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3.33 AVERAGE
3.33 AVERAGE
While not how I would have liked it to end, it made sense and I think I will genuinely miss this world.
Sookie is still reeling from her use of the cluviel dor, her resurrection of Sam, and the fact that her and Eric seem to be in the middle of a fight. But she’s Sookie Stackhouse, and something else is bound to pop up. Pop up it does—in the form of the death of Arlene Fowler. Sookie ends up as the main suspect in the murder. A bunch of the gang show up to help acquit her and solve the murder. Although, Eric, Bill, and Sam are all tend to be a little more hands off than expected.
While these series are penned as mysteries, romance is a big part of them. So, naturally, a large part of the anticipation of this book stemmed from figuring out who Sookie will end up with, if anyone at all. For many readers, I’m sure the romantic results are one of the biggest matters of contention, and that’s fair. While I certainly had my preferences about who Sookie would end up with, even if I seemed to care less as the series’ progressed as a sad side effect of caring less about Sookie. I was not unpleased with the finale romantic wrap-up. The writing has been on the wall for a long time with this one. In fact, the romantic results may have been the only thing Harris thought long term about. Although, she didn’t seem to really thing about how to get it there, because all the sudden there it was. Still, the signs have been there.
However as mysteries are at least publicized as a large part of the series, that part of the novel shouldn’t be ignored. If you’ve been reading along with the whole series, the thirteenth installment will not shock you. You’ve gotten used to plot turns that really make no sense and constantly lowering stakes. Here’s the deal: I’ve seen Sookie in mortal peril before. What is different about this time? How does she react differently? What does she get out of it? What does it teach her? After all, one of my biggest problems with the series is generally that Sookie can tend to “reset” after an adventure. She’ll just go right back to telling us about her tanning and her romance novels and her word of the day calendar and over describing her outfits. With the exception of the word of the day calendar, Dead Ever After does not disappoint on this front.
But if you can’t give me that growth, at least give me a better mystery. First of all, why Arlene? If there was supposed to be some sort of closure inherent in this, some coming full circle, I missed it. There was a good deal of dramatic irony employed in this book, in that the reader knew more of the possible suspects than Sookie. However, the “twist” at the end didn’t make me go “wow, what a shocker.” Instead I opted for, “wow, that does not seem to fit with the world we’ve established. In addition, the climax of the novel itself felt very anticlimactic.
I think that’s my biggest critique of the series itself. It felt anticlimactic. This does not feel like a series that had a planned and plotted ending. Instead, it felt like it ended because the quality of the books were going downhill. And this one certainly fits that trend.
While these series are penned as mysteries, romance is a big part of them. So, naturally, a large part of the anticipation of this book stemmed from figuring out who Sookie will end up with, if anyone at all. For many readers, I’m sure the romantic results are one of the biggest matters of contention, and that’s fair. While I certainly had my preferences about who Sookie would end up with, even if I seemed to care less as the series’ progressed as a sad side effect of caring less about Sookie. I was not unpleased with the finale romantic wrap-up. The writing has been on the wall for a long time with this one. In fact, the romantic results may have been the only thing Harris thought long term about. Although, she didn’t seem to really thing about how to get it there, because all the sudden there it was. Still, the signs have been there.
However as mysteries are at least publicized as a large part of the series, that part of the novel shouldn’t be ignored. If you’ve been reading along with the whole series, the thirteenth installment will not shock you. You’ve gotten used to plot turns that really make no sense and constantly lowering stakes. Here’s the deal: I’ve seen Sookie in mortal peril before. What is different about this time? How does she react differently? What does she get out of it? What does it teach her? After all, one of my biggest problems with the series is generally that Sookie can tend to “reset” after an adventure. She’ll just go right back to telling us about her tanning and her romance novels and her word of the day calendar and over describing her outfits. With the exception of the word of the day calendar, Dead Ever After does not disappoint on this front.
But if you can’t give me that growth, at least give me a better mystery. First of all, why Arlene? If there was supposed to be some sort of closure inherent in this, some coming full circle, I missed it. There was a good deal of dramatic irony employed in this book, in that the reader knew more of the possible suspects than Sookie. However, the “twist” at the end didn’t make me go “wow, what a shocker.” Instead I opted for, “wow, that does not seem to fit with the world we’ve established. In addition, the climax of the novel itself felt very anticlimactic.
I think that’s my biggest critique of the series itself. It felt anticlimactic. This does not feel like a series that had a planned and plotted ending. Instead, it felt like it ended because the quality of the books were going downhill. And this one certainly fits that trend.
Sad. Sad for it to end, but don't think Sookie could handle much more. Sad for Eric. Sad for not giving us just a little bit more.
Meh. It wrapped up pretty much how I always expected it would, and I'm neither angry about it or impressed and happy with it. A lot happened in this book, and I can honestly say that for the first time, I was genuinely surprised by a twist. Claude being behind Arlene's murder and then kidnapping Sookie at the end, wtf. I should have seen that one coming especially since Quinn, I think, smelled fae. But I just kind of assumed it was going to be someone who was half fae or something who was pissed because all their full-fae friends were gone, or someone who'd been promised by Claude that they could enter faery after he took out Niall or something.
Honestly, I always wanted Sookie to end up with Quinn more than anyone else. I always loved him and thought he was probably the best guy in her life. Eric was a sexy viking prince or whatever, but he was a possessive ass. He was practical, and I loved him, but I didn't really want Sookie stuck with him without him changing a ton, or her deciding to turn, and I really didn't want those things to happen either. Bill...ugh. I never really liked Bill. I'm sure that's about as popular as me liking Spike way more than Angel, but there it is. He was creepy, possibly more possessive than Eric, and he started his relationship with Sookie with lies. I won't deny that he cared for her, but I really wanted them to end up as close friends, and I think they've gotten there. Sam, while a pretty decent guy, just always irked me as a potential romantic interest for Sookie. I'm glad he seems to have snapped out of his self-loathing or whatever, and grown up, but I think Sookie could have done better. But, at least their relationship began as a real friendship.
I really wish there'd been an epilogue or something for this one, because I really wanted to see how things worked out for Sookie, Pam, and Karin, as friends.And Pam as the new Sheriff! I was so glad she got that job. Pam is probably my favorite character from the series, besides Bubba. (I still say it's a crime on the same level as Peeves being left out of the HP films that Bubba wasn't in True Blood. But, they screwed up this universe so bad on TB that maybe I should be grateful :/ )
But...I'm also glad there was no epilogue with Sookie pregnant or with a soccer team of kids, so... at least we were spared in that department.
I always figured the series would wrap up in one of two ways:Sookie would turn. Either she would choose it, or she'd be dying and someone (maybe Pam) would save her by turning her. Or, she was going to end up with Sam. I'm not really upset that she ended up with Sam, I'm just kind of "meh" about it all. They're not a terrible match, they've been friends for years, and they've weathered some real shit storms together. I'm not unhappy about it, just a little bored. But that's ok, because I'm hoping Sookie can finally get some peace and stability.
I really wish there'd been an epilogue or something for this one, because I really wanted to see how things worked out for Sookie, Pam, and Karin, as friends.
I always figured the series would wrap up in one of two ways:
I have finally taken the time to finish this series! Finally! The last two books were somewhat difficult to get through, not because they were bad but because they were sort of on autopilot the whole time and you could see all the loose ends being tied up too close everything out.
Dead Ever After is actually a decent send-off, throwing a few curveballs I didn’t see coming. Sookie has been through a lot over thirteen books and it’s really interesting to see how far she’s come, and how much she can handle now. I did like getting to see everyone and kind of comparing where everyone started vs where they’ve all ended up. I will say I can tell this series was something Harris wanted to be done. It’s been a long time coming and it’s sort of ‘tired’. The story itself is sort of fluttered between being boring and formulaic, and interesting and fun. I used to love the normalcy that Sookie maintained in her own home, but in the later books, I’ve grown tired of seeing her plot out meals and clean. A lot of the characters are on par with the way they’ve always been but some seem to act weird for the sake of making the story work…it wouldn’t be a problem if it was something that stemmed from more than closing the books out in a normal way.
Sookie’s relationships have always been a focus (duh, paranormal romance) and while I’ve always enjoyed getting to know the different guys she’s dated…I had hope that for some reason the unlikely relationship of Sookie and Eric would pan out. I mean I’ve never seen it as a viable long-term situation because Sookie has always been completely against being a vampire, which sort of shortens the likelihood of Eric sticking around when she starts getting older…but damn. I’m not mad at the direction the book went with this, I just wish it wasn’t something I saw coming.
Overall I’m glad I grabbed this one. I didn’t really enjoy the previous book a lot and I wasn’t sure I’d ever get around to Dead Ever After, but it was really nice to kind of see all of the characters off and close the proverbial cover on this story.
Dead Ever After is actually a decent send-off, throwing a few curveballs I didn’t see coming. Sookie has been through a lot over thirteen books and it’s really interesting to see how far she’s come, and how much she can handle now. I did like getting to see everyone and kind of comparing where everyone started vs where they’ve all ended up. I will say I can tell this series was something Harris wanted to be done. It’s been a long time coming and it’s sort of ‘tired’. The story itself is sort of fluttered between being boring and formulaic, and interesting and fun. I used to love the normalcy that Sookie maintained in her own home, but in the later books, I’ve grown tired of seeing her plot out meals and clean. A lot of the characters are on par with the way they’ve always been but some seem to act weird for the sake of making the story work…it wouldn’t be a problem if it was something that stemmed from more than closing the books out in a normal way.
Sookie’s relationships have always been a focus (duh, paranormal romance) and while I’ve always enjoyed getting to know the different guys she’s dated…I had hope that for some reason the unlikely relationship of Sookie and Eric would pan out. I mean I’ve never seen it as a viable long-term situation because Sookie has always been completely against being a vampire, which sort of shortens the likelihood of Eric sticking around when she starts getting older…but damn. I’m not mad at the direction the book went with this, I just wish it wasn’t something I saw coming.
Overall I’m glad I grabbed this one. I didn’t really enjoy the previous book a lot and I wasn’t sure I’d ever get around to Dead Ever After, but it was really nice to kind of see all of the characters off and close the proverbial cover on this story.
I loved the ending. I'm not sure why people wanted it to end differently.
Actually i kinda liked the ending. The book itself felt a little (or a little more) rushed, like harris desperately wanted to find an ending for every character but i think Sookies chosen one is the first healthy choice she made in a long time. She never wanted to be a vampire so every vampire relationship was bound to leave her unfulfilled. I think Sam is the only long time choice possible. Well, maybe Quinn would have been also nice but too possessive i think.
Oh, Sookie. It used to be so much fun to read about your adventures. Sure, terrible things happened and bad guys were after you, but you also had excitement and joy and lots of romance. The past two books have been a slow slog, frustrating and unsatisfying (I'm choosing my words deliberately here, people.) At least this final book puts us all out of our misery. Of course I'm not entirely happy about who Sookie ended up romantically involved with at the end, but at least it sort of makes sense. Personally, I kind of wish the series had ended with Dead to the World--now that was the kind of delightful escapist entertainment I'm looking for when I pick up one of these books. Farewell, Sookie. It was way past time for this to end.
I wouldn't give it one star.
Update: I gave it one star for the sake of GR's math in calculating the overall rating. If a zero factored into their ratings, I'd be giving it a zero.
Update #2: Asked and received a refund from iTunes for this book. I've never asked for a refund for a book before--I think the purchase cost of a book is part of the price of admission. But given the terrible quality of this book plus the nasty comments from the author, including her absolute refusal to admit that a reasonable person *could* read this book and dislike it, I felt compelled to do so.
Update: I gave it one star for the sake of GR's math in calculating the overall rating. If a zero factored into their ratings, I'd be giving it a zero.
Update #2: Asked and received a refund from iTunes for this book. I've never asked for a refund for a book before--I think the purchase cost of a book is part of the price of admission. But given the terrible quality of this book plus the nasty comments from the author, including her absolute refusal to admit that a reasonable person *could* read this book and dislike it, I felt compelled to do so.
I'm so glad to be done with this series! While it should have ended with book 10 I do think this one did a nice job of truly ending the multiple story lines.