Review: The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephenie Meyer

Reading level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 192 pages
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; 1 edition (June 5, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 031612558X
ISBN-13: 978-0316125581

Fans of The Twilight Saga will be enthralled by this riveting story of Bree Tanner, a character first introduced in Eclipse, and the darker side of the newborn vampire world she inhabits.

In another irresistible combination of danger, mystery, and romance, Stephenie Meyer tells the devastating story of Bree and the newborn army as they prepare to close in on Bella Swan and the Cullens, following their encounter to its unforgettable conclusion.

Bree Tanner can barely remember life before she had uncannily powerful senses, superhuman reflexes and unstoppable physical strength. Life before she had a relentless thirst for blood... life before she became a vampire.

All Bree knows is that living with her fellow newborns has few certainties and even fewer rules: watch your back, don't draw attention to yourself and, above all, make it home by sunrise or die. What she doesn't know: her time as an immortal is quickly running out.

Then Bree finds an unexpected friend in Diego, a newborn just as curious as Bree about their mysterious creator, whom they know only as "her". As they come to realize that the newborns are pawns in a game larger than anything they could have imagined, Bree and Diego must choose sides and decide whom to trust. But when everything you know about vampires is based on a lie, how do you find the truth?

I will admit right now that I had stopped reading for several years, while my daughter was young, and only got back into the swing of things with the Twilight series (which I devoured 3 times consecutively). I was curious with the release of Bree Tanner to see where Stephanie Meyer would take us. The "novella" format is one I was also interested in, with it being a joke in the Bridget Jones film as part of discussion with Salman Rushdie, et al. I assumed it was reserved for more proper literary works, but I went with the flow here.

Bree Tanner is a very small part of the Eclipse novel, but I remembered exactly who she was...and of course her ultimate outcome. Having said that, the title is totally fitting for her untimely demise.

Putting all of these elements together, I found that I was just starting to like Bree. If possible, her interaction with Diego was even more innocent than the entire Twilight series (which I thought would be hard to do!). But, despite this, I enjoyed reading it. Bree did not have the training needed to become a well rounded vampire like Bella Swan did, but, to me, her slow realizations of the "truth" were well portayed by Meyer. It was neat to see the character development aspect here. I would recommend this as a light read, and, of course, to any Twi-fan out there that hasn't already read it.