Review: 'The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner: An Eclipse Novella' by Stephenie Meyer

Putting a finger on the nature of the appeal of Stephenie Meyer's stories is difficult. Her characters are, when meant to be, so involving and communicative that they literally fly off of the pages. The plot, dialogue, settings, and every other ornate detail are so intricately and tediously woven together in this boldly unique mythology that the books are literally transformative and become a part of the reader. More over, Stephenie Meyer has a knack for never leaving behind the most humanistic element of people, whether those people are vampires, werewolves, or aliens . . . love.

Such is the case with her newest book, The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner: An Eclipse Novella. With it, Meyer has effectively transformed a small, seemingly unimportant character from her prior work, Eclipse, into the newest set of lenses through which we see an intriguing portion of the Twilight Saga.

Bree Tanner takes us back to the story of Eclipse, only this time we're reading from the perspective of Bree.

As she explains in her introductory materials to the text, Bree was a very tertiary character before, and the most we'd learned about her up until this novella was that she was an insatiable newborn who'd surrendered to the Cullens (though details were scarce on that encounter) but who was still doomed by the forces of law. The significance, it seemed, of Bree was that she was a looking glass for Bella's self-expectations of her own future as a newborn.

What the Bree Tanner story has given us, though, is a world which is, in classic Stephenie Meyer fashion, eloquently connected to the story we already (in part) knew and yet still so new.

Without divulging too many details about the story (particularly since the biggest joy of reading it was experiencing the surprises of the tale first-hand), it should be said that even those Twilight fans who were on the fence about reading this - for the fact that it was about a character they'd never gotten the opportunity to care about - will love it.

It's ladened with exciting mystery, clever intrigue, and a whole new look at some of our favorite characters from the Twilight series. Learning about the other side of the fight in Eclipse is but a portion of the treat offered here as we get to know just how Bree came to be in that clearing on that fateful day.

Some of the other characters we'd barely gotten to know come back in full view, and a few new, compelling people are brought to the fore as well. Most interestingly, the story provides a supple, unexpected ripple in the events of Eclipse that pieces together some unnoticed dangling ends and makes the story that much more solid.

Heartbreaking, exciting, and so invigorating, the story of Bree Tanner is a need-to-read for any Twilight fan.

examiner