Skip to main content

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephenie Meyer

Review written on July 16, 2010 




I should start by saying that I've become disillusioned by the whole Twilight series.  When I first read the books, I whizzed through them and enjoyed them.  If I think of them only as light, fun, fluff, then I can still find them enjoyable.  But as a member of a committee that selects the best teen books of the current year, I can't help but cringe when I think about the books.  They are fast reads, and if you want something that you don't really have to think about, then they can be enjoyable.  But they really aren't that well-written, and there are certain things in the books that I dislike in regards to vampire mythology.  I have seen the movies - I felt that the first movie was just okay, the second movie was better, and I liked the third movie too, but there are still things that I cringe over.  As far as characters go, I've never been a fan of Bella, or Edward for that matter.  As far as the books go, I love Jacob and Alice.  And for the movies, I still love Jacob, and Jasper is growing on me too after seeing the third movie.  Even in book form, I'm becoming more interested in Jasper.

All that said, I've just finished The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner and I have some initial thoughts about it.  Through the first half, I wasn't particularly fond of the book, still so disillusioned with the series as a whole, I think.  There were certain things, such as Bree and Diego's first experience with how they look in the sun, that I really didn't care for.  I also wasn't sure if I liked Bree all that much at that point.  During the second half of the book, she did start to grow on me, and I was fond of Diego as well.  I can at least say that I like Bree more than I do Bella.  I was again intrigued by Jasper at the end.  I know that eventually I will reread the whole series, and I think I'll pay more attention to Jasper throughout the books.  I think that my favorite character of the novella is definitely Fred, or Freaky Fred, and I think that if Stephenie Meyer wanted to, she could definitely write more books about him.  his character was intriguing and has the potential for a great book.  Over all, for a disillusioned fan, the book was fairly good.

Stephenie Meyer, if you're listening, please give us more Fred!
Labels:

Comments

  1. HarmonyAugust 11, 2010 at 7:21 PM

    I have to say I agree with completely everything you said here about the entire series. I have't read this one yet though and I wasn't sure if I wanted to (since I've also become a little disillusioned with the series), but after reading your review I'm more curious about it and whether or not i'll be fond of bree. So, I guess I need to see if I can grab a copy off of freecycle (there is a backorder for this on our library's website of over 130 people waiting to check it out...crazy!)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Across the LibraryAugust 12, 2010 at 10:49 AM

    Wow, it's just sitting on the shelf at my library. Not sure why. I don't think a lot of people here know about it. If for nothing else, read it for Fred, I think you'll like him :)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Shiver and Linger by Maggie Stiefvater - Slight Spoiler Alert

Review written on August 7, 2010 ** Mildly Spoilerish** Books 1 and 2 in the Mercy Falls series I read Shiver last year, shortly after it came out.  I did really enjoy the book and even voted to be sure it would appear on the list for the committee I'm on.  However, I always had one problem with the book -the "cure".  No one else seemed as bothered by this as me, but I just can't get past that.  I did like that there was some science involved with why they turned into the wolves when it was cold.  Despite the so-called cure, the book was good, so of course I wanted to read the second book, Linger . Only ten chapters in, I was highly annoyed by the book already.  The moment that Grace said that Isabel was cold and Isabel said it was Grace that was hot, I just knew that she was going to be sick and how she would be "cured".  At first I thought that Sam had gotten her sick somehow, but at least that wasn't the case.  At least what Cole d...
3 comments
Read more

Initial thoughts on Mockingjay

Don't worry, I'm going to try and stay away from spoilers, at least for now!  In my opinion, the hardest part of writing any book or story is writing the ending.  I imagine that it's probably incredibly more difficult when you are writing the ending of a book that has been a popular series.  The author always knows that some fans will love it and some fans will hate it.  Of course you can't please everyone. That said, how do I feel about Mockingjay?  As I book, I loved it, and I wasn't disappointed at all.  The action was just as fast-paced and captivating as the two previous books of the series.  Suzanne Collins has mastered the art of keeping the reader from getting bored.  Around half way through the book, I got a little teary, but I won't say why just yet.  Nor will I reveal what part of the ending of the series made me cry.  Maybe later I'll come back, when more people have finished the book, or when I figure out if there's a wa...
2 comments
Read more

Year One by Nora Roberts

Title: Year One Author: Nora Roberts Cover: A decent cover that represents the start of the plague and the crows that come with the darkness. *Mild Spoilers Ahead* Review: I will say first that I am not a typical Nora Roberts fan. In fact, I've only read three other books by her, that being the Seven Signs Trilogy that starts with Blood Brothers. If I remember correctly, those also had a fantasy/paranormal feel to them, while her typical books do not. It was the fantasy elements of this book that appealed to me. A plague strikes, first taking a family, but since it is highly contagious and they are traveling after the holidays, it quickly spreads, wiping out large numbers of the population. There are already some people with gifts before the plague hits, but after, these gifts grow stronger, and others gain powers as well. These people, from witches, elves, fairies, and more, are called the Uncanny, and some people blame them for the plague, or are just generally hateful...
2 comments
Read more