The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner: An Eclipse Novella Review

Title: The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner:
An Eclipse Novella
Series: Twilight Saga

Author: Stephenie Meyer
Pages: 192

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Publication Date: June 5, 2010

My Edition: Hardback

Reading Level: Young Adult

Borrowed from: the Library

Summary from Goodreads:

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?

Review:

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner was a very interesting and unexpected addition to the Twilight Saga. I was pretty hesitant to read a story about a very minor character in Eclipse but was very surprised by how much I enjoyed reading from Bree's perspective. When starting to read the novella, I started to finally remember Bree's character and how she is destroyed by Jane at the end of the battle. The plot was a little slow at first but was really exciting towards the end. It was a very short book hence being called a novella but did take me awhile to finally finish because I always was distracted while reading it. The style seemed very similar to the other Twilight books but also very different and unique, since it was from an unbiased point of view who knows basically nothing about the Cullens, vampires, or werewolves.

The story involves Bree and her life in a crazy house full of newborns that "she" made and Riley who is in charge of them. Bree and her fellow newborns know absolutely nothing about the rules of being a vampire and also fight and kill each other constantly. They also kill humans relentlessly and carelessly while breaking the vampire code. Bree is much smarter than the others and is starting to find out that Riley is keeping things from them. She starts to befriend and bond with a fellow older newborn, and they together learn that Riley and their mysterious female maker are keeping secrets. The story ends with the final battle, and Bree's life is ended.

It was pretty weird reading about a character who I started to really like but then know she must die by the end. It was a very satisfying read, so I highly recommend reading this Eclipse novella to any Twilight fan and even those who have never read any of the Saga. Some will be disappointed and discouraged to read a story that doesn't involve much of Bella, the Cullens, or the werewolves but believe me Bree's story was very entertaining and unique to read. I look forward to reading more from Stephenie Meyer in the future either about some of the minor characters or a whole new storyline.

Rating: