When I first read this book, I thought Bella was selfish and shallow. This reread, though, I saw her more hurt than shallow and liked her better. But I’m not sure if any of those moments where I was annoyed at her selfishness were edited out or changed in this new edition. (This is the problem I have with new editions where details are changed. A cover change? Sure, no problem. Changing a storyline or the content, however, makes it harder on reviewers.)
Some of the more crude comments or “humor” that was originally in this first book are missing, and I think that’s why I enjoyed it more this time, however…
While I was planning to up my personal rating of this book to 2 stars, after reading a disappointing bonus scene about a “woman” that is hinted to have originally be a man (quoted in the Note section of the Sexual Content and below), it keeps its one-star rating from me. Very disappointing.
So What’s Different Between the Versions? In the Original:
Bella’s dad’s women friends (referred to as “bimbo”s very often in the original) are much more played down in this new version. In the original, his “barely legal girlfriends” are mentioned, including one that used to be a stripper. While there are still some, there’s less mentions of what Bella’s wearing (shorts, mini skirts, strapless dresses, bras, undies, etc); A mention of a transvestite (someone who dresses in clothes that are typically for the opposite gender; there part isn’t in the new edition but there is the bonus scene, noted below); There’s more mentions of butts and such; Many more comments about poop and whatnot; Celebrities of that time (2009) are mentioned frequently. A mention of the movie “Sex and the City”. That “chick flick fetish” Bella says a guy has isn’t Hallmark movies like this new edition, but Lifetime movies. Bella comes across as much more shallow and self-centered in the original edition.
**That bonus scene I mentioned in my final thoughts is not in the original edition, but included in this newer edition: In this 2019 revised edition, there is a bonus scene of Bella giving purses to a person who is hinted to be transgendered (the person is said to “flamboyantly dressed”, Bella’s never asked but she’s “pretty sure Louise was once a Louis” (and refers to the person as a she/her), and while the person may have squeezed themself into Bella’s clothes, they “had boat-sized man feet, a fact that neither one of us acknowledged”).
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