The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner – Stephenie Meyer

This novella was…interesting. I didn’t love it, but I didn’t hate it. I found myself getting into the story a few times but as soon as I put the book down, it was hard to be motivated to read it again. The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner is an Eclipse novella about the newborn girl that the Cullens tried to save after the battle. 

Plot

The plot of the novella was following a newborn female vampire named Bree Tanner. Bree was turned into a vampire by someone she called “her”, and she is basically a part of a newborn army controlled by another vampire named Riley. 

One night, Bree meets Diego, another newborn who’s about a year old. Diego shows her many things and they discover together that vampires can be in the sunlight. From that point on, Bree and Diego were practically inseparable. They were together any chance they got, even if it was for only two days. 

On the second night of knowing Diego, they decide to tell Riley of their discovery. Diego takes charge and they sneak off and follow Riley through the woods, only to find Riley speaking to “her”. Riley talks to her about the newborn vampires they currently have, and Bree and Diego realize that they are an army bred to fight certain enemies. 

Eventually, Bree is led to battle by Riley and her newborn vampire peers, but she doesn’t want to fight. Bree is helped by the Cullens, only to be led to slaughter by Jane from the Volturi. 

I feel like this story is a lot darker than the usual twilight novels, as we discover what it’s really like to be a vampire longing for blood. It really shows how different the Cullens are compared to these crazed newborns and we even see a sneak at how outsiders view the Cullens right at the end. 

Characters

Bree is a really interesting character. I feel like she’s really mature for a newborn, especially since she was turned at the age of 15. She’s pretty simple and straightforward, but like every other character in the twilight saga, she meets a boy and practically lives for him. Bree’s story is tragic, and I do emphasize for her, but honestly, I knew it was coming and I didn’t fall for her character quite as much as I would’ve liked. 

Diego was also a really interesting character. He’s mysterious, strange, but most of all gorgeous, (obviously). After spending just two short days with Diego, I automatically loved his character. He was charming! You could tell that he was going to be a good character right away, his only downfall was he was too trusting. 

While these two characters stole the show, Fred the freak is an honorable mention. I feel like I need to know a lot more about him, but from what I do know, I like him. He protected Bree and kept to himself. He kept out of trouble and his powers to keep people away from him are fascinating. I definitely wish I knew more about him and where he came from as well as how those powers relate to his human life. 

Setting

The setting was mostly Seattle, but in the end, we switched to the battlefield in Forks. I’ve always thought Seattle is a beautiful city, however, we don’t really see any of the beauty. Unfortunately, these vampires are restricted to the gloomy slums in Seattle. I do think that it is the perfect setting for the novella to take place, but it isn’t a setting I was particularly excited about. 

“Super-secret Ninja Club sounds way cooler than the whole BFF thing.”

Writing

I don’t know if I like or don’t like the writing in this book. I feel like it was short and to the point, but it definitely dragged on for me. I just wasn’t getting motivated enough to read it and had to do it in short little bursts. 

Overall though, it was pretty good. 

In Conclusion… 

I think that this novella is a nice addition to the saga. Bree was definitely an interesting character and it was cool to see how she got to that battlefield when we only saw a glimpse of her in Eclipse. 

Rating: 3/5⭐