The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner (Twilight 3.5) by Stephenie Meyer

I want to say, right up front, that I hadn’t planned to read this book because those of us who read the entire Twilight Saga already know that things don’t turn out well for Bree Tanner. She played a very, very minor role in the book, Eclipse - I don’t even think she appeared in more than 2 pages - so, why read something about a character I cared very little about and already knew the outcome of?

Well, one day I went to my mailbox and there was a package from my dear friend and fellow Twilight fan, Dee, and inside was my very own copy of The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner. I was excited and touched by her thoughtfulness and realized that my fate was sealed! I would be reading Bree’s story, after all.

I’ll be honest, the first 50 pages or so seemed rather ho-hum to me, and I've decided that's because I began this book dreading the outcome. Once I wrapped my mind around reading this for the story as it related to Victoria’s army of newborn vampires, I couldn’t put it down. I’m not going to go into the plot, because frankly, if you've read Eclipse you won't need details, and if you haven’t read Eclipse, you’ll not understand what the point of this book is, and it would take way too long to explain.

What stands out most to me about Bree’s story is how all of the newborns were manipulated. It made me think of charismatic leaders around the world — political, religious, corporate or yes, even vampire — and how much influence they have over the people who are dependent on them, because if you can convince someone or some group that they need you, that you’re only looking out for their best interest and that life without you as their leader would be filled with pain and anguish, possibly even death… you’d have absolute control over them.

Such was the case with the newborn vampires, and when looking at them in this light - as people violently torn from humanity and forced into a new way of life which they nothing about – were literally newborns and dependent on someone else for their survival — I found myself actually feeling sorry for them. I started wondering about the families who are missing them, what kind of people they would have been had they lived out their human lives. So what started out being a dreaded read, became one that really made me think about life and those we trust to lead us.

And for the first time since reading Eclipse, I wished with all my heart that things could have been different for Bree Tanner.