The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner - Book Review

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

What is it about:
Bree Tanner can barely remember life before she had uncannily powerful senses, superhuman reflexes, and unstoppable physical strength. Life before she had a relentless thirst for blood...life before she became a vampire.

All Bree knows is that living with her fellow newborns has few certainties and even fewer rules: watch your back, don't draw attention to yourself, and above all, make it home by sunrise or die. What she doesn't know: her time as an immortal is quickly running out.

Then Bree finds an unexpected friend in Diego, a newborn just as curious as Bree about their mysterious creator, whom they only know as her. As they come to realize that the newborns are pawns in a game larger than anything they could have imagined, Bree and Diego must choose sides and decide whom to trust. But when everything you know about vampires is based on a lie, how do you find the truth?

What did I think of it:
Even though I loathed Edward, and was very disappointed in the last book in the Twilight series, I liked the series enough that I was curious about this novella. So when Beanie offered to send it to me, I jumped at the chance.

And this is a really enjoyable novella.

I could relate to Bree and Diego much more than I could to Bella and Edward I will confess. I was intrigued about their life in the fledgling army, and how they both use different ways to stay out of trouble. After reading all about Edward and his family of saints, it was fun to read how other vampires react to things.

Even knowing how the story would end, I was rooting for Bree and Diego to figure things out, and to find a way deal with the truths they uncover. I felt myself wishing this book was more than a novella.

The ending (where Bree's story intersects with Bella's story) wasn't very strong, but still I enjoyed this novella a lot more than the last book in the series.

I might even give The Host a try one of these days.

Why should you read it:
It's a very enjoyable Paranormal YA Novella

Breaking Dawn - Book Rant

Breaking Dawn (Twilight #4)
by Stephenie Meyer

What is it about:
When you loved the one who was killing you, it left you no options. How could you run, how could you fight, when doing so would hurt that beloved one? If your life was all you had to give, how could you not give it? If it was someone you truly loved?

To be irrevocably in love with a vampire is both fantasy and nightmare woven into a dangerously heightened reality for Bella Swan. Pulled in one direction by her intense passion for Edward Cullen, and in another by her profound connection to werewolf Jacob Black, a tumultuous year of temptation, loss, and strife have led her to the ultimate turning point. Her imminent choice to either join the dark but seductive world of immortals or to pursue a fully human life has become the thread from which the fates of two tribes hangs.

Now that Bella has made her decision, a startling chain of unprecedented events is about to unfold with potentially devastating, and unfathomable, consequences. Just when the frayed strands of Bella's life-first discovered in Twilight, then scattered and torn in New Moon and Eclipse-seem ready to heal and knit together, could they be destroyed... forever?

What did I think of it:
Read the first paragraph of what this book is about?

There's my first grumble!

It's from the prologue of this book and had my hair stand on edge. How creepy and wrong is that statement!? And I do not care how it turns out in the rest of the book: that statement as it stands on its own is horrible! It tells abuse victims that it's ok to let themselves be abused, because when you love someone: how could you not? I can tell you I was tempted to throw the book across the room when it started like that.

But I read on.

Yeah...

I wasn't too happy about what happened in this book. Edward was acting as Edward. That guy is so self-centered. He thinks everything that happens has to do with him. If Bella would choke on her food, Edward would start moping and angsting, because he would think he should have chewed Bella's food for her. And Bella... Bella was acting all saintly. Only Jacob and his gang had some good actions, even though Jacob lost his way at a certain point. Luckily he found it again.

Then towards the end of book 2 of 3 in this volume, things started to lead up to a climax. I had this idea how I would want to have this climax play out. It would save a lot of the story for me.

But no...

The climax was more of a dud for me than a climax.

And then there was all of book three to go through, and to be honest I wasn't that interested anymore. Not that it was bad, it just seemed superfluous to me. And again the climax that this book build up to, was kind of a no show. I wanted more.

So in the end this book wasn't my favorite. I think I liked the third book the best. Still I might grumble a lot, but overall the three books that I read in this series were nice. I won't be rereading them, but I might give The Host by Meyer a chance.

Why should you read it:
It's a nice Paranormal read.

Eclipse - Book Review

Eclipse (Twilight #3)
by Stephenie Meyer

What is it about:
As Seattle is ravaged by a string of mysterious killings and a malicious vampire continues her quest for revenge, Bella once again finds herself surrounded by danger. In the midst of it all, she is forced to choose between her love for Edward and her friendship with Jacob - knowing that her decision has the potential to ignite the ageless struggle between vampire and werewolf.

With her graduation quickly approaching, Bella has one more decision to make: life or death. But which is which?

What did I think of it:
Because of Jacob I enjoyed New Moon more than I thought I would. So I was happy when my friend Beanie sent me Eclipse, so I could continue reading this series.

An this is yet another enjoyable read.

I will confess I really, really loathe Edward. He's possessive, domineering, stalkerish and overall creepy. Any sane girl should run for the hills if she ever met a guy like Edward in my opinion. The way he treats Bella, his ideas of a relationship... Just: No!

Jacob on the other hand: Wow! I really like him. He's funny, thoughtful and respects Bella. The one thing he needs to learn is that when a girl says no, it means no, but otherwise he's the most intriguing character in this series, I think. He outshines both Bella and Edward (although outshining Edward isn't that difficult in my opinion ;-)

And as usual I'm totally rooting for the wrong guy of course.

There are some really interesting other characters as well, some of which got a bit more back-story than others, and I hope to see those characters again in the next book, and to learn even more.

The story is considerably better than in New Moon, which was basically a Bella mope-fest that got saved by the presence of Jacob. I really liked getting to learn more about the werewolves. I did think that the building suspense could have been a bit more intense, but overall the story flowed nicely and kept me entertained.

I also learned what the vampires eat to survive: animal blood. I stand by what I said in my review of New Moon: I find it hard to believe that vampires who drink animal blood go totally crazy when they smell human blood. I don't go totally berserk when I smell really good chocolate after only eating an inferior kind of chocolate either.

And there's one thing I have to confess about this book: the epilogue actually made this piggy cry! If anyone would have told me after I read New Moon, that I would be moved by this book I would have laughed.

So all in all this book was entertaining and enjoyable. I already got Breaking Dawn from Beanie as well, so you can bet I'll be picking that up some day soon.

Why should you read it:
It has cool werewolves!

New Moon - (Slightly Ranty) Book Review

New Moon (Twilight #2)
by Stephenie Meyer

What is it about:
I knew we were both in mortal danger.

Still, in that instant I felt well. Whole. I could feel my heart racing in my chest, the blood pulsing hot and fast through my veins again. My lungs filled deep with the sweet scent that came off his skin.

It was like there had never been any hole in my chest. I was perfect - not healed, but as if there had never been a wound in the first place.

For Bella Swan, there is one thing more important than life itself: Edward Cullen. But being in love with a vampire is even more dangerous than Bella ever could have imagined. Edward has already rescued Bella from the clutches of one evil vampire, but now, as their daring relationship threatens all that is near and dear to them, they realize their troubles may be just beginning...

What did I think of it:
I will confess being a bit hesitant in giving the Twilight series a try. Having heard there were sparkly vampires in it, and the mother of all love triangles (if rumors are to be believed) I steered clear of anything Twilighty. And after seeing the first 10 minutes of the first Twilight movie, I was sure it wouldn't be for me.

But then my friend Beanie read New Moon and told me he thought I might like it as well. Maybe I had indeed been unfair towards this series, so when Beanie offered to send me New Moon I decided to give the book a try.

Not far into the book I was convinced I had been right and that the whole Twilight phenomena wasn't for me. I mean: Edward, a hundred year old vampire goes to high school! Why? Why would he do that? Because he looks 17? Come on, he can fake an ID I might hope, so there's no need to constantly be repeating the last few classes of high school. Talk about a slow student! And the Cullens don't drink blood. What are they eating/drinking in that case? Synthetic blood? Animal blood? If that's the case why do they go berzerk over a drop of human blood? It's not like I go berzerk over really good chocolate after only eating the cheap, crappy kind of chocolate. And if they don't drink any blood: How do they survive? And why is Edward so mopey?

Ok, that last question has to do with me not liking Edward at all! Talk about an immature brat! And that's supposed to be a hundred year old vampire. I could almost even start to understand why he never made it past those final years of high school.

Anyway...

Because of my rule to at least read 25% of a book before tossing it aside as a loss I stuck to the story. And then Jacob entered the story. Jacob turned out to be a really cool and interesting character, and suddenly I found myself liking the story and reading on to find out what would happen next. To my own surprise I was actually enjoying the book after all the annoyance I felt at the start of it. Even Edward couldn't ruin the book anymore, I had found a character to root for (Even though I just know I'm again rooting for the wrong guy, but nothing new there).

So after a very rocky start I actually found New Moon an enjoyable read. I will confess I'm a bit afraid to pick up the next book, because I foresee lots of annoying Edward scenes, but I will confess I'm curious what's next for Jacob. Beanie kindly offered to send me the next book as well, so I will certainly at least give the next book a try.

Why should you read it:
It's an enjoyable Paranormal YA read, especially once Jacob enters the story.