Newborn vampire Bree Tanner makes a brief appearance at the end of Eclipse, in which she has just “surrendered” to Carlisle Cullen toward the end of the fight between the Cullen family and the “army” assembled by Victoria. Bella watches her as she thirsts for her blood and wonders if she will be like her when she’s also a newborn vampire. In this novella, Stephenie Meyer gives readers the story from Bree’s point of view. We get to see more clearly what was happening in Seattle during the time the Cullens were aware of the existence of the army, and, even more intriguingly, we get the point of view of a typical “non-vegetarian” vampire, after getting accustomed to the Cullens’ way of seeing things and behaving.
Bree only vaguely remembers her life before she was turned into a vampire, and she only knows the three months she has been nearly constantly thirsty for human blood; she spends her days in a dark basement with a lot of other young, volatile vampires who annoy her, and her nights hunting down the “dregs” of civilization in Seattle. Only when she gets to spend a little time with another vampire in the group, Diego, does she feel something really beyond the thirst and the tiny world of her existence — and she realizes that someone is using her, but to what end, she can’t figure out.
She only has a short time to enjoy the new friendship and self-awareness before she is thrust into the middle of a war — one which Eclipse readers know already doesn’t end well for her.
This supplement to the Twilight series is fun and fascinating reading for those eager to know more about the behind-the-scenes action.
Rated: Mild, for violence. In this book, there is only the briefest amount of romance, a couple of very tame kisses. There are none of the sexual references, heavy making out and descriptions of someone’s perfect body as there are in the other books.
