrong with the sequels, especially TLJ and RoS, but that's not my point here)

Wait a minute was the male narrator the voice actor for Robin from teen titans?

Finally I’m here early!

As a brown eyed man, this video gave me the warning to dodge the authorities. I do not know what fate lies ahead of me; but thank you for giving me the chance to seek it.

“Girl needed therapy not a 107 year old vampire.” 😂😂😂😂😂

2:52 "Because WOMEN. DON'T. BREATHE." *inhales* "ONLY. MEN. BREATHE." *inhale* "If you haven't noticed, I haven't breathed ONCE in this entire video if you saw me breathing it was a trick of the light" *inhale* "it w- it was the... fluorescents." I see know breathing here. Just inhaling, but no proof of breathing. Also as a woman, I can confirm this is also true for me.

Sorry for always asking but HAVE YOU READ THE HEROES OF OLYMPUS SERIES YET?

Wake up Mikayla posted

How old are you Mikaila if you don’t mind me asking? You said you feel old and I’m thinking you look like you could easily still be in your teens 😂 Love your content! Cheers from Australia 🇦🇺 😊

When i first heard of life and death i was like, I'm never gonna read that, even though im a huge twilight fan. But now its literally one of my favourite books!

6:53 as a man with brown eyes, I can confirm that I do not exist

Have you ever read "Host" by Stephanie Meyer? Because I would LOVE to hear your thoughts on it (and the movie!) She makes her need to have a no personality heroine work by making them an alien. Honestly it's way better than twilight (I think) and I would just love to hear what you thought

no because I knew about this book since it came out in 2015 (the anniversary thing was all over my feed for some reason so the book was on my radar despite only reading 'twilight' but not the sequels) and when you were making content about how chaotic the reading midnight sun experience was, I was like MIKAILA NEEDS TO READ LIFE AND DEATH lol

I think Edith became a pixie maniac girl and that was interesting purely bc when it's paired with Beau's character. Like it was giving yuri with the awkward girl with the popular weird girl

girl I need a makeup tutorial from you

I like the reactions to the books and the review aspects. I've never read the Twilight books but I'm a fan of anything supernatural, especially vampires, so I've watched the movies a number of times. However, as a writer myself- a writer who writes stories where characters have superpowers or supernatural abilities- I side with Meyers to some degree. When I write, my only concern is the context of the story because that's how I think stories should be judged. I don't see it as my responsibility to shape how young girls or anyone sees themselves. In all honesty, I hate when people set expectations on writers that might restrict the story they want to tell. In this case, it's something that is impossible. In the genres I writer, normal human characters end up being weak because they are human. There's no way to avoid that. Edward could have easily killed Bella and there would have been nothing she could do about it. Superman or Spider-Man could easily do the same thing to their love interests (Lois Lane and Mary Jane) because their love interests are normal humans without superpowers. I'm not sure if my point is clear so I'll say it: A normal human would never be stronger than a superhuman, so how would writers avoid having normal human women that are weaker than their superhuman bfs? I still fail to see the problem when it is shown that Bella is a strong character after she becomes a vampire- which is one of the reasons she's called a Mary Sue. Besides, there are plenty of powerful female characters: Storm, Wonder Woman, She-Hulk, Supergirl etc. Obvious examples outside of the superhero genre are Ellen Ripley, Sarah Conor, Michonne (The Walking Dead) but even those three would not be able to fight Edward let alone Superman. It's the same way that a character like John Wick or John Snow or a male character not named John would get smoked by Supergirl or Wonder Woman without a doubt. Unless they have some kryptonite (both literally and figuratively) there's nothing a normal human can do. Like I said, I write in both the superhero and supernatural genres, so I have both male and female characters with powerful abilities. My stories focus on people with unhuman abilities though where Twilight is a story about a normal person falling in love with someone who has unhuman abilities. It just makes sense that Bella would be weak until she became a vampire. Unless she was written with extreme levels of plot armor, I don't see how that could be changed in the story.

Life and death is soooo wild. Its like a fever dream. I read that years ago.

Your passion for twilight make me want to read this series even though i know i would not like it?? I love your video essays, they sometimes give me different perspective and also are hilarious,,, ALSO can i talk to you about our lord and saviour Gideon Nav, pleaseee check the locked tomb 🙏🙏

I read an article about the book, that mentioned a couple of other instances of gendered changes, and skimmed the book afterwards to confirm. Billy Black had done a lot of work on the engine, but Bonnie Black had had a lot of work done on the car, meaning that she hadn’t done it herself, unlike her male counterpart. Also, the scenes where Bella and Beau confirm that Edward and Edythe are dangerous are played a bit differently. Bella believes it immediately, and her pulse races, but Beau still has a bit of doubt because Edythe looks small.

The manly man bun really hurt you, huh? 🤣

I’ve read the series a few times, any I’ve enjoyed them (Midnight Sun being my favourite lol), but I honestly could not read it without skimming it 😂 But my order goes: Midnight Sun Eclipse Twilight Breaking Dawn Life and Death New Moon

Love your thoughts you are great

YAY! im early!!

My old friend somehow got me to be the Edward in her Twilight Parody Book, she was Bella… 🥲, apparently we were just going to just have sleepovers.. she only got to the 3rd chapter though.

I didn't know that even existed haha ❤

I am a man with brown eyes. COME AT ME AUTHORITIES IF YOU DARE!!!

mikaila did you see the twilight musical parody??? i think you'd ABSOLUTELY love it

Can you imagine it someone did this to Mr. Fix It and Miss Sue?! It would be a travesty!!!! 😂😂😂