“The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner” by Stephenie Meyer

We first met Bree Tanner for a brief moment at the end of the third of Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight saga, Eclipse but she was obviously an important character to the author, as she had a whole back story worked out for her, which she has now written up in this novella.

I thought it might be a while before I got to read another installment in the Twilight saga (I’m still holding out for the completion of Midnight Sun), and to be honest, I’d convinced myself I wasn’t that bothered by this new story as it wasn’t about our beloved Bella, Edward and Jacob, but couldn’t resist the lure of an especially early opening of Waterstone’s on publication date.

At 178 pages, it’s a quick, easy read, and it does feel like returning home after holiday – you’ve had a great time away reading other things, but it’s lovely to be back with the your own creature comforts. From what I’ve seen of what’s coming in the Eclipse film, I’m guessing Meyer gave this material to the filmmakers, and it rounds out the story nicely.

The story concentrates more on Bree discovering the secrets Riley is keeping from his group of newborns. I enjoyed it, and I loved the characters of Diego and Fred. When the story starts, Bree has already been a vampire for a few months, but personally, I would have liked to see Meyer start the story in Bree’s last day as a human, or in the first few days as a vampire.

Interestingly, Waterstone’s had opened an hour early for the book release and I was expecting to find crowds of teenagers at the bookshop, but it was a very quiet store that I walked into. In fact, the display of books was still pretty full, and I had the whole shop to myself. I didn’t actually arrive until about 8:45am, so perhaps i’d missed them!

“Twilight” by Stephenie Meyer

After spending years in the heat of Phoenix with her mother, Bella is moving back to live with her father, the local police chief, Charlie, in small town Forks – possibly the wettest place in America, and the complete opposite to her old life. That’s not the only change either, instead of a massive school with seven hundred pupils in her year alone, she’s in a small high school with just three hundred and fifty students in total. At least her classmates are friendly … except the Cullen family who seem to keep themselves to themselves. The family are exceptionally beautiful, but when Bella has to sit next to Edward Cullen in class, he seems to have utter distate for the newcomer, even asking to swap classes. But when Bella is the victim of a car accident, it is Edward who saves her and she finds herself drawn to him and determined to find out more.

I’d seen these books on display in the bookshop and noticed how striking the cover design, but reading the back cover (so I’m giving nothing away here!), I didn’t feel that a teenage vampire romance was really my style. When I read an article in the Guardian books section, I thought I’d try it after all. Am I glad that I did? Absolutely. It’s been a while since I’ve been so compelled to keep reading a novel. So much so, that after starting on Saturday morning, I found I’d gorged on the entire book by Saturday night, and found myself in the bookshop (literally as they opened the doors) first thing Sunday morning to buy the next two in the series, finishing the second book by Sunday afternoon, and despite trying to stop myself, I’d started the third book – at 11pm – on Sunday night, and after working all day finished it by Monday evening.

So just what was it about the books that captivated me so much? I’m still trying to figure that out! I’m not a fan of horror films or stories, I’ve never read a vampire book before in my life, and I should be way too old to read teenage novels. This isn’t really about vampires though, it’s about the pain of first love, of the isolation that teenagers feel, and the sacrifices and compromises that relationships require. Throw in the tense, thrilling vampire story, and it adds up to a cracking read that you just can’t put down.

But it’s also not just the plot that keeps you reading, you really invest in all the characters. Every one of them is believable and beautifully drawn, with no sketchy, unnecessary personalities. Meyer’s writing style is eloquent and utterly readable, washing over you with a warmth hard to find in many novels.

So, in case you hadn’t guessed, I can’t recommend this book enough. A wonderful start to a fantastic series, and unbelievably satisfying, but just like a vampire tasting a human’s blood, once you’ve read one, you’re appetite will never be satiated, and you’ll be hungry for more. Delicious.