Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris

1 review

obliquity's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

If I'd have known the last few scenes of this book were coming, I honestly might not have started reading it at all - see content warnings. There were other darker things earlier in the book, which were very off-putting themselves, but I really had to push myself to finish it at all, and I absolutely hate to DNF.

I expected this one to be more shifter-heavy, considering the beginning, but then nothing really happened with them at all. And then an entire, unrelated war was fought in the last handful of chapters - not for the first time, in this series. I think this is the third? There were better, less uncomfortable ways to make the main character grow up a bit. Also suddenly four people were pregnant? But

only two of them survived. That's a choice.

Getting really quite tired of Sookie's lack of sense and the whole rotation of men. (Let's spin the wheel! Who will it be this time? Ah, it's Eric again!) I know a lot of people use these as escapism and there's technically a reason, but just the number of people pledging undying love five minutes after meeting her is exhausting, and, in a series full of supernatural creatures and magic, is the one thing that really breaks the suspension of disbelief.

I'm pretty sure she had the right person nearby before the first book even began, and OK, being cautious about dating your boss is understandable, I get the potential danger there, but literally any other choice has been way more dangerous. Or, here's an idea, have a break from it. You don't always have to be dating someone. The caution on its own would be enough relationship drama for me, honestly.

I understand why Eric is so popular, but the whole blood bond thing really squicks me out. It feels like an excuse to keep the vampires more involved in events. Was not a fan of Bill in the show, and he's so much worse in the books.

How many women has Jason been accused of murdering now? I have literally lost count. At least all the Deads in the titles are accurate, I guess. Saw

Mel

coming a mile off.

This entire series needed several sensitivity readers and a few more passes through an editor. I know it's a few years old now, but it's not that old. This one though.. this one is my least favourite so far.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Torture

Moderate: Pregnancy, Child death, and Toxic relationship

The whole series is in need of sensitivity readers, often multiple kinds in a single book, but this is by far the darkest.

Two pregnant women die, one of them in a particularly gruesome way. There is also one "execution" which honestly, is really more a homophobic murder that everyone present seems to be perfectly fine with because it's "tradition". Also the whole blood bond thing really squicks me out, it's basically an "excuse" for dubious consent and I hate it.

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