The Maiden Voyage: Book Review #1.

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner: an Eclipse Novella is the newest book by popular author Stephenie Meyer. This work tells the story of a female character briefly mentioned in Eclipse, the third book in the Twilight series. Meyers seems proud and enthusiastic about her newest publication. In the novella's introduction, she says "The newborn life was something I hadn't ever gotten to explore... It was exciting and dark".

Bree Tanner is a young teenage girl--about 16 years old-- who has been turned into a vampire. She has been created by an older vampire who is in the process of making a newborn vampire army. Newborns are characterized by lacking self-control and the ability to think clearly, making an army of them particularly difficult to handle. Bree is a bit of an exception: after being a vampire for about three months, she shows herself to be far more mature and level-headed than her peers. She finds a friend in Diego, another initiate of the vampire army-- however, he has been in the army for a longer period of time than the others and therefore matches her level of maturity. Together, Bree and Diego discover that they have all been deceived. They learn the truths that the leader of the army is hiding from them, not only about vampire lifestyle but also about the very purpose for the creation of this army.

I enjoyed reading Bree Tanner. In fact, I enjoyed it more than some of the main books in the Twilight series. I thought that the format was very interesting. There are no chapters or line breaks. Initially I was a bit annoyed because the unusual setup offers no convenient place to put a bookmark and pause reading, but after getting accustomed to the different format I began to like it more. The decision to not break up the narration reflects Meyer's portrayal of the vampire lifestyle. According to her novels, they never sleep and have no need to rest, and the lack of chapters or breaks parallels the nonstop consciousness of the main character.

Stephenie Meyer's writing style seems to have improved since the original Twilight books. I found myself often distracted by cheesy similes and dialogue in some of her earlier novels; her new work has less corny moments and more believable dialogue. I was also glad to see that the new characters introduced in the novella successfully take on distinct personalities. Before reading the book, I was suspicious that all of her protagonists might be extremely similar to Bella Swan and Edward Cullen. However, my doubts proved fruitless. Bree and Diego take on unique temperaments and become significant individuals in the series.

My only criticism is that perhaps Meyer still has not fully delved into what it is like to truly be a newborn. Bree was clearly not as wild and uncontrolled as the vast majority of the other members of the army, and was also already three months old. Although I certainly like the novella, I had hoped for more of a genuine newborn story. I was anticipating chaos, emotional turmoil, and a frenzy to quench the insatiable thirst for human blood. It would be interesting, in my opinion, if Meyer wrote another novella exploring a character who exemplifies the typical newborn experience instead of being a more sophisticated exception.



Has anyone else read The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner? If so, what do you think? Any thoughts or comments on my first stab at reviewing a book? Constructive criticism is more than welcome! Just please refrain from being unnecessarily mean. Ain't got no need to be nasty. Thanks for reading!