Duet Reviews #2: Stephenie Meyer and Paulo Coelho

Duet Reviews will be featuring two books every week with a very short review of each, to let you choose your next read in only 5 minutes!

From Paulo Coelho, author of the international bestseller "The Alchemist," comes a poignant, richly poetic story that reflects the depth of love and life.

Rarely does adolescent love reach its full potential, but what happens when two young lovers reunite after eleven years? Time has transformed Pilar into a strong and independent woman, while her devoted childhood friend has grown into a handsome and charismatic spiritual leader. She has learned well how to bury her feelings . . . and he has turned to religion as a refuge from his raging inner conflicts.

Now they are together once again, embarking on a journey fraught with difficulties, as long-buried demons of blame and resentment resurface after more than a decade. But in a small village in the French Pyrenees, by the waters of the River Piedra, a most special relationship will be reexamined in the dazzling light of some of life's biggest questions.

Name of book: By The River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept
Author: Paulo Coelho
Publication: May 23rd 2006 by Harper Perennial 
Genre: Fiction
Source: Paperback borrowed
Rating: Three & Half Stars

     OK, so I have a friend who is literally, OBSESSED with Paulo Coelho. He loved this one, and he pressured me to read it. Paulo Coelho is an international bestseller, so I had high expectations for this book. At first, I didn't really get Paulo's writing style, but after a while, it grew on me. This book is a spiritual one, but it was one that I enjoyed since it is VERY different from anything that I normally read. It is short but deeply-philosophical. Recommended to fans of fiction, specially inspirational fiction.

Fans of The Twilight Saga will be enthralled by this riveting story of Bree Tanner, a character first introduced in Eclipse, and the darker side of the newborn vampire world she inhabits. 
In another irresistible combination of danger, mystery, and romance, Stephenie Meyer tells the devastating story of Bree and the newborn army as they prepare to close in on Bella Swan and the Cullens, following their encounter to its unforgettable conclusion.
Bree Tanner can barely remember life before she had uncannily powerful 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 she doesn't 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 know only as "her". As they come to realize that the newborns are pawns in a game larger than anything they could have imagined, 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?

Name of book: The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner (Twilight #3.5)

Author: Stephenie Meyer

Publication: June 5th 2010 by Little, Brown and Company 

Genre: YA Paranormal

Source: Owned

     It has been a while since I have read Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series. But when my local bookstore had this, I bought it immediately! The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner (TSSLBT) was different from the Twilight series. I guess that was because Bella was not the main character. Bree was a smart, independent, love-able 15-year-old girl. I felt for her, related to her, and loved her. I really WISHED that Stephenie Meyer could change the end of this book! Recommended to fans of paranormal, and fans of The Twilight Saga, of course. I gotta say, my only complain is that it was too short...

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