OK, I have reached chapter 15 of Life and Death and I’m ready to express a strong objection. In general I don’t like Bella is a vamp and Edward is human fics. Something is missing. Maybe I am conventional enough to want a dominant male vampire, even if he is prude like Edward. (In fact one fic I liked – and I am not particularly interested in slash – was one where Edward was himself but Charlie and Renee Swan had a boy, not a girl. It was good-)
However, this is Stephenie, so I suspended my judgement. Now that I have reached chapter 15 this is what I find incredible: in Life and Death Edward is a 17 yo male boy. Boys that age have hard ons, morning wood etc. and they think about those things frequently. This Edward’s thoughts would be more appropriate for a girl, (A prudish one, but I was like that at 17). In any case all his emotions are above the waist.
In Twilight Edward eventually admits to be a man and to know desire, so much that he even fears the strength of it. But since we have only Bella’s POV it was OK not to have further information. But here no, it is his POV. There are many ways to deal with sexual aspects in a non graphic way.
Unfortunately Stephenie let her problem with sex overwhelm her. I am starting to think that Midnight Sun would have had the same problem, once Edward discovered he loved and desired Bella, and not only her blood. So maybe we are better off without it.
(And, BTW, how come that it is easier to describe bloodlust than lust? Not very healthy).
I am about flouncing, unless somebody who has finished it can tell me that it becomes more realistic.
Of course I'll love to hear your comments. I would put the link to the slashy fic quoted above, but I can't retrieve it. Maybe later.