A guest blogger post by Josephine Ayoub*

*My 15 year old sister (and an amazing creative writer with a flair for drama the likes of which I have never seen. And this is not my nepotism talking. Anyway, she didn’t want to do this review, because she doesn’t “do” reviews. But I thought I would let her flex her wordsmith muscles a little by giving her a task that would challenge her).

A new way to look at the world of the vampires…

A new way to look at the Cullens…

A new way to look at Bella Swan…

This novella is a way to look at them…From the eyes of a vampire.

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner (Atom, $22.99) is the latest title from the mind that brought us the Twilight phenomenon. Any fan of the Twilight Saga, will surely be sucked into the secretive and sinister vampire life of Bree Tanner, a character first seen in the third book of the series, Eclipse. Now see the side of the story that was never seen before: The side of the newborn vampire. Bree Tanner is one of many newborn vampires created by Riley. Feared and strong, Riley leads these newborns, but under the command of someone they only know as ‘she’. But when Bree finds an unexpected friendship in another vampire named Diego, she begins to realize that their creator has many secrets about the vampire world—secrets in which he can’t afford for them to find out. Is she just another pawn in Riley’s tricks and games? Bree and Diego know something is coming—something big.

With no clue of what to do or who to trust, and she finds herself in an ultimatum. She must now pick a side…Before it’s too late!

I loved visualising the story from a new point of view after reading of her in Eclipse. Knowing the secrets that Bree craved to uncover, it was alluring to hear her thoughts and it made me anxious awaiting the moments she found out about the truth.

I would have loved it more to know her story right from the beginning too. I mean, from exactly when she was turned…The story is set about three months after she was turned by Riley, so there is some missing spots. She does however describe memories, giving us a small idea of what it was like and her past… I would’ve liked more of that.

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Josephine Ayoub is the kid sister of Miss Wordsmith Lane herself, Sarah Ayoub. She’s in year 10 at the local highschool, loves reading, TV dramas, and pasta in white sauce and has a sick mistaken theory that she’s moving in with Sarah when she finally ties to the knot to James. Josie spends far too much time spinning stories, whether she’s telling them in far too lengthy conversations to her siblings, turning them into hit school plays or using them to manipulate and scare her younger cousins when they get out of hand during baby-sitting. For someone who’s concerned about the environment, Josie always forgets her bedroom light on. And, as Sarah would like to add (without Josie’s consent), this extends to the home environment also, where Josie always forgets to pack the laundry and the dishes. The easiest of all chores.