Unless you've been living under a rock for the last couple of years, you're all fully aware of the Twilight franchise. I have to be honest, I love Twilight. More so the books than the movies, but I'd go ahead and class myself as a fan. Stephanie Meyer isn't releasing anymore books from Bella/Edward's viewpoint, but she has released a short novel, titled "The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner", as a spin-off to the Eclipse novel in the series.
Now, when I first heard about this book, I had no clue as to who Bree Tanner was. I'd read Eclipse a long time ago but I was pretty sure she was a small, insignificant character, so didn't have high hopes for this book. My friend offered me her copy to read and I had some time to spare after this morning's jog so thought I'd give it a go. Bree Tanner is a 'newborn vampire', and this story is told from her perspective as we lead up to the big battle between the Cullens and Victoria.
The title of the book reveals Bree's fate, so I wondered how I'd be able to read a book knowing the outcome. I am so pleased I gave this book a chance though. It was a short book that I finished in an hour or so, but because you already have the background story and information from Eclipse, there was no need to build up to the plot and the action could start straight away. It was well-written and as easy to read as Stephanie's other books, so it was easy to get into and believe in. It had it's own little plot so it didn't feel overly connected to the Twilight saga.
I instantly liked Bree's character. You could tell she was completely different to the newborn vampire image that had been created in Eclipse. She's not the vicious, blood-thirsty, wreckless character you'd expect - she's actually very calm and controlled with a mind of her own. Her 'love interest' in the story - Diego - has similar qualities, and it's quite sweet to see how the relationship from strangers to potential companions unravels. It's just a shame we don't get to see more of it.
It's also nice to read about the Cullens from someone impartial, who doesn't feel overwhelmed by love and lust when they look at them, talk about them, or think about them. She just looks at a human, who happens to smell amazing, and a group of vampires with yellow eyes. That's quite refreshing when you consider how much Stephanie normally gushes about the Cullens. It was strange at first but I got so wrapped up in Bree/Diego that I soon got over it! The last few pages were horrible to read, only because I didn't want the inevitable to actually happen. It was so sad.
Rating : 8/10
If you don't like Twilight then you're not going to like this, but I really did enjoy this book. It adds such a new depth to Twilight stories and I think it's going to be interesting to watch the Eclipse movie, knowing that all this stuff is going on in the 'background' even though you won't get to see it on screen. I think it would have been better to have a little chapter at the end with Diego's take on it all, just as Eclipse was split into Jacob/Bella, but Stephanie kind of wraps up the Deigo storyline and what happened to him through Bree and her feelings/realisations. Definitely worth a read if you're into Twilight!
xoxo
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