I must say, I'm quite surprised that one of my blogmates didn't beat me to the punch of reviewing Stephanie Meyer's newest book. Now, I will first admit that I am NOT a fan of authors adding to a completed series (I never even read Rowling's The Tales of Beedle the Bard - though based on the poor circulation stats, I'm not alone in that!) However, since the Twilight Saga is the very standard by which I judge all other YA literature, I felt I'd be a little remiss if I didn't at least give The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner a chance - especially seeing as how it's available free online!Sadly, I can't say that I enjoyed Bree Tanner's story. I found the first half of the novella extremely grating; it seems like all of Meyer's female characters have this annoying whiny helplessness, which was particular unattractive on Bree. (I guess I could stomach it more from Bella because it was more central to the original storyline.) Fortunately, Bree eventually forms a friendship/relationship with another vampire, and together they begin unravelling some of the vampire "mysteries".
The second half of the novella is definitely much better - but then how could preparing for battle not be. My only major complaint towards this part is that Meyer's almost completely glossed over the battle scene. I understand she could only write what Bree actually witnessed, but I would have enjoyed a stronger parallel to the original story in Eclipse.
