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The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner (An Eclipse Novella)
Date: Sunday, January 3, 2016
Time: 5:24 AM
Author: Stephenie Meyer
Ratings: 4/5
Synopsis: Bree Tanner can barely remember life before she had uncannily poweful 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 doesn't she 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 realise that the newborns are pawns in a game larger than anything they could have imagine, 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?
Review: The best part of this novella was being able to see things through the eyes of a real vampire. Bree was a likeable character and readers will feel for and understand her by the end. Bree was one of the smartest vampires in the coven, and was beginning to figure out what Riley and "her" were planning for the newborns. Bree and her fellow vampires were bring manipulated and lied to from the start, but only three of them realised this before it was too late.
The romantic interest, Diego was a sweet, adventurous guy who was one of the only vampires Bree could actually talk with. He was smart and understood something wasn't right with the coven, but unfortunately trusted some of the wrong people. He and Bree had a connection from the start and the scene when they discovered that light was actually not a death sentence was one of my favourites.
The other "good" vampire in the coven was Fred. Readers didn't know much about him to the end, when he started playing a bigger role, but he ended up being a great guy, and a good ally for Bree. He was also talented in a unique way that came in handy for Bree quite a few times. Bree, Diego, and Fred were also pretty much the only ones that even thought about the lives they were taking and the importance of keeping their existence secret.
There was alot of excitement and mystery in this novella and will have readers unable to put it down. The romance is sweet and small, buy you can feel the connection between Bree and Diego. It's sad to see how things turned out for Bree and her coven, and that you don't always know who to trust. One of the most interesting scenes was when Bree met Bella and the Cullens. It was intriguing to see her reaction to these mysterious "golden-eyed" vampires that kept a "human pet".
The ending was sad, but unfortunately, the way it had to be. Readers will feel alot of emotions through the course of this novel, especially the last 50 pages or so.
Overall, The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner was a interesting, emotional, and romantic read that gives Twilight fans a glimpse into the life of a vampite other than the Cullens.Labels: Book Companion, Eclipse, Novella, Paranormal, Romance, Short Stories, Stephenie Meyer, The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner, The Twilight Saga, Young Adult
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The Host
Date: Saturday, January 2, 2016
Time: 6:46 AM
Author: Stephenie Meyer
Ratings: 4/5
Synopsis: Earth has been invaded by a peaceful species that takes over the minds of their hosts whilst leaving their body intact. Most of the humanity succumbed, but pockets of resistance exist and it is the Calling of the Seekers to stamp out any insubordination.
Melanie Stryder her body was given to Wanderer in hopes that the invading "soul" might be able to determine knowledge of other rebels. Wanderer knew about the challenges of living inside a human - the overwhelming emotions, the glut of senses, the too vivid memories - but there was one Wanderer didn't expect: the former tenant of her body refusing to relinquish possession of her mind.
Melanie fills Wanderer's thoughts with visions and memories of the man Melanie loves - Jared, a human who still lives in hiding. Uovrrcom separate herself from her body's desires, Wanderer yearns for a human that she should be turning over to the Seekers. When outside forces make Wanderer and Melanie unwilling allies, they set off on a dangerous and uncertain search for the man they both love.
Review: Whilst marketed as Stephenie's "first novel for adults" the language, violence, and what little sexual innuendo that can be found in The Host is extremely tame and is quite suitable for teens and younger readers. In fact, if not for the depth and complexity of the book emotionally and thematically, The Host is really not far removed from being a YA novel. Genre-wise The Host obviously possesses science fiction elements but is more akin in spirit to such stories as Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Puppet Masters, Alien Nation, Planet of the Apes and V: The Series where science fiction is downplayed in favour of more thought-provoking issues like the resiliency of humanity, overcoming cultural violence barriers, interspecies prejudice, and so forth. However, instead of being fueled by adventure, thrills or horror, The Host is essentially a character-driven romance.
Considering how popular Stephenie Meyer has become, it's hard to imagine that her debut novel was only just released in 2005, because it seems like I've been hearing about the author for decades. Not immune to such massive hype but it is The Host, Stephenie's first novel for adults that marks my introduction to the author's charms to the people.
With the set up. One, in this story Earth has already been conquered, and has been for several years now. Also, Earth is the only of dozens of planets that have been similarly subjugated. Two, the "souls" are a benign alien species and in their mind they believe they've done humanity a favour by getting rid of crime, violence and other depravities - concepts along with hate and betrayal that are foreign to the aliens. And thirdly, even though the planet has been conquered, the lives of those human whose bodies have been stolen continues. In other words, the aliens, through their human hosts, continue to feed and bathe themselves, go to work and have relationships. Basically, life is normal, except they don't have to worry about security, pay for services or provisions anymore, and health care is much improved.
I should also note that even though The Host is classified as science fiction, there is actually a very little science fiction in the book. I mean readers will get to learn about different planets - Fire World, See World, The Singing Planet, The Planet of the Flowers, The Mists Planet, The Dragon Planet, Summer World, etc. - alien species (Vultures, Spiders, Dolphins, Claw Beasts) and the Souls' Callings like Healers, Seekers, Comforters, and Motherhood as well as their Origin World, but overall the science fiction elements are overshadowed, so don't expect the same kind of depth or complicated world-building that you might find in a space opera or epic fantasy series. After all, that's not what The Host is about.
Instead, The Host is about emotions, characters and their interactions with one another, and what it means to be human and this is where Stephenie Meyer leaves her mark.
What's truly amazing about this is that the main protagonist is an alien. Of course, Wanderer is not your everyday alien. You see, she chose the name Wanderer for a reason. On average, a "soul" may visit two planets before finding one they like and settling down. Earth is Wanderer's ninth planet. Because of this experience, Wanderer is chosen to be inserted into the body of the rebel Melanie Stryder. The thought was that with her experience, Wanderer would be able to extract the information from Melanie's memories that the Seekers need even though the long-term success rate of "souls" assimilating an adult human host is under 20%. What no one expected though was that Melanie's consciousness would remain aware and driven by her host body's emotions Wanderer would abandon her species and seek out Melanie's loved ones.
I could go on trying to explain how amazing I thought the characterisation was, how the incredibly poignant story made me react with such strong emotion, and why I loved reading The Host so much, but no amount of words can do the book justice. Basically, The Host is one of those rare novels that you have to experience in your own to really appreciate it.
Labels: Romance, Sci-Fi, Stephenie Meyer, The Host
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Life and Death: Twilight Reimagined
Date: Tuesday, December 29, 2015
Time: 6:49 AM
Author: Stephenie Meyer
Ratings: 2/5
Synopsis: When Beaufort Swan moves to the gloomy town of Forks and meets the mysterious, alluring Edythe Cullen, his life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn. With porcelain skin, golden eyes, mesmerising voice and supernatural gifts, Edythe is both irresistible and enigmatic.
What Beau doesn't realise is the closer he gets to her, the more he is putting himself and those around him at risk. And, it might be too late to turn back..
Review: Younger version of me read Twilight and loved it. I was swept away by the atmosphere and the forbidden love and the whole magical quality to the story. Now I've grown up and realised how unhealthy and terrifying the relationship between Edward and Bella really is, but I've never let go of the enjoyment and love I felt for this story when I first read it.
So it was a no brainer that I was going to read this re-imagined version when I heard about it, no matter what my logical brain might be screaming at me. But yeah curiosity won over me.
When Meyer says she's gender swapped everyone apart from Charlie and Renee, she means everyone. Down to really bizarre things like the school nurse being an old man. There were moments like that where I really feel like as if she was taking it a bit far, as if she's trying to make a point of "Look how much re-writing I've done!" rather than it serving an actual purpose to the story.
The gender swapped characters are a bit of a mixed bag. Urgh! Who would name their child Royal?! On the other hand I was quite interested in Edythe - she's still got all the creepy over possessiveness of Edward, but nearly as terrifying in her displays of anger which made me warm to her a little. However, she's juxtaposed against Beau, who I really did not get along with. I found him infinitely less interesting than Bella (which is saying something given how bland Bella has a tendency to be) and thoughts and actions which could be (sort of) forgiven with Bella came across as creepy and downright disturbing with Beau. Maybe Meyer cannot write un-alarming male characters, particularly not in this particular world, because almost all of her male characters in both this version and the original are terrifying. They're possessive, angry, and have a tendency to be emotionally manipulative. Bella and Edward's relationship was a classic case of abuse, which is why it's so alarming that a generation of teenagers grew up thinking that Edward and Bella had the perfect romance, and saying that they wanted to find their own Edward.
Whilst the gender swapped version manages to avoid some of the issues of the original. It is more than a little alarming in places both with Edythe's control issues and actions (still not over how creepy Edythe/Edward watching Beau/Bella sleeping) and Beau's actions toward Edythe. This is the very definition of an unhealthy relationship with a whole heap of insta-love thrown in for good measure, and a gender swap doesn't change that.
In fact, gender swapping brings up a whole host of new issues. In Twilight, there were no real moments when Bella talked about Edwards's physicality. Not so with Beau who judges every woman/girl he meets by their physicality. Meyer seems to think that turning Bella into Beau means that because he's a boy he must be more fixated on how girls look. Iffy at its best, but when you start looking at the things he focuses on it becomes much more alarming. He fixates on how you can see the sharp angles on Edythe's collar bones and shoulder blades. How you can count all her ribs through her T-shirt and then waxes lyrical about how this is the epitome of attractiveness. Not even remotely okay?!
In fact, aside from these blatant "Look I can totally write from a male perspective! Look at these male thoughts!" moments, Beau never actually feels like a guy. I kept forgetting that he was a guy (until there would be the inevitable reminder and it would jolt me into remembering again) and most of the story he was actually a she - which made for much more interesting reading to have a female/female relationship. Alas, the possibilities that could have given this story a much needed shake up.
If you we're hoping that Meyer might provide an insightful and much better version of Twilight with this gender swapped version, you may not as well bother. The majority of the novel is just a find and replace on pronouns and names. The novel is still filled with problems - some the same as the original, a few delightful ones brought to light with the swap. There are a few new scenes which hardcore fans will be delighted in reading, and there is of course the alternate ending essentially a hotmess of exposition and Meyer attempting to cram the three books of the quartet into fifty pages. In fact I found the alternate ending thoroughly depressing, fitting in quite nicely with the feeling of reading the rest of the novel.
It's expensive, even on kindle, and if you buy the hardback you get a thoroughly unnecessary extra copy of Twilight so that the book becomes even more unwieldy. You can use it to smack anyone's head and will put them into coma. The entire thing smacks of being a money grab rather than what it's pretending to be - a tribute to fans of book that despite it's problems helped to put Young Adult fiction on the map ten years ago.
Labels: Fantasy, Life and Death: Twilight Reimagined, Paranormal, Romance, Stephenie Meyer, Young Adult
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The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner (An Eclipse Novella)
Author: Stephenie Meyer
Ratings: 4/5
Synopsis: Bree Tanner can barely remember life before she had uncannily poweful 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 doesn't she 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 realise that the newborns are pawns in a game larger than anything they could have imagine, 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?
Review: The best part of this novella was being able to see things through the eyes of a real vampire. Bree was a likeable character and readers will feel for and understand her by the end. Bree was one of the smartest vampires in the coven, and was beginning to figure out what Riley and "her" were planning for the newborns. Bree and her fellow vampires were bring manipulated and lied to from the start, but only three of them realised this before it was too late.
The romantic interest, Diego was a sweet, adventurous guy who was one of the only vampires Bree could actually talk with. He was smart and understood something wasn't right with the coven, but unfortunately trusted some of the wrong people. He and Bree had a connection from the start and the scene when they discovered that light was actually not a death sentence was one of my favourites.
The other "good" vampire in the coven was Fred. Readers didn't know much about him to the end, when he started playing a bigger role, but he ended up being a great guy, and a good ally for Bree. He was also talented in a unique way that came in handy for Bree quite a few times. Bree, Diego, and Fred were also pretty much the only ones that even thought about the lives they were taking and the importance of keeping their existence secret.
There was alot of excitement and mystery in this novella and will have readers unable to put it down. The romance is sweet and small, buy you can feel the connection between Bree and Diego. It's sad to see how things turned out for Bree and her coven, and that you don't always know who to trust. One of the most interesting scenes was when Bree met Bella and the Cullens. It was intriguing to see her reaction to these mysterious "golden-eyed" vampires that kept a "human pet".
The ending was sad, but unfortunately, the way it had to be. Readers will feel alot of emotions through the course of this novel, especially the last 50 pages or so.
Overall, The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner was a interesting, emotional, and romantic read that gives Twilight fans a glimpse into the life of a vampite other than the Cullens.Labels: Book Companion, Eclipse, Novella, Paranormal, Romance, Short Stories, Stephenie Meyer, The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner, The Twilight Saga, Young Adult
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The Host
Author: Stephenie Meyer
Ratings: 4/5
Synopsis: Earth has been invaded by a peaceful species that takes over the minds of their hosts whilst leaving their body intact. Most of the humanity succumbed, but pockets of resistance exist and it is the Calling of the Seekers to stamp out any insubordination.
Melanie Stryder her body was given to Wanderer in hopes that the invading "soul" might be able to determine knowledge of other rebels. Wanderer knew about the challenges of living inside a human - the overwhelming emotions, the glut of senses, the too vivid memories - but there was one Wanderer didn't expect: the former tenant of her body refusing to relinquish possession of her mind.
Melanie fills Wanderer's thoughts with visions and memories of the man Melanie loves - Jared, a human who still lives in hiding. Uovrrcom separate herself from her body's desires, Wanderer yearns for a human that she should be turning over to the Seekers. When outside forces make Wanderer and Melanie unwilling allies, they set off on a dangerous and uncertain search for the man they both love.
Review: Whilst marketed as Stephenie's "first novel for adults" the language, violence, and what little sexual innuendo that can be found in The Host is extremely tame and is quite suitable for teens and younger readers. In fact, if not for the depth and complexity of the book emotionally and thematically, The Host is really not far removed from being a YA novel. Genre-wise The Host obviously possesses science fiction elements but is more akin in spirit to such stories as Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Puppet Masters, Alien Nation, Planet of the Apes and V: The Series where science fiction is downplayed in favour of more thought-provoking issues like the resiliency of humanity, overcoming cultural violence barriers, interspecies prejudice, and so forth. However, instead of being fueled by adventure, thrills or horror, The Host is essentially a character-driven romance.
Considering how popular Stephenie Meyer has become, it's hard to imagine that her debut novel was only just released in 2005, because it seems like I've been hearing about the author for decades. Not immune to such massive hype but it is The Host, Stephenie's first novel for adults that marks my introduction to the author's charms to the people.
With the set up. One, in this story Earth has already been conquered, and has been for several years now. Also, Earth is the only of dozens of planets that have been similarly subjugated. Two, the "souls" are a benign alien species and in their mind they believe they've done humanity a favour by getting rid of crime, violence and other depravities - concepts along with hate and betrayal that are foreign to the aliens. And thirdly, even though the planet has been conquered, the lives of those human whose bodies have been stolen continues. In other words, the aliens, through their human hosts, continue to feed and bathe themselves, go to work and have relationships. Basically, life is normal, except they don't have to worry about security, pay for services or provisions anymore, and health care is much improved.
I should also note that even though The Host is classified as science fiction, there is actually a very little science fiction in the book. I mean readers will get to learn about different planets - Fire World, See World, The Singing Planet, The Planet of the Flowers, The Mists Planet, The Dragon Planet, Summer World, etc. - alien species (Vultures, Spiders, Dolphins, Claw Beasts) and the Souls' Callings like Healers, Seekers, Comforters, and Motherhood as well as their Origin World, but overall the science fiction elements are overshadowed, so don't expect the same kind of depth or complicated world-building that you might find in a space opera or epic fantasy series. After all, that's not what The Host is about.
Instead, The Host is about emotions, characters and their interactions with one another, and what it means to be human and this is where Stephenie Meyer leaves her mark.
What's truly amazing about this is that the main protagonist is an alien. Of course, Wanderer is not your everyday alien. You see, she chose the name Wanderer for a reason. On average, a "soul" may visit two planets before finding one they like and settling down. Earth is Wanderer's ninth planet. Because of this experience, Wanderer is chosen to be inserted into the body of the rebel Melanie Stryder. The thought was that with her experience, Wanderer would be able to extract the information from Melanie's memories that the Seekers need even though the long-term success rate of "souls" assimilating an adult human host is under 20%. What no one expected though was that Melanie's consciousness would remain aware and driven by her host body's emotions Wanderer would abandon her species and seek out Melanie's loved ones.
I could go on trying to explain how amazing I thought the characterisation was, how the incredibly poignant story made me react with such strong emotion, and why I loved reading The Host so much, but no amount of words can do the book justice. Basically, The Host is one of those rare novels that you have to experience in your own to really appreciate it.
Labels: Romance, Sci-Fi, Stephenie Meyer, The Host
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Life and Death: Twilight Reimagined
Author: Stephenie Meyer
Ratings: 2/5
Synopsis: When Beaufort Swan moves to the gloomy town of Forks and meets the mysterious, alluring Edythe Cullen, his life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn. With porcelain skin, golden eyes, mesmerising voice and supernatural gifts, Edythe is both irresistible and enigmatic.
What Beau doesn't realise is the closer he gets to her, the more he is putting himself and those around him at risk. And, it might be too late to turn back..
Review: Younger version of me read Twilight and loved it. I was swept away by the atmosphere and the forbidden love and the whole magical quality to the story. Now I've grown up and realised how unhealthy and terrifying the relationship between Edward and Bella really is, but I've never let go of the enjoyment and love I felt for this story when I first read it.
So it was a no brainer that I was going to read this re-imagined version when I heard about it, no matter what my logical brain might be screaming at me. But yeah curiosity won over me.
When Meyer says she's gender swapped everyone apart from Charlie and Renee, she means everyone. Down to really bizarre things like the school nurse being an old man. There were moments like that where I really feel like as if she was taking it a bit far, as if she's trying to make a point of "Look how much re-writing I've done!" rather than it serving an actual purpose to the story.
The gender swapped characters are a bit of a mixed bag. Urgh! Who would name their child Royal?! On the other hand I was quite interested in Edythe - she's still got all the creepy over possessiveness of Edward, but nearly as terrifying in her displays of anger which made me warm to her a little. However, she's juxtaposed against Beau, who I really did not get along with. I found him infinitely less interesting than Bella (which is saying something given how bland Bella has a tendency to be) and thoughts and actions which could be (sort of) forgiven with Bella came across as creepy and downright disturbing with Beau. Maybe Meyer cannot write un-alarming male characters, particularly not in this particular world, because almost all of her male characters in both this version and the original are terrifying. They're possessive, angry, and have a tendency to be emotionally manipulative. Bella and Edward's relationship was a classic case of abuse, which is why it's so alarming that a generation of teenagers grew up thinking that Edward and Bella had the perfect romance, and saying that they wanted to find their own Edward.
Whilst the gender swapped version manages to avoid some of the issues of the original. It is more than a little alarming in places both with Edythe's control issues and actions (still not over how creepy Edythe/Edward watching Beau/Bella sleeping) and Beau's actions toward Edythe. This is the very definition of an unhealthy relationship with a whole heap of insta-love thrown in for good measure, and a gender swap doesn't change that.
In fact, gender swapping brings up a whole host of new issues. In Twilight, there were no real moments when Bella talked about Edwards's physicality. Not so with Beau who judges every woman/girl he meets by their physicality. Meyer seems to think that turning Bella into Beau means that because he's a boy he must be more fixated on how girls look. Iffy at its best, but when you start looking at the things he focuses on it becomes much more alarming. He fixates on how you can see the sharp angles on Edythe's collar bones and shoulder blades. How you can count all her ribs through her T-shirt and then waxes lyrical about how this is the epitome of attractiveness. Not even remotely okay?!
In fact, aside from these blatant "Look I can totally write from a male perspective! Look at these male thoughts!" moments, Beau never actually feels like a guy. I kept forgetting that he was a guy (until there would be the inevitable reminder and it would jolt me into remembering again) and most of the story he was actually a she - which made for much more interesting reading to have a female/female relationship. Alas, the possibilities that could have given this story a much needed shake up.
If you we're hoping that Meyer might provide an insightful and much better version of Twilight with this gender swapped version, you may not as well bother. The majority of the novel is just a find and replace on pronouns and names. The novel is still filled with problems - some the same as the original, a few delightful ones brought to light with the swap. There are a few new scenes which hardcore fans will be delighted in reading, and there is of course the alternate ending essentially a hotmess of exposition and Meyer attempting to cram the three books of the quartet into fifty pages. In fact I found the alternate ending thoroughly depressing, fitting in quite nicely with the feeling of reading the rest of the novel.
It's expensive, even on kindle, and if you buy the hardback you get a thoroughly unnecessary extra copy of Twilight so that the book becomes even more unwieldy. You can use it to smack anyone's head and will put them into coma. The entire thing smacks of being a money grab rather than what it's pretending to be - a tribute to fans of book that despite it's problems helped to put Young Adult fiction on the map ten years ago.
Labels: Fantasy, Life and Death: Twilight Reimagined, Paranormal, Romance, Stephenie Meyer, Young Adult
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