In world of pop culture fiction, there are always unforgettable cannon fodder stars. Star Wars has its Ewoks meant to get shot by a stormtrooper and drop out of a tree. Slasher flicks from Friday the 13th to Scream have their token blonde girl who will be eventually hacked up into pieces. While Harry Potter will have a magically expendable student that will be a footnote casualty in Voldemort’s wrath. For Twilight fans, there is 15-year-old Bree Tanner who got the short end of the stick after three months of being a vamp. She was executed by the opposing Volturi coven despite her being an ignorant blood- thirsty newbie in the book Eclipse. However, Bree’s few pages of fame has now extended to exactly 178 pages of a second chance in Stephenie Meyer’s The short second life of Bree Tanner.
In this Eclipse novella, Bree finally gets the sunlight in the Twilight saga as Meyer’s pale creatures I learn don’t burn but rather sparkle under the sun. The story starts five days before Bree’s demise as her coven plans an attack against the protagonist coven, the Cullens in Seattle. Readers get a glimpse of the second life of a newbie vampire. Bree, although now possessed by a insatiable thirst for blood, is portrayed with tween instincts. She carnivorously munches on Seattle hobos and prostitutes but still takes the time to admire how drop dead gorgeous some of the male vampires are when not brooding in the darkness. It is cute to read and it is these moments that might just convert me into the Twilight coven.
Revamp
The vampires in the book are rabid and vicious which is the way I like it. They are more monster than man as these vampires are not anemic at all.
They feast on a ship of unsuspecting sailors and have no qualms about it. They have no table manners because of their deep hunger for flesh.
As much as this book will whet the appetite of Twilight fans before the Eclipse movie next month, Bree’s story has warmed me up to Meyer’s supernatural universe and some of her revamps of Dracula mythology such as the ability to walk in the sun, incapacity to sleep and some of their talents like inducing burning pain and mind reading.
As a reader, I might be converted to pick up Twilight or watch it on screen.
If Edward Cullin’s power lasts longer over society than we imagine, there might be a day when Meyer’s supernatural rules will overshadow past ones and the norm will be that vampires can walk in daylight and unfortunately sparkle.
For now, I’m glad that Meyer has given me a team to pick. It is not team Edward or Jacob. It is team Bree.
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The short second life of Bree Tanner is available at National Book Store.
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E-mail me at readnow@supreme.ph.