The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner (by Stephenie Meyer)
common sense media says
Twilight series offshoot has heavier doses of horror.
parents & educators say
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that this Twilight Saga spinoff is more horror than romance. There is darker, bloodier violence here than in the rest of the saga, rightfully so, as readers are experiencing life as a vampire. The completely sociopathic bloodlust of even the newest vampires sets up a dramatic counterpoint to the Cullen's coven, even though the family doesn't appear until the very end. Bree is a simple character, and in typical Twilight fashion, as soon as she meets a very handsome boy, he becomes her reason for living. Unfortunately we never learn what makes him so special.
Educational value:
Not applicable.
Positive role models:
All characters are vampires, some more evil than others, with a brief appearance of the well-mannered Cullen family at the end. The new vampires can usually blame their bad behavior on instinct. Bree meets a boy vampire and he suddenly becomes her reason for living.
Violence:
These "new" vampires are still focused on feeding and have unvampirelike remorse. There are frequent murders and feeding on humans, but also violence among the coven. Their leader dismembers or burns the "newborn" vampires when they break his rules. There are many deaths in the ultimate battle of the vampire covens.
Sex:
Hand holding and kissing.
Language:
Minor instances of "damn," "hell," and "pissed."
Consumerism:
Not applicable.
Drinking, drugs, & smoking:
A reference to drunk transients.
More on The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner
Review It
Most useful reviews by all members
lollipop_luver
kid, 12 years old
kid, 12 years old
Almost better than the twilight books!
It was really good! There is some minor kissing likes pecks on the cheek but no "making out" or anything like that so don't be concerned at all about the romance. The only bad thing is the violence like it is described how many of the vampires were killed (ripping off their heads and burning it) and also Bree explains how it feels to suck the blood out of a human and how it tastes clean and its kinda disturbing so thats why I put 10+. Let me also warn you that the ending is pretty sad. Overall an amazing book.
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TWIHARD12
teen, 15 years old
teen, 15 years old
Ok for older kids
I read this book when it first came out, and I thought it was ok. It's very interesting to see what the newborns went through before the "big fight". There is violence, and they ARE vampires, so there are some "vampire" scenes. (ie. blood drinking, sometimes the "head" vampire pulls apart/kills the newborns who don't "behave") and some bad language. Very sad ending, as anyone who read "Eclipse" knows. I definetely wouldn't recommend it for anyone under the age of 12, but it's an ok book.
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Madi1001
adult
adult
Great for Twilight Lovers
If you are a fan of the Twilight Saga you will not be disappointed with this book.
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Tiffany12136
teen, 14 years old
teen, 14 years old
great for kids who dont mind kissing and cusing :)
this book was really good, i read it when i was 12 and i couldnt keep my eyes off it. so what there was minor language and a couple parts where bree pecked diego, i would say for ages 12 +
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Cityofbonesfan019
teen, 15 years old
teen, 15 years old
Tragic, and violent story for dedicated fans
I did enjoy this book. It definetly was different from twilight. It told a tragic story, and very violent, but very readable.
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thegirl1010
kid, 13 years old
kid, 13 years old
Perfect book for the perfect youu...12+ teen
OMG I love this book!! I love twilight sagaa x Jacob <3 lol xx I recomened it to 12+ im 12 and i think its a sutabile book, but if you hate scary things vampires, wolves. dont read it. xx
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Mélanånie
teen, 17 years old
teen, 17 years old
Great
It's appropriate for people about 10+ because their is some violence and it's sad in the end.
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яσѕαℓιє нαℓє
kid, 12 years old
kid, 12 years old
11+
I loved it because it was a great add-on to the third novel of the series, Eclipse. I read this three months after I turned 11. I only have one concern of the vampires always feeding on humans and drinking their blood. Fans of The Twilight Saga are used to the animal-drinking Cullens, harmless. Though when they meet Bree Tanner, Diego, Riley, Fred, Kevin, Victoria, and the others, you get another side to vampires - which is also great. But a problem with it, is that at the end Felix was going to snap her. Jane ordered for Bree to close her eyes and she was killed. The last line of the book: "I closed my eyes." that was the end of the book! I think that this may be sad or upsetting for children under 11.
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Nessiegurl
kid, 13 years old
kid, 13 years old
Yay!
This was a sad book. I was sooo sad Bree had to die. Me and my friends did the scene where Bree died (But we rearanged it to make it 3 ppl, it was hard to do that!) and i played Bree and it was awesome! For a little while i found myself rooting for the newborns then i'm like, wait, no lose!!!! Don't beat the Cullens!!!
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jamalpoole
teen, 15 years old
teen, 15 years old
great for preteens and teens
I love the book, and the movie.
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panamamama
parent of and 6 , 9 , 14 year old
parent of and 6 , 9 , 14 year old
It wasn't as good as the other Twilight books, but interesting. Sad and pretty violent. My 13 yr old hasn't read any of them yet, but I think I might let her read the first one if she asked.
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Emmygator
kid, 12 years old
kid, 12 years old
Awsome
I loved it the only things for parents to look out for is when they describe the car scene a vampire kills a woman but that is pretty much it for violence they do also mention "Pimps and hoes' But it only mentions it once (they are killed) but ya thats pretty much is it.
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ParamoreFan09
teen, 15 years old
teen, 15 years old
Interesting for fans of the series, but it isn't as good as the original.
I'd much rather read about Edward and Bella than Bree and Diego. Gotta say-- this book is terribly written (stephenie meyer uses "BFFs" and "Please be my bestest bud forever?" which came across as cheesy to me.) but the story is interesting and its kind of cool to know what was going on with Victoria's (aka 'her') army during eclipse. there is some descriptive gore such as describing the sound as a woman is torn in half. so yeah that's a bit gross. It was interesting and worth reading for fans of the series, but honestly wasn't that good. And if you read eclipse, you start off bree tanner knowing that it is going to end badly. It's pretty sad.
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haleybobailey
teen, 14 years old
teen, 14 years old
not as good as Twilight
This book was not as good as the Twilight series. The book was a little bit boring because it was too predictable.
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836crab
kid, 12 years old
kid, 12 years old
Awesome Book
I love this book! I don't think the violence is much of an issue compared to Eclipse. I haven't finished it yet but so far its not that violent.
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JimmyNeutronOb ...
kid, 13 years old
kid, 13 years old
The short reading of Bree Tanner
It was a pretty good book. I still prefer Breaking Dawn. If your more of a quick reader like me I read it one night when I couldn't sleep. It was pretty okay
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vballqtify
teen, 14 years old
teen, 14 years old
too sad for really young kids but okay for 10 or 11 +
i loved this book but unfortunatly i feel very sad after reading it just because that is pretty much what it is. sad. looking back on it there are no moments where bree feels extremely happy. otherwise i LOVED the book and even though some swear words are used it only happens twice so its not that bad... okay and holding hands and kissing is something i had read when i was ten its not that bad
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dancergirl12
teen, 15 years old
teen, 15 years old
Great Spinoff!
I loved it! i personally thought it was better than the twilight series, just because i did not like bella at all. it gives the cullens a different look than wer're used to and made the book very intresting. there was a lot of violence,but nothing anybody who's read the series can't handle
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noveleater
teen, 15 years old
teen, 15 years old
A fun play off of Eclipse.
This novel was short, and it wasn't about Bella, or Edward, in case you were wondering. This one was about Bree Tanner, the new born who was killed in the end of Eclipse. There was more gore then I was use to from reading the Twilight saga. The end of this left me sad that Stephine Meyer killed her off. The book included kissing, and holding hands. The movie has a quiet and grim feel to it. This wasn't written as well as Twilight was, or The Host was, but it was okay. The violence includes people being thrown around, humans having there blood sucked out, and the language was there, but it didn't appear as often as it did in her other novels. Enjoy!
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Spielberg00
teen, 14 years old
teen, 14 years old
Better than the first two Twilight novels, but doesn't quite top Eclipse. Much darker than all of them combined.
The great thing about this novella is you don't have to read any books from the Twilight saga (well, maybe Eclipse, the book which it's spun off of) to understand it. It's a lot darker than the Twilight saga, though. The character telling the story (Bree Tanner) is a newborn vampire, so there is a lot of description about hunger for blood of victims. There is also a little sexual content (i.e. a mention of a prostitute) but not nearly as much as in the saga. In addition, the words "d-mn" and "h-ll" are frequently tossed around in this book--words that weren't used in the saga very often.
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