How to Make Your Heroes Look Even Worse by Stephenie Meyer 

Another example of why Stephanie Meyer should lean into her existential horror and darkness of her ideas, because if this was written knowing how utterly messed up it was, it would be far more interesting.

Credit where it’s due, “The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner” is actually a really good title for a novella about a vampire who died suddenly and tragically.

I really think Stephanie Meyer should take a shot at writing horror novels.

I remember feeling indignant when none of the Cullens tried to stop Bree's execution. She could have added an interesting dynamic to the Cullen family if they took her in. She even could have been a first-hand example for Bella of what newborn vampires are like and trying to get her to resist the human blood diet. That would have been a cool story. Instead we get hybrid vampire babies and newborn vampire Bella with perfect self-control.

There was a section in Eclipse where Bella is told the story of The Third Wife. And during the ending of it Billy references a bag hanging around his neck. Its implied through the story and context that this is vampire ash, this someone they killed and kept the bagged remains so that it could never reform. The implications of that are horrific honestly. Because it implies that burning the vampire does not actually kill them, just renders them unto ash and that there is still sentience there. Because its suggested throughout the books that the reason you must rip a vampire up and burn them is to prevent them from reforming. So if someone where to say snap Edward's head off his shoulders he is not dead, he is very much still alive but just disabled for a time. But this story implies that he could eventually put his head back on and be fine. So Bree narrating after she is burnt is so much darker because its entirely possible that Bree is still conscious even after being burnt to ash.

Congratulations Dom on becoming an uncle!

If Meyer had realised her true strength is in short form horror and not embarassingly edgy Mormon romance, society might be very different

Someone online proposed that a way to fix a lot of the issues with later series Twilight books would have been to allow Bree to join the Cullen Clan and have HER be the one Jacob imprints on. It shifts a lot of stuff around into a better, less creepy narrative.

As someone who works with runaways and abused kids, I'm honestly willing to give Bree a little more leeway for not taking off when she knows she's in a shit spot She's put into a traumatic situation (even if Meyers doesn't talk about it, she was //killed// and turned into a bloodthirsty violent creature) and while she was formerly a runaway, she's now a completely different species and has someone gaslighting her about what she is or isn't capable of. Not to mention she's a combination of newborn vampire and fifteen year old girl. People are willing to take all sorts of crap for the sake of stability. Honestly, I'm desperate for Meyers to write a story about the hybrids down in South America, just so we can finally address the gaping plot whole that is the brilliant strategy that nobody thought to ponder on at the end of Breaking Dawn. The Volturi know (via Edwards memories) that Alice can't see hybrids. The Volturi know that there are a bunch of hybrids in South America that nobody except their half-brother and their Nazi vampire dad cares about. The Volturi have a vampire that can influence people to change sides. Why don't the Volturi just go south, kill Nazi Dad, convince the hybrid daughters to join them, and basically create an easy strategy to decimate Team Cullen by planning everything involving bringing the hybrids with them so Alice can't see what's happening? BAM-- dead Team Cullen.

Another thing worth noting about that final bit where Bree thinks about how she's passed on all that knowledge of how the Volturi are bad to the mind-reader... Edward does precisely nothing with it. In fact, going by how he acts in Breaking Dawn, he didn't even HEAR it. Because when the big reveal comes that the Volturi are corrupt, he still has the nerve to be surprised. He acts like Bree never existed. Which, in the original "Forever Dawn" draft, she didn't. Meyer wrote the original draft of Breaking Dawn before New Moon, Eclipse, and Bree Tanner, and when what she ended up writing for the in-between required that she change the ending, she said, "nah, I'll just give the wolves a bit more screen time and that'll be fine."

Where's Fred POV novella? A lone vampire with a unique gift who left his original vampire ''family'' behind and is now wandering around? The only person who hanged out with him left with the others and is now dead? I want it!

I have a bit of a funny history regarding this book. Near the end of my 10th grade graduation, our school wanted to reward those who received high scores all throughout the year with a book of their choosing. I wanted to get "Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief", as I was interested in the Riordan-verse and wanted to get into it. However, either they couldn't get it, or because some mistake happened, I instead got "The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner". To say that I was bitter would be an understatement.

Funny thing is you get the impression Meyer wrote this novella partly to justify the Cullens letting the Volturi kill Bree by retconing things so that Bree actually wanted to die because she would rather face death than have to live near Bella but never be able to drink her blood. Problem is that only Edward can hear her thoughts. The others have no idea she wants death. Also, Meyer went out of her way to establish that Newborns are more bloodlust and that eventually fades away. And given how rich the Cullens are you would think they could easily have her live far away from Bella until Bella herself turns (I mean they own a freaking island). Heck, the fact that she has dirt on the Volturi just makes things worse because you would think Edward could use that as leverage against them to let her live. But nope, he and the rest of the Cullens let them get away with it because who cares what the Volturi do as long as doesn't hurt them? This novella did nothing to expand the Twilight verse and it only introduced more unresolved plot threads (did Edward try and contact Fred as Bree wanted? What's the point of Bree giving Edward the information that the Volturi were encouraging this if he did nothing with it?) But hey, at least it had one of the most unintentionally funny moments in the entire series (Meyer describing the sound of Vampires kissing)

"Yes, this is something I could have planned around. . .but I didn't." Love the honesty Dom.

The best thing about the Bree novella is that its proceeds funneled a dollar-per-sale into the Red Cross for emergency aid. Something like $1.5 million from the initial sales.

There are a lot of VERY Mormon themes in Meyer's work. Basically everything that squicked you out. Like, I don't think an understanding of Mormon heaven would transform the bad writing, but it turns all those "WTF is happening?!" moments into "I understood that reference" moments.

Hang on, isn't the logic behind Meyer's extra vampire powers that it's a supernatural augmentation of a trait they had as a human? And Fred's power is to make himself repellent??? The poor guy.

Back when Twilight was huge, I was really into it. And when I read this novel I quickly found myself furious with The Cullens. I was always more Team Jacob anyway, but this book solidified my disdain for those sanctimonious, cold pricks. I knew what Bree's fate was from before I even picked up the novel, but until the very end, I kept wishing somehow, someway she survived. To this day, I'll never forget the last lines of the book, where Edward told her to close her eyes. So sad. Poor Bree. So young. So innocent. They could've took her in and guided her easily. But no. Can't have another single girl in Bella's orbit, I guess.

I tried reading Bree Tanner in middle school because I was genuinely interested in reading another side of the Twilight story. But its lack of chapters, being one long story without any sections to break it up, bothered the hell out of me so I quickly gave up on it. Needless to say, the concept of novellas just wasn't for me. 😆😅

Honestly Carlisle adopting Bree into the Cullen family would make for a much more interesting story. How does Bree adjust to the Cullen coven lifestyle? What is the cover story for Bree going into high school? Where does Bree end up going to high school? Etc.

I honestly thought this book was the best out of all the twilight universe books. Stephanie Meyer's writing is at its best when she just goes ham on the horror and tragedy aspects XD

Yet again with Meyer, Fred, the Vampire who's power is overwhelming repulsion is a much more interesting character that I actually would want to be the focus. Edit: Dom may joke but I'm #TeamFred to the death

That ending song was probably the best thing to come out of this book's existence, so silver linings and all that

So proud of you, Dom, for keeping at the saga. Congratulations to your sister and her family!! ♥

Re: the book being written in first person past tense, it’s hard for many writers (especially weaker ones), to write outside of their POV comfort zone. When I was studying creative writing in undergrad, it was excruciatingly hard for me to write in anything other than first person present tense, to the extent that trying to do otherwise made the quality of my writing substantially worse. And it’s not a simple matter of changing the POV or tense after the fact, either, because the narration becomes clunky when inorganically forced into different perimeters.

Well, I mean she ends the series by having the "heroes" make peace with the fucking vampire fascists. Not opposing them, not planning to overthrow them, just calling a truce. So it seems like the final lesson of the series is that you shouldn't seek to actually *_stop_* a totalitarian, mass-murdering bunch of lunatics, you should just make a deal with them so that they continue killing untold thousands of people, just as long as they leave *_you_* alone. Such a heroic bunch, the Cullens!

3:35: "Love comes in all forms" is a perfectly valid theme to include in a romance series, but it's somewhat telling if you keep writing one sort of questionable romance over and over...

Tbh in regards to Bree's hyperfixation with Diego, that seems to be the norm when it comes to Meyer's vampires' biology. They mostly mate for life (even if Victoria took Riley as a "mate", she never really saw him as one and it was part of her way of using him... in general they seem to allow themselves to have relationships with different partners but once they find that compatible mate it's them and just them), and fall in love quickly and become a pair. Once they do, they don't really wanna stay apart from each other and loosing the other is exceedingly painful. So I could see Bree staying for Diego if they were on their way to become a mated pair. I mean, this IS a rule set by Meyer so ofc everyone falls hard and fast and etc, and imo is more of a part of the whole "excusing Edward's obsession with Bella via lore" but at *least* it's actually consistent through the series, which is not something I get to say a lot in regards to this franchise. Like. "instinct" is a thing that happens in these vampires. The Cullens wanted to protect their territory so. yea. Even Carlisle agrees even if he aint happy about it. Heck, vampires in general are selfish, arrogant, solitary beings who fight over prey and territory. The Cullens are WRITTEN to be better than that, but they 100% fit into it lmao. Selfless kind Carlisle straight up admits he changed Edward bc HE was lonely, knowing he was dooming the kid to a life he himself hated. He changed Rosalie without care for HER wants OR Edward's, since he changed her to be a mate for him without even asking lmao. In the guidebook some characters are changed just bc the creator was curious, that girl Meg (Maggie? idk, the one who knows truth and lies) being an example. Vampires dont care lmao. I think its funny that the Cullens are written as superior but in the end their selfishness tends to stem from character and not instinct :'D Anyway, on the mate thing, It was true for when Alice met Jasper, for when Rosalie found Emmet (she was drawn to him even if he was dying, to the point of not killing him even if she was still a newborn herself), technically with Edward in regards to Bella, etc. You also see it with uhhhh Garret and that Denali sister whose name I forget. They have a small period of attraction and if it's mutual they become a bonded pair. Still almost instantaneous, but at least it isnt imprinting :') Seems like vampires ACTUALLY have a choice in the matter, tho they usually dont bother choosing anyone else. Tanya being interested in Edward but him not reciprocating comes to mind. As for why Bree didn't leave before, imo that's bc she's a broken traumatized child. I will say back when I read this (which was around if not more than 10y ago at this point), I didnt notice the age gap, yikes. I guess bc to me it felt like a very innocent kinda crush. But, yea, yikes. Ofc there's some weird stuff like this going on. I remember actually enjoying this one and thinking it was better written than the main series, though the fact that Edward did NOTHING with the knowledge that Bree gave him on the Volturi annoyed me :') He was even surprised that they were not the saints he believed them to be. As a side note for another thing you said, imo I dont necessarily think add-ons and extra content in franchises NEEDS to have a purpose. I enjoy reading stories for the fun of it (not that Twilight counts but still), and sometimes I just wanna see stuff written from a different perspective. Its for fun :'D

The way Meyer could have solved the issue of 1st Person Past Tense could have been a tie-in to the movie. The whole movie is her recounting events and giving commentary on what happened right up until she gets killed by the Vampire Mafia, at which point it switches to 1st Person Present and she is killed. THEN switch to Edward's POV for one page only where we learn he was reading her mind the whole time and knows what really happened and have it be a transition to the next main Twilight book. Edward knows the Vampire Sopranos were in on it and now the good vampires plot their revenge. We realize the little kid's second life had meaning despite the circumstances and she went out doing something heroic besides "Surrendering while her brothers in arms get slaughtered around her by the actual heroes of the story" that actually helps our main characters and progresses the main book series' plot. I'm a writer btw. These are the things I brainstorm daily. Meyer made more money than I could ever dream of. I just want someone to read my book one day lol

Has Meyer's Mormon community been investigated for child brides? Because her romanticization of adult/child relationships makes me wonder how she was raised.

I’ve read Twilight (and the 3 subsequent books) and yeah, to this day I am baffled that Meyers didn’t just write horror or some sort of thriller - they’re the only parts of the book that are unequivocally good (mind you, she appears to be set on retroactively destroying them, but…). It’s actually kinda fascinating - she seems to have no problem writing super violent stuff and she actually uses her character supernatural abilities surprisingly deftly (I cannot express how rare that is, and the powers that Meyers was working with weren’t exactly easy ones). Yeah, other authors have done all of those better, but if Twilight shows how good she is at that stuff while actively trying to not do it, I’d genuinely love to read the result of her going all in on it. Edit: I have now been reminded of the stuff that I blocked from my memory of Twilight. Maybe move it down to, “I’d be interested”. Meyers is good at horror from a multitude of very concerning angles…

i remember that my mother, who adored the books, got me all of them including this one for like, under $20 from the library, which was doing a ‘spring clean’. I was thirteen, read all of the books and now, years later, i remembered the fact that i still have this book hidden away in my shelf. Remembered how terrible it was even from my 13yo memory, and my standards were low. I now understand why he library would have been ‘spring-cleaning’ these insanely popular good-condition books out…

"Yes, this is something I could've planned around, but... I didn't." There's something comforting about following content creators who are also ND.

Congratulations, Uncle Dom! I hope your sister and her baby are doing well. It would have been so simple for Meyer to use that old framing device of, "This is her story as she told it to me," to have, say, Edward introduce it and continue on from the first person POV. She wouldn't even need to tell him, he could have just gotten it from her telepathically. Then he and Bella could have looked better by being sympathetic to Bree, based on how she related her life to him.

This is just making me think of much better content, namely the Shovelheads from Vampire The Masquerade, which are 'recruited' in similar manner, usually by being kidnapped (often by being hit over the head with a shovel, hence the name, and then turned while unconscious) and because the Sabbat (a faction of vampiric supremacists who reject human morality entirely) uses them as mass cannon fodder, they gather them from people society will not notice or care have vanished; the homeless, gangbangers/hoodlum/petty criminals & low ranking gangsters, sex workers, runaways, etc. The difference is, rather than using weak lies to scare them into line, the Sabbat force their new pawns to drink the blood of senior vampires, which leaves the shovelheads enthralled to them and unable to disobey, even if they recognise they are being sent to their deaths (any who show resistance to this are slaughtered by their much more powerful progenitors). This means that instead of having a chance to flee and simply not taking it, Sabbat Shovelheads generally don't get a choice, as their sires can simply override their free will. Also Honor Harrington is MUCH better series than this (but would also be a nightmare to adapt due to the way so much is conveyed through the narrators voice).

This honestly feels like she read the chapter on Baby Jenks in Queen of the Damned and said, "Hey, there's an idea I can steal and rewrite but in a less compelling and creative way, because I'll never be an eighth of the author that Anne Rice is". And people who wouldn't know good literature if it but then on the ass eat that shit up, because it's "tragic" and "meaningful".

On the "dead first person past-tense POV" subject, there's an ongoing comic called "Seven Secrets" where the primary character and narrator died at the end of the last issue after it being teased for a while. Due to the way the world is set-up, I'm not expecting him to stay dead, but it's still been an interesting decision since he's been talking about "the day that I died," for the last couple issues before this one. Tangentially related, to anyone reading this far, find and read Seven Secrets if you can. It's a wild ride with a lot of fun stuff, like the Queen of England being a bad-ass Indian woman... that EXCALIBUR recognizes as the true ruler. It's amazing.

I do like that they mentioned the whole "Vampires burning in the sun" thing when Bree and co. hide in a cave because they think the sun will kill them.

Well, at least this was short, right Mr. Noble? Congrats on being an uncle! Hope the delivery went well for your sister and you have a safe travel there/back! P.S. Thank you for the Sir Terry cameo. Always love seeing Sir Terry.

I first read that the title of the book as “the short second life of a bee trainer”.

The ending in this series still blows my mind, because it’s not an ending! It’s a pause! Literally they say “we will have to deal with them later” but later never comes… wtf? I seriously thought for YEARS that she was gonna come out with another sequel and finish the story, where the Cullens finally take out the vulturi… but no.

Nice to see a new vid from you. By the way, I recently learned of a worse romance novel that was published before Twilight but has the same vibes...called Redeeming Love.

I heard that Myer wanted to explore the character of Bree more and thought that Bella's rebirth as a vampire didn't explore the world from a vampire's perspective enough. So she decided to try seeing the vampire world through Bree's eyes instead.

Racist, misogynist, and now a classist! You go Stephanie. And I still believe she has an editor who is responsible for the good parts.

I love the Honorverse too! Gotta respect an author who come up with ways for advanced spaceships to have to fire broadsides like in the olden days. He was also really good at humanizing the military antagonists. No matter how bad they were they actually felt like complicated people (His political antagonists are another story)

This is the first time I’ve ever heard of this spinoff. I was never into Twilight so that’s why, but I thought Midnight Sun was the only one.

Suggestion: Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke. There was a TV adaption. Very curious what you think of the adaptation. (I loved the book.) And I love your edgy humor.

I remember around the time this book was coming out, I was reading an issue of Astro Girl and on those magazines they have a small section for fortune telling. Stephanie Meyers asked if her book was going to do well. They said that the book will sell well, although not as well as Twilight. My brain just dug up that memory as soon as I saw the book. Lol

I read this book, I thought it completely heartless that Carlisle didn't do anything to help her. If a remember right, Edward tried to speak up but was silence without a fight. . I keep forgetting that Michael Sheen usally plays a bad guy, he's really good at it. And I try to see him and David as separate from their Good Omens roles. But Michael as Aziraphale is so cute, sweet and fluffy!!! Like I'm literally in love with this acegendered male body ray of sunshine! And it's mostly Sheen's fault. . Damn you! How dare you make me love a character so much I can't stop thinking about them!!! . Michael is a really good actor, much like David they have excellent range. Not to mention they're absolutely perfect on screen together. God damn if the leads from 50 shades had even a smidgen of the chemistry Sheen and Tennant have, I wouldn't see the series as the absolute dumpster fire it is.

I have read a book where the first person narrator died well before the end, which continued in first person without it seeming strange. It accomplished this by simply switching narrators.

A vampire named Fred sounds like he could be Jim the Vampire's cousin on WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS. Also, congratulations to your sister!

I have to disagre on the age thing. It is 3 years between 15 and 18. They are both teenagers. It’s not that creepy.

Congratulations to your sister and your family! I hope she has a good recovery and that both she and baby are healthy and doing well.

Casino has that classic scene where Joe Pesci is narrating his story in the past tense right up to the point where he's killed - and the voice over literally ends in mid-sentence. Meyer probably thought that what was good for Scorsese was good for her, but I'm willing to bet she doesn't handle it quite as deftly.

Seems to me that people who are used to looking out for themselves in a tough life and who've been given a lot of reasons to distrust authority figures would have the opposite effect with regards to controlling them.

There's a book series called "Fred, the vampire accountant". It's written by Drew Hayes, and I often listen to it as a palate cleanser between longer/heavier fantasy.

Am I the only one who thinks that a 15 year old & an 18 year old isn’t that weird? At least Diego isn’t 80 years older than Bree.

i think it would've been really interesting to see bree being added up to the cullen's as a parallel to bella as a newborn. she could've been an example of someone who unintentionally do bad things for the sake of being a newborn, compelling bella to rethink her decision. damn she could've been the plot for breaking down: SHE could've accidentally turned bella and the entire showdown with the volturi was all about that. plus: jacob (being 16 in the books) could imprint on her, making it so much more dramatic for the werewolves to fight against the volturi!!!

Did the Cullens really have a choice in letting Bree get killed by the Volturi, though? If they defied the Volturi and said they were going to keep her around, they basically would've had to just fight to the death right there and that probably wouldn't have gone well.

There is a book series about an accountant who became a vampire and continued to work as an accountant who's name is Fred. In my heart, this is what happened to Twilight Fred.

As a man who went from not being an uncle to being an uncle of 3 in just over two years, I understand the delay. Congratulations to you family Dom!

I love the look of increasing glee as you say "a sentient cat who can tear your head off - if he wants to!"

Congratulations on being a new uncle, Dominic! 👶🏼🎀👶🏻💙

I appreciate that you acknowledge that she has some skill at writing. There’s definitely some talent and ability there. Which is what makes me more annoyed at the stories she’s choosing to tell.

I've really enjoyed your twilight content. When the Lost in Adaptation for Twilight came out I got so excited because I realized you were gonna go through the series again from that perspective. Yay content! Take your time but as soon as it hits fall and starts raining, I'm gonna binge them constantly.

I'm sorry, I can't get past the sheer shitpost energy of "A Vampire named Fred whose magic power is making people so repulsed by his presence that no one can look at him."

I really wouldn't call 18 and 15 "child/adult" romance. They arr both teenagers. I mean, yes it is legally dicey and can lead to a power imbalance, but psychologically 15 and 18 are pretty close. I'm not saying it is ideal, but it is not as yikes inducing as it would be if the guy was in early twenties.

Okay, when I saw the text, " Cloudy with a chance of vampires," I had to stop the video so I could finish laughing. 😸😸😸😸

8:01 yeah, I'm not caring for it either. Or how the story is saying how sex workers, homeless people and people struggling with addiction are categorized as "weak-minded." Just wow. Also, I kept hearing people complaining about sparkling vamps but not this? And no one talked about how indigenous people or other minorities were portrayed.

Safe travels, and congratulations on the growing of your family!

At this point I just assume Mormonism is why Meyer thinks scummy protagonists are great romantic heroes.

Ok so. Not defending it in THIS case because it's Meyer and we know what her intentions were, BUT. Relationships between a 15-yo and and 18-yo ARE tecnically covered by Romeo and Juliet laws in most places (for those who don't know: Romeo and Juliet laws are "conditionals" put on relationships between minors and adults meant to protect High School relationships. Basically, as long as the involved partners stay withing a specified age gap, they cannot be prosecuted for pedophilia or pederasty. Said age gap usually is 2-4 years top, but depends on the country/state)

Awesome as always Dom! Thank you for doing a great analysis of the series that my Cringe middle school self loved. Congratulations on become an Uncle!

Watching with my friend Diego and he perked up and was like "?!" when Dominic was like "DIEGO -_-" XD

After being reminded of all of the horror scenes in this series, I can honestly say that I'd read a horror book by Meyer. Also, congratulations on your new Uncle status!

I'm not sure why you would find a relationship between a 15 and an 18-year-old to be disturbing. It is not considered a child/ adult relationship. A child/adult relationship by law would require there to be more than 4 difference between the minor and the person they were dating. In other words, if you attend the same high school at the same time, you can have a relationship. So, to give Myers the tiny bit of credit, she might deserve on days when the wind is blowing in the right direction and unicorns are smiling, the age between them does not make anything problematic. But I'm sure that Myers found lots of other things to make them problematic. Does she know how to do another relationship at all?

I know 18 is a legal adult, but would it be so terrible if a 15 y/o (a 9th Grader in the US) and an 18 y/o (a 12th Grader in the US) were dating? They're both teenagers, both in high school and both in the same developmental bracket (as a opposed to, say, a 2nd Grader and a 5th Grader, who are both in elementary school and also 3 years apart, but are in *distinctly different* stages of their childhood development). I only ask because this, to me, doesn't seem as egregious as the men in Stephanie Meyer's _The Host_ who are pushing 30 and are involved with girls who are teens at the start of their respective relationships 🥴 I dunno ... Maybe it's because I'm in my 20s now, and an 18 year old seems like just as much of a kid to me as a 15 year old does (high schoolers 🙄).

"This is something I could have worked around, buuuut I didn't " This is a mood

no but this story was just really sad. i felt so bad for bree she honestly didn’t deserve an ending like this

Congrats to your sister! I hope you all have a lovely time meeting the newest addition to the family!

Congratulations to your sister and your whole family!!! I’m really enjoying these moral/social reviews of old pop culture

Oh, you’re actually going to finish this? You’re a stronger man than I am.

I totally agree about the first-person thing. If the narrator dies, it needs to be justified somehow. (Really tho, I dislike unjustified first-person narration in general. Give the narrator motivation, dammit!)

I never read this one, but I remember thinking while reading about her death in Eclipse "Why didn't they just tell Bree to run since Alice KNEW when they were coming and from which direction?!" I get they had to all be there or it would've been suspicious, but they could've told her where their house was and had Bree hide there while they "dealt with" the Volturi members that came. I honestly feel that they used this innocent and scared child as sneaky leverage against the Volturi in some way. Like they knew she would die and used that as a way to steer their attention away from Bella and onto Bree.

My reaction to this story: We hope you've enjoyed "No Moral Theater", Ladies and Gentlemen.

I've recently been revisiting David Weber through Audible too. I forget how much exposition he front loaded so many of his books with! I started In Fury Born, not realizing it was a re-release of Path of the Fury which I had loved decades ago, but with a novel-length prologue. I loved that Path of the Fury started more or less in the action with a veteran character, but In Fury Born starts when she's about 14 years old and fully justifies why she's a veteran before the original story starts. 🙄 Also, I remembered that in the first chapter of Mutineer's Moon, the main character was kidnapped by the moon (so awesome), and I was forced to realize that didn't happen as quickly as I remembered, either. Still, fun to be back in his work for a while. I still haven't decided whether I'm up for trekking through the whole Honorverse series again. I got distracted in book two and will swing back around eventually.

I remember liking the book, I'm fond of tragedies and Meyer's books are easy to read, especially one that short. As for the criticisms, I'm not one to much care for or against consensual flirtation with a 3-year age gap, regardless of most contexts. I mean I wouldn't write it because it's just kind of weird but... I also wouldn't write all the awkwardness I see in most movies. Different folks and different blokes, you know. I'm not sure about Meyer's elitism either, it's not entirely wrong to say that the desperate are often forced into situations where selfishness is their best course of action, one that they might resort to when given power over other people. Even if that ignores the unity that can also come from those situations. And the Cullens' affluence is probably just ... "eye candy", it's comforting to think about a big mansion you can retreat to when the world becomes too hostile. Oliver Twist has to come home to his rich family at the end of the books, right? (Not that pleasant to think about where he goes after Fagin is hanged otherwise, is it?) And the Volturi as a stand-in for systems of power that the masses cling to... can't be "defeated" with much realism any more than ours can. And even if the books don't explore it, it's quite understandable that the Cullens wouldn't protect strangers over their loved ones against such a force. There's definitely a good book to be written in there though yeah.

the dollar sign T-Shirt while doing the ad read, genius!

Congratulations on getting through this and thank you Dom for reading and reviewing these pieces of crap so we don't have to 👏🏻👏🏻

Will have to use that description for the Honorverse in the future.

you're awesome i love your content congrats on being an uncle nieces and nephews are awesome to have you can become a wizard so easily in the eyes of them.

I remember reading an interview with Meyer and she commented she wished she could have changed the ending of Eclipse and have Bree live. If she was writing this while EDITING ECLIPSE, why didn't she?! That was the perfect chance!

I sadly read this when it released in hopes for something good, but for a reason my brain decided to forget this. Also hoping the best for you and your sisters family!

We already knew about vampire Fred. He's an accountant in Denver. Friends with a zombie and were-pony named Bubba

What annoys me the most is that most vampires kill drug addicts, homeless, etc because they are less likely to be missed, and it's just one here one there bc most vampires live alone/in pairs/small groups, but then the Volturi are like "oh we'll kill another group of 50 tourists, no ones gonna miss those". I would be very suspicious about traveling to Italy if tourists from all over the world went missing there on a regular basis and in big groups. And always in that town.

my favorite line from a 1st person past tense writing perspective is Ray from in bruges "I really, really hoped I wouldn't die"

Congratulations on becoming an uncle!

Thanks for the video! Didn't even know about the short stories, so it was really interesting to hear your take on one of them. Also... the song at the end is amazing!! Made me laugh and summarized the story perfectly 🙌

I know you have friends who are LDS so disregard how ‘The Church’ influences the writings of Meyer and Oregon Scott Card… but seriously as someone who’s 4x great aunt and her mother were both married to Joseph Smith, at the same time, while married to other men including my x time great grandfather… things like relationships with teenagers is something that’s not weird to a lot of Mormons. I had people I went who to High School dated and married older men. As someone who was neck deep in the church both Meyer and Card’s writing highly reflect traditional, classic Mormon beliefs.