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

FM's ratings:

1.      Premise 8

2.      Prose 9

3.      Plot 8

4.      Characters 9

5.      Overall 8

Comments (optional - but try to keep it under 3000 words!)

If you didn’t like Meyer’s “Twilight” books, you might like this tie-in a little better.  Personally, I was very impressed with the series, though they weren’t exactly aimed at a man in his fifties.  The writing was panned for being too juvenile, the critics apparently unaware that it was told in first person by…a juvenile, duh.  I thought the prose captured the thoughts and feelings of the character, Bella, perfectly; and this book captures the thoughts and feelings of another young lady, Bree.  The love interest in this book was played down considerably compared to the series, albeit partly due to lack of space.  The most interesting aspect of this novel is the fact that it fills in the background of a major event in the series and then ties it together at the end by depicting the identical sequence of scenes in the previous work – and this was executed very well.  I suspect that if this novella – almost long enough to be considered a novel – had sold as well as the author had hoped, there would have been more like it.  The brevity may have short-circuited that plan, or the marketing dollars might not have been forthcoming, who knows.  A better approach might have been a true spin-off, with characters from the original series going off on a whole new storyline.  Whatever the case, I for one would like to see more dark fantasy from this talented writer, whose sci-fi foray, “The Host” didn’t work as well, largely due to the plot bogging down of its own weight.

Here’s the February line-up!

“The Dog Who Came In From the Cold,” by Alexander McCall Smith [2-4-17]

“We Have Always Lived in the Castle,” by Shirley Jackson [2-11-17]

“Somebody Tell Aunt Tillie She’s Dead,” by Christiana Miller [2-18-17]

“Blade Runner 2: The Edge of Human,” by K. W. Jeter [2-25-17]

(As always, if there are any books you’d like to recommend for next month, please do so.  Also, if you have already read one on our previous lists, you are invited to send your ratings and or comments for that book!)