The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner

Please note that this review may contain spoilers for earlier novels in the series. You can read my reviews of these books [here], [here] and [here].

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner is a short spin-off novella which forms part of Stephenie Meyer’s massively successful Twilight Saga. The story was first published in 2010 and describes Bree’s experiences over the three months that she spent as a vampire. The book overlaps with the events of Eclipse (2007), therefore I would strongly advise that you read the first three novels in the series before picking up this one.

For Bree Tanner, every day is marked with uncertainty and terror. Ever since she was first created by the vampire that she knows only as Her, she has spent all of her time trying desperately to stay alive. The other Newborns in her coven are vicious and uncontrollable – prone to tearing off each other’s limbs or lighting each other on fire. She’s smart enough to know that she needs to keep to herself if she wants to live.

Things change when she meets Diego. He’s been a vampire far longer than she has and is rumoured to be Riley’s right-hand man. Although she’s reluctant to trust him at first, she soon discovers that he is genuinely nice and could become her first vampire friend. When disaster strikes and the two of them find themselves stranded at daybreak, it’s only Diego’s ingenuity that saves them both from facing the rising sun.

Yet in doing so, the two of them uncover Riley’s lie. He’s been keeping the Newborns in check by telling them that all the myths about vampires are true but now Bree and Diego know that sunlight can’t harm them. Believing that Riley might be unaware of this himself, the two of them head off to tell him of their discovery. However, they quickly discover that they are pawns in a larger game and that the vampire known as Her has sinister plans for them…

New Moon

Please note that this review may contain spoilers for its prequel, Twilight. You can read my review of this novel [here].

Unless you’ve been living in a cave for the last nine years, I expect you’ve probably heard of the Twilight Saga. This series was written by Stephenie Meyer and focuses on the forbidden love between a vampire and a human. The first novel, Twilight (2005), was swiftly followed by New Moon (2006), Eclipse (2007), Breaking Dawn (2008) and The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner (2010). The immense popularity of the series sparked a trend of paranormal romance novels – an effect that can still be seen in the market today. For the purpose of today’s review, I’ll be looking at New Moon only.

A few months have passed since the events of Twilight and Bella Swan is finding herself constantly tested by her relationship with Edward. As her eighteenth birthday approaches, she releases that she will continue to age while he remains forever seventeen and the thought of this horrifies her. After an accident at her birthday party almost leads to her death at the hands of Jasper, Edward comes to the decision that his world is just far too dangerous for a human. After painfully declaring that he no longer loves her, he and the rest of the Cullens leave in the night, never to return.

Bella is plunged into depression and finds it impossible to come to terms with his departure. Discovering that she has vivid hallucinations of Edward whenever her life is in danger, she begins to perform increasingly dangerous acts just to hear his voice again. Her daredevil lifestyle leads her to a new friendship with Jacob Black, beginning with a mutual desire to repair a motorcycle and gradually blossoming into something more.

However, all is not well in Forks. Bella is still haunted by nightmares about Edward and is plagued with confusion with regards to her growing feelings for Jacob. On top of this, Victoria has returned to town, harbouring a bitter resentment for the death of her partner at Edward’s hands. Driven by her desire to take Bella’s life – a mate for a mate – she begins to mercilessly hunt the teenager. With the Cullens long gone, who can protect her from a messy end at the vampire’s fangs?