The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner: An Eclipse Novella
Oh Bree, you could have been so much more! You were a thinker, intelligent, and your "second life" was cut way too short. It's no surprise that Bree Tanner the newborn vampire from Eclipse is dead, the title of her book alone gives most of that away. What is surprising is what a wonderful little story The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner turned out to be.
The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephanie Meyer is the story of life as a newborn vampire through the eyes of one - the eyes of Bree Tanner. Caught up in the collection of the dregs of society to make up an army of vampires, Bree was almost 16 and eating out of trash bins, when Riley finds her and brings her to Victoria. We meet the vampire Victoria in Twilight, and it's in Eclipse that she is exacting revenge on Edward for killing her mate. That revenge takes on the form of an army of newborn vampires, and that battle takes place in Eclipse. Riley was made into a vampire for the same reason by Victoria, but he is the one she puts in charge of "organizing" her army. Bree is changed into a newborn vampire, but she actually plays a very small part in the actual Battle. What Bree really does for us is show us what being a newborn vampire feels like. All along we've learned about vampires, their strengths and their abilities, but only have read snippets about becoming a vampire and about the crazed bloodlust a newborn feels. Bree adds this wonderful dimension to the story. It's through her eyes that we see how weak and worthless humans appear to vampires, how the smell of blood creates havoc in the mind, and how dangerous the uncontrollable urges can be. We follow her as she lives her brief "second life" among the newborn vampires, her routines, her love of reading, her fear of other newborns, her loneliness. We see her as her instincts take over to curb her appetite, but how a little bit of her humanity survives until the end. It was so interesting how Bree analyzed her situation. It wasn't all about blood and terror for her, it was about the who, what, where and why's around her. It was also interesting to read her thoughts at the end of her life in relation to the Cullens, and what she revealed to Edward in her thoughts so that he was the only one privy to the information.
If you've read the Twilight Saga, you have to read The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner! Not only is it just a little more of Stephanie Meyer's wonderful writing and great character development to enjoy, but it really fills out the Twilight story, adding another layer of understanding to a world we've all grown accustomed to. I really enjoyed reading Bree's side of the story, you will too!
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