Bella Should Have Dumped Edward: Controversial Views on the Twilight Series

By Michelle Pan

EDWARD OR JACOB?

The fourth Twilight book is out, but many controversial issues remain unresolved and open to debate. Now the devoted Twihards at BellaAndEdward.com argue passionately about what really happened and what should have happened.

•Who should Bella have ended up with, Jacob or Edward?
•Should Bella have become a vampire?
•Which character was miscast the most in the movies?
•If you could be any Twilight character, who would you be?
•Which movie has stayed truer to the book?
•Which event in the Twilight saga was the most surprising?
•Should Breaking Dawn have ended with a fight?
•Which character's story would make the best sequel?
•Which vampire power would you rather have?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ulysses Press
• Release date: Jun 15, 2010
• ISBN: 9781569758762

Michelle Pan

Michelle Pan is the owner of BellaAndEdward.com, one of the largest Twilight saga fansites on the web. She has been interviewed by many media outlets including ReelzChannel.com, Business Week, and her local news station, KXAN. Michelle has had the opportunity to attend the Twilight premieres and interview many important cast and crew members, including author Stephenie Meyer. She lives in Austin, Texas.

Book preview

Introduction

I fell into the world of Twilight during the middle of 2006. It was the summer between my seventh and eighth grade years, and just like every other summer, I had a reading assignment to do. Entranced by its mysterious cover, I decided that Twilight was going to be the book for my assignment that year. Little did I know that book with the apple on the cover would change my life forever. A couple months after finishing the novel, I started my own Twilight fan website, BellaAndEdward .com, and since then it has grown to be one of the largest and longest-lasting Twilight fansites on the web.

My journey with Bella Should Have Dumped Edward began in the fall of 2009, three years after I was first introduced to the world of Bella, Edward, and Jacob. I was approached by Ulysses Press and asked to write a Twilight debate book similar to Mugglenet.com’s Harry Potter Should Have Died, which they had published a couple months before. Naturally I took on the job without a second thought, only to realize later that I already had an insane workload to deal with. The next couple of months were hectic as I tried to balance school, band, and Bella AndEdward.com on top of writing a book. Trust me, it wasn’t an easy task! But thanks to the fans who submitted their wonderful responses to many controversial Twilight questions, I was able to get some great ideas and persevere with my writing.

Speaking of fan input, let me tell you a little about how this book is organized. It all started with 30 of the BellaAndEdward.com staff members’ burning questions about the Twilight saga. Should Jacob have imprinted on Renesmee? Should Breaking Dawn have ended with a fight? Should Summit Entertainment have replaced Rachelle Lefevre? All of these questions and more can be found in the pages of this book. I then asked for fan input on the topics, and that’s when we really got the ball rolling. I was thrilled to see that fans of all ages and from all over the world were eager to participate in this project. As fans sent in their responses (some passionately defending their arguments), I quickly categorized them under the appropriate questions and proceeded to write my portion of the book. At the end of each chapter, you will find The Final Call, my own opinion on the matter. While it isn’t really a call and certainly not final, it does make me feel quite a bit more important! My thoughts on the question proposed sometimes adhere to the fans’ opinions and other times don’t. But either way, the fan responses are just as crucial to the book as my opinions are (if not more so). After all, this is a book about Controversial Views on the Twilight Series; if I had written the book by myself, there would only be one view and it would make quite a boring read. So my point is, I couldn’t have done this without the fans. You guys made this book possible. Thank you for being such dedicated Twilighters!

After three months of hard work, here is my finished product: Bella Should Have Dumped Edward: Controversial Views & Debates on the Twilight Series. I do hope you enjoy this compilation of fan opinions from all around the world and share it with other Twi-hards you may know. Who knows? Maybe you’ll get into a heated debate over whether Bella should have picked Edward or Jacob.

Oh, and for the record, Bella definitely should not have dumped Edward.

If you could be any Twilight character, who would you be?

Bella Swan

Taylor, 16, Wisconsin

If I could be any Twilight saga character, I admit that I would love to be Bella. I know, so cliché, right? But even though she goes through all this hard stuff when she comes to live in Forks with Charlie, she finds love. And not just her one true love—she also finds a best friend. She has everything that I will ever want out of life. She’s so lucky. I know a lot of people who just think the series is all so cheesy and poorly written, but I don’t know how they can’t see what Bella goes through as something exciting and amazing, even if her life is threatened on more than one occasion. If I could be anyone, it would be her. I’d have Edward all to myself and Jake as a BFF. And even though one is a vampire and one is a werewolf, having people with personalities like theirs love you makes it seem impossible that life could get any better.

Kristine, 20, Texas

Like any girl who loves the series, I would love to be Bella. Bella’s life is not only exciting and intriguing, it is her own special world. Some people go through life with someone who never loves them a fraction as much as Edward loves Bella. Edward is unselfish, considerate, humorous, and a complete gentleman, among many other things. Although in New Moon it may seem like he is selfish in leaving her, he does it to protect her, though he is wrong, as he admits, and he apologizes for it. Bella’s friend Jacob is beyond supportive. Although he hurts for almost all of the series because he loves her and she loves Edward, he is always there for her, as well. Like Edward, Jacob avoids Bella when he turns into a wolf because he doesn’t want to hurt her. That shows how much she is loved. Not only would I want to be Bella because of how loved she is and how romantic her relationship with Edward is, but because she is a modest, genuine girl. She is not materialistic in the slightest and is an example to everybody who reads the series. She has a big heart and puts others before herself, even to the point of putting herself in danger. If life as a vampire with Edward were at stake, she would turn into a vampire in a heartbeat.

Alice Cullen

Sarah, 25, California

I used to want to be Bella. I think it was because she’s the main character and she has this wonderful man who loves her so much that he would gladly lay down his life and happiness to save her. Recently though, I have found myself drawn to Alice. She is so caring and kind, and like Edward, she would risk her life to save Bella. Alice is also compassionate and optimistic, which makes even the direst situation seem manageable. She has one of those relationships with her mate, Jasper, that isn’t complicated. They, too, are soul mates, but they don’t have all the angst and pain that accompanies Edward and Bella’s relationship. Alice seems confident and self assured, never doubting herself. That is someone I would strive to be every day until I accomplished my goal. She’s the first one to accept Bella even though she’s a human. That shows me she isn’t prejudiced and is willing to keep an open mind. Alice is fiercely loyal, brave, and strong, which can make her a force to be reckoned with when her family is in danger. Most of all, I would want to be Alice because she is graceful, with a classic sort of beauty, but her heart outshines anything that is only skin deep. It is her heart and soul that ultimately make her ultimately, and I would rather be told I have a beautiful soul than a pretty face.

Esme Cullen

Deidre, 22, Alberta, Canada

I would want to be Esme because she has such a good, kind heart and cares deeply about her family and Bella. She just wants the best for everyone, and she doesn’t seem to be angry about being a vampire. She realizes that it is what it is, but she has a wonderful man who loves her and children to care for who love her back. She’s a strong woman and isn’t afraid, and that makes her a great character.

Renesmee Cullen

Savannah, 14, California

I would want to be Nessie. She is a unique girl because she’s a hybrid. She also gets imprinted on by an attractive, fun-loving werewolf. Her family is huge and consists of vampires, werewolves, and humans. They all love her and care for her so much. To be her would be absolutely amazing. She has an amazing power and will get to live forever but still grow, at least for a while. Her mother and father are deeply in love with her and each other, which just shows how much love there really is in the world. Nessie also seems like a very bright, independent person. I would pretty much give anything to be her. It seems like she has the perks of being a vampire, like speed, strength, and special powers, without having the uncontrollable thirst for blood. This seems like a good life to me. Plus, it is almost completely unexplored,

Reviews for Bella Should Have Dumped Edward

[jenreidreads · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book, written by the creator of the website BellaAndEdward.com and the fans who wrote in, is a collection of "controversial" questions about the Twilight series answered by the people who love it. Unfortunately, the questions asked aren't very controversial. "Which Twilight saga movie character is least accurately cast?" "Should Summit Entertainment have replaced Rachelle Lefevre under the given circumstances?" Um...why does that matter?? The answers given by the fans tended to be all the same, too. The title question got a resounding "no," as was to be expected (for the record, I say "yes!"). There were a couple questions which could be considered somewhat controversial - "What is one major downfall of the series?" had a nice variety of answers, one of which was, ironically, "the obsessive fans." I was mildly disappointed by this book because I found the title so misleading. But upon closer inspection, it's basically exactly what it claims to be - fan perspectives on Twilight, written as you'd find on a website. It was a very quick, light read, and obviously only recommended for fans of the Twilight series.

[book_worm127 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Going into this I wasn't really sure what to expect. I used to be a Twilight FANATIC, but then I got over it, and I was a little apprehensive as to whether I would enjoy reading so much about a series that I'm kind of luke-warm about now. I shouldn't have worried, if anything this book brought me back to the first times that I read the books and reminded me why I loved them.The book is divided into sections, each section is a question with a few responses by fans and then The Final Call made by the editor. I enjoyed this format. If there was a question that I didn't really care to read all of the responses to I could just read The Final Call for a summary. I liked most of the questions, especially the ones that made me think. The question "How would the book be different if Edward were the human and Bella the vampire" actually made my head hurt a little trying to wrap my mind around all of the different scenarios. Something that I noticed throughout the book is that most of the answers are by the same people. There are some others randomly thrown in, but I saw the same names a lot. I'm not sure if this is because they answered the questions more completely than others, if they worded them better, if they answered every question or what.I also found it odd that they decided to compile this book when only two of the five movies were out. There were quite a few questions about the movies in here, and I think that it might have made more sense to wait until they were all out. I guess that the demand wouldn't be as high if they did that though.Basically this was enjoyable. It changed my mind on a few points and validated my opinions on others. And then there are the ones that I just plain don't agree with. Read it if you like or have ever liked The Twilight Saga.

[highvoltagegrrl · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

At first glance of this book I was expecting something a bit deeper delving into the Twilight books. Something along the lines of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Philosophy” or “Finding Serenity: Anti-heroes, Lost Shepherds, and Space Hookers In Joss Whedon's Firefly”. What I got was a smattering of various fans views on different questions such as “which vampire power would you rather have” and “which movie has stayed truer to the book”.Each section is divided up by the question presented. We are given a few answers and the fan’s reasons of why they chose the way they did. At the end of each section we are given “The Final Call” which I expected to be the answer chosen by most of the Twilight fans that responded to the question. Instead, we are given the authors choice. So basically this book is like having a conversation with other Twilight fans about what you like, don’t like, and think about the books and movies. I love Twilight, but I don’t feel the need to own everything with the word Twilight written on it, so maybe that’s why this book isn’t for me.

[jayde78 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This book is just questions and fans of Twilight giving their answers. The questions werent that good and the answers got repetitive. I was hoping for some deeper question then What was ur favorite character? Its not a bad book but not something i would recommend to friends or even twilight fans.

[papercrystals · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

The title is a little misleading- it's not controversial at all, it's a collection of short essays from die-hard fans of the series about different questions.Questions like:If you could be a character in Twilight, who would you be?Who was your favorite character?Which movie was the best adaptation of the book?...and so on. Not really hard-hitting, and they don't discuss any of the really controversial issues that arose from the books. No talk of Edward's disturbing creeper habits. Nothing about Bella's manipulation of Jacob. It's all very light, even the discussions that go slightly deeper into opinions on imprinting and the way Jacob's personality changed when he became a werewolf.As someone who loves the Twilight books but still maintains a distance from the obsession, this was not the book for me. Yes, I love the books, but I also am well aware of the unhealthy relationships portrayed and am amused to no end by the purple prose.If you love Twilight and want to read the positive gushing of your fellow fans, this is a great book for you... for those of you with a bit more skepticism- just re-read the series.

[jonilee73 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I really enjoyed this book. I am a big Twilight fan so getting to read other fan's opinions of the saga was very interesting. I loved that there was a variety of ages among the fans that offered their opinion. I recently lent this book to my friend and she has passed it around her college and a few of her friends even went out and bought their own copies. This was a fun, interesting book and a nice add to my library.

[kirbyowns · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Bella Should Have Dumped Edward is a collection of fan answers to common questions. I could find nothing controversial about either the questions or answers. I did receive this book as part of the Early Reviewers program and was really excited when I was notified that I had received it. I am a fan of the Twilight Saga of books, and was very disappointed of the content of this book. I find it hard to recommend this book to my friends and fellow lovers of Twilight when they can find the same information from fans on the internet.

[pureimagination_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Bella Should Have Dumped Edward is a fun book for any die hard (or shall I say Twi-Hard) Twilight fan, but it doesn't live up to its name. The book is made up of questions on different Twilight related subjects and they are answered by various fans. Sounds fun right? It is, but there is nothing controversial about it! The questions were just simple and the answers were what you would expect from fans. Regardless of that I still think it was a fun book and a quick read.

[mandie5-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Bella Should Have Dumped Edward is just a fun book. It is questions that are aswered by fans and then the author gives her final say. Was it aweful? No. Was is great? No. It was just OK. I have had these same discussions with other Twifans so I guess it was fun to see others point s of view. Nothing controversial at all.

[booklizard_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I received this book through the Early Reviewers program. I was disappointed that it didn't contain controversial views or debates. It's basically just excerpts from posts by fans on a message board with a summary for each question by the author/editor. The author poses a question and the fans give their opinions. There's no back and forth debate and some questions everyone agrees on the same answer. Where's the controversy in that? Twihard fans might like reading what other fans think or using the questions as a starting point for their own debates, but the book doesn't live up to the promise of its title.