Monday, October 25, 2010

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner

This book was so short that I read it in one day, within a few hours. Having read all of the other Stephenie Meyer books it just made sense to read this one as well! It fills in the gaps where the newborn vampires of Eclipse are concerned. Bree's existence is only known for about 5 minutes in Eclipse, but the reader never knows how she came to be and the life that she and the other newborns lived prior to the attack on the Cullens.

I have to be honest...this book was a quick and easy read, but it didn't provide any earth shattering insights. The most important bit of information taken from this book was the fact that the Volturi were aware of Victoria's plan and they were on board. Other than that, it's really only about 50 normal pages (regular sized print and margins) of story and it's only marginally interesting.

I'm also reading The Perfect 10 Diet  this week. If you'd like to follow my health overhaul visit my other blog, Musings of a Cul-de-Sac Mom. 

The Host

I chose The Host by Stephenie Meyer this week. I'm a fan of her other books, and really had no preconceived notions about this book. I had heard that it was good, but had no idea what the basic premise was. To put it mildly, I was shocked. It was so unlike the Twilight Saga...at first. By the end, I realized that the overall story wasn't so different.

What I love about Stephanie Meyer is her ability to write about the unbelievable while convincing you somehow not to question it. I mean, let's be serious- vampires and werewolves? body snatching aliens? I didn't think I could get into her books just by the mere mention of the subjects. Her genius lies in making the story so intriguing that you forget that the characters are supernatural. She doesn't get bogged down in technical jargon, and she doesn't spend a tremendous amount of time on the science fiction part of things. She focuses on the relationships between the characters and makes sure that you care so much for them that you overlook that they are not quite human.

To be honest, after the reading the first few pages of this book I wasn't sure I would be able to finish. The idea of aliens taking over human bodies and then living as their "host" was a bit absurd to me. I generally don't like science fiction. I didn't even watch the X-Files at the height of its popularity. It wasn't long though before I was completely wrapped up in the characters and their relationships. I found myself imagining the crazy world that Wanda and Melanie lived in. I was pulling for the characters to survive and find their way to each other.
By the end I wanted more!

One of the best things about this book was the bonus chapter. It covers the time that Melanie and Wanda are apart, before Wanda is aware of what's happening. All too often those scenes are left to the imagination, and if the movie rights hadn't already been sold to this book, chances are that chapter wouldn't have been written. It will be interesting to see what they do with the movie!

So overall, I liked this book and I would recommend it! It is exceptionally long, as almost all of Meyer's books are, but worth the effort!
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