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Review: The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner (Meyer)

Title: The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner: An Eclipse Novella
Author: Stephenia Meyer
Genre: YA Vampire
Pages: 178
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
FTC Disclosure: I bought this book with my own money and will donate it to my school library
Summary (from the inside flap): 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 has 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?

Review: It's been so long since I've read the Twilight series that I wondered if I would enjoy this novella, but I did. After reading 4 books last weekend I was in a mini-slump with no book quite pulling me in the way I wanted. At my local bookstore I saw this book (just put out on the shelves 30 minutes earlier) and thought I'd give it a try. Well, I really enjoyed myself!

It was interesting to be pulled back into the vampire life of Seattle from a different perspective. To see the Cullen coven from the outside. I don't want to give away too much, but before the book even starts, you know that the newborns will meet up with the Cullens. We also know who wins (if you've read Eclipse). So, the ending isn't a surprise, but I always think it's interesting to see a story from a different perspective, to see it as a different character saw it all take place.

This book is different in that it's told from a newborn's perspective; a newborn that is THIRSTY! I would not have wanted to read 4 long books that included feeding experiences like the ones in this book. I like that the Cullens don't hunt humans the way these newborns do. The newborns are also much more violent and have no regard for human life. That was a bit hard to take.

But, overall this book was fun, like visiting an old friend. If you liked the Twilight series, definitely read this book. If you've read it already, I'd love to hear what you thought of it.

4 comments

Unknown said...

I'm pretty excited to get sucked back into the Twilight world!

Helen's Book Blog said...

Marie--it's funny, I don't think of myself as a die hard Twilight fan, but it was really fun to read one again

Athira said...

Let me check if my library has this now. It will be nice to get back in to the Twilight world.

How is the writing compared to the Twilight books? That was a huge turn-off for me when I read them.

Helen's Book Blog said...

Aths--the writing isn't great, but I can overlook that and just get sucked in (pun intended) to the story!