The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner
The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner is a novella written by Stephenie Meyer to accompany the third book in the Twilight series, Eclipse. The book is written in continuous prose, with no chapter breaks and interlinks with the battle with the Cullen’s with Victoria. The story revolves around Bree Tanner, a new-born vampire who is introduced during the battle. It shows her short second life as a vampire leading up to the battle after which she is killed by the Volturi, despite the Cullen’s offering to take her in as one of their own. The narrative starts with Bree out hunting for humans with fellow new born vampire Diego. They had been led to believe by Riley, Victoria’s ‘puppet master’, that the typical vampire folk tales were real, fearing wooden stakes and sunlight. They are left cowering in an underwater cave, hiding from the sunlight after their hunt and bond over their human lives becoming very close.
They soon realise that Riley and Victoria, who they only know as “Her”, have been lying to them as they find that their skin sparkles in the sunlight. They decide to run away from the army of new borns with Bree’s other vampire friend, Fred, but Diego first wants to tell Riley that Victoria has been lying to him. He doesn’t return from his meeting with Riley, and Bree is told that he is doing “surveillance” and will join them in the battle. She believes him and trains with the other new borns. When the battle begins Fred leaves and asks Bree to come with him, but she wants to go and get Diego first, but Diego is nowhere to be seen. She soon realises he has probably been killed by Victoria and Riley and surrenders to the Cullen’s, which is where Eclipse picks up her story.
This book is short at only 117 pages long, and so can be read in one go should anyone feel so inclined. It allows the reader to delve further into Meyer’s world giving a taste of other vampires, which is further explored in the latter part of Breaking Dawn. It is an essential read for any Twilight fan and offers a great insight into the background of the new born army and why they attacked the Cullen’s. It is not recommended as an introduction to the series however, many points go unexplained as it is assumed the reader already has relevant knowledge from the previous three novels.
Click here to read reviews on Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn.
By Sophie Atherton @SophAthers