The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephanie Meyer

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner is a companion novella to the Twilight series by author Stephenie Meyer. It tells the story of a newborn vampire, Bree Tanner, who is featured in the third book of the series, Eclipse. The book is written from the viewpoint of Bree, as opposed to the rest of the series which is predominantly narrated by character Bella Swan. Meyer let director David Slade, screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg, and a few of the actors read a draft of the story during production of The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.

Plot Summary:

The story begins with Bree and Diego hunting for human blood in Seattle, Washington. Bree has been a vampire for three months, and Diego has been one for eleven months. Together they kill and drink a pimp, two prostitutes and two homeless people. Bree and Diego talk about "her" (Victoria) and ask why she is turning so many people into vampires. Diego thinks something is coming, and that "she" is using them as protection. They hide in a cave and discuss their human lives, and how Riley came to offer them a second life as a vampire. Together they decide that Riley is using them as pawns for protection, and that he might be lying to them. They also discover that sunlight does not kill a vampire, but makes their skin sparkle. They become friends and decide to form a "club," spending the day "playing ninja," looking for Riley and the other vampires they live with. They find that Riley had relocated everyone to a log cabin and Diego gets into a fight with Raoul, an arrogant newborn, but another newborn, "Freaky Fred," uses his repelling power to stop Raoul from killing them. That night Bree and Diego stalk Riley, suspicious that he is meeting with "her." They eavesdrop on Riley's conversation with Victoria. Eventually the Volturi show up, threatening to punish Victoria for amassing a vampire army but willing to give her army a chance to destroy the Cullens. The Volturi say that if Victoria does not attack within five days, they will kill her.

Bree returns to the log cabin and resolves to run away, while Diego stays behind to talk to Riley. Riley returns to the cabin alone and tells his vampire army that there are older vampires in Seattle (the Cullens) who want to kill them, and if they want to survive, they will have to work together and learn how to fight. Riley tells Bree that Diego is doing surveillance work with "her" and will return to join them in the fight. After three nights of training, Bree and the vampires hunt a ferry boat to drink the passengers' blood and regain their strength for the battle against the elder vampires. Riley then tells everyone that the vampires they will be fighting have yellow eyes and keep a human (Bella) as a pet, giving them Bella's scent to hunt. They head off to fight the Cullens. Fred decides to run away to Vancouver before the battle, and Riley retreats, telling Bree that Diego has already started fighting with the group. Bree arrives at the battle to find the newborn vampires being killed by the Cullens, and thinks that Diego is already dead because she cannot see or smell him anywhere. She deduces that Victoria and Riley killed Diego for being disobedient the night he went missing. Bree surrenders to the Cullens. They debate whether or not to kill her and decide to restrain her until the Volturi arrive. Bree has trouble resisting the urge to drink Bella's blood. The Volturi show up and interrogate Bree for information. She explains that Riley lied to her and everyone else, and if they did not do as they were told they would be killed. She uses her thoughts to tell Edward that the Volturi had allowed the army to attack the Cullens. The book ends with the Volturi deciding to kill Bree, and Edward tells Bella to close her eyes. Bree thinks that Edward is talking to her. She closes her eyes, and is instantly killed.

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This was a very good book. I might have actually enjoyed it more than the Twilight Saga overall. I suggest it to all those who life drama, love, and adventure. I was sad that it was a tragedy.