Synopsis: "Bree Tanner can barely remember life before she had uncannily powerful sense, 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 is her time is running out."
The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephenie Meyer follows the 'short second life' of Bree Tanner as she tries to come to terms with her transition from ordinary girl to a being of the supernatural world as a vampire. Her life as a vampire starts to look up from her old life, which was full of disappointment and despair, until a battle with a coven called The Cullens changes everything.
I'm not going to be one of those people that says the Twilight Saga is awful because at the time of reading it I thoroughly enjoyed it and it empowered me to read more books, but at the same time I don't love it. However when you compare this novella to the remainder of the Saga its clear which comes out on top, and that's this novella.
Like most novellas this one isn't crucial to the story it originates from, the Twilight Saga, and therefore isn't one that has to be read in order to understand the events of any of the books. It is however a story that provides a lot of insight to the supernatural world outside the town of Forks.
I fell in love with Bree's character instantly in this novella. She was just an ordinary girl from a difficult and troubled background who was thrust into a world of the supernatural, lies, heartbreak and eventually death. What was really compelling about her is that she just seemed so natural and real to read and wasn't at all superficial, unlike many of the characters from the remainder of the Saga.
Thankfully Meyer's writing style becomes more mature and pleasurable to read in this story and I think that's because it's more of a survival story as opposed to a love story. Although Bree does find love, Meyer focuses on Bree's struggles in understanding her new world and surviving for as long as she can.
Obviously the relationship between Bree, and her love interest Diego, is going to draw comparisons to that of Bella and Edward and fortunately for this story Bree and Diego come out on top. When Bree loses Diego she's heartbroken, of course, but her world doesn't fall apart around her, unlike Bella's. In fact Bella's world does more than fall apart, she falls apart too. She becomes weak, pathetic even, in the fact that she can't live without the man she loves. Bree however doesn't allow herself to be defined by a man or her relationships and that's why she's such a strong and lovable character - despite everything she's been through she doesn't stop in her attempts to break free of Riley's power and become the independent vampire she knows she can be.
It's a shame really that the novella was so short because the story had so much more potential and I just wish Meyer had allowed her to become a part of the Cullen clan.
I give Stephenie Meyer and The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner ★★★★
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