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3.33 AVERAGE
3.33 AVERAGE
Quite honestly, if you didn't seen this endgame coming, then I'm not sure what series you've been reading.
I found the conclusion to the Sookie Stackhouse stories quite satisfying. I know some readers have complained because they were hoping for a different outcome, but what I liked most about Dead Ever After was it made sense. It was true to the character, true to the setting, true to the storyarc that's been building in the novels.
Sookie always brought a sense of down home authenticity to her adventures, and was always a small-town girl whose dreams and life were fairly simple and wholesome. This final adventure, with all its attendant blood, gore and magic, reminds us of who Sookie is and why we loved her.
Sookie always brought a sense of down home authenticity to her adventures, and was always a small-town girl whose dreams and life were fairly simple and wholesome. This final adventure, with all its attendant blood, gore and magic, reminds us of who Sookie is and why we loved her.
Oooof. This was a really crappy way to end an entire series. (A series that I mostly found completely entertaining!) I'm just going to go ahead and spoil away, because you can't talk about this without doing it.
Sookie ending up with Sam was, in my opinion, the VERY WORST THING Charlaine Harris could have done with her characters. I understand that it would have been very very hard for Sookie to end up with a vampire (there's the little problem of aging, after all), but I don't care. I liked almost every other character better than Sam. Sam's a...a nothing. He's uninteresting. Also, duh. How trite. She ended up with her best friend/former boss/co-owner. I really hated it.
I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm STILL probably going to read the wrap-up thingy that's coming out this fall. Because. I just am.
Sookie ending up with Sam was, in my opinion, the VERY WORST THING Charlaine Harris could have done with her characters. I understand that it would have been very very hard for Sookie to end up with a vampire (there's the little problem of aging, after all), but I don't care. I liked almost every other character better than Sam. Sam's a...a nothing. He's uninteresting. Also, duh. How trite. She ended up with her best friend/former boss/co-owner. I really hated it.
I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm STILL probably going to read the wrap-up thingy that's coming out this fall. Because. I just am.
This book was a convoluted mess. I'm kind of glad that the series is over now, since I don't think I could convince myself to pick up another one. Sayonara, Sookie, you were good once.
Well. My my my. That was amazing.
I'm going to miss Sookie very much.
The most interesting thing about this books (beside the fact that the vampire myth is kept pretty classic, which is not little) is what I like to call The Evolution of Sookie.
She starts as a lonely naive telepath, without friends or with only a couple that mostly use her to their convenience. Her life is dull, sad and she craves adventure.
Careful what you wish for, they say.In walks Bill Compton. The first vampire she has ever seen and all hell breaks loose in her life.
In the span of 13 books Sookie learns about love, about passion (and a lot about the difference between the two), about what makes her human (and more interestingly what means for her to be a good christian), she becomes ruthless, or the situations bring that out of her. But mostly even though she learns that she is not as alone as she thought, she realises that Sookie has to take care of Sookie.
She has come a long way and she really likes herself. She is comfortable in her own skin. In this book I haven't heard once how Sookie is fat. I did hear about her great boobs, and how good she is dancing. This book is told in the first person and what comes across is that, despite heartache and betrayal, she is going to be ok, because she knows who she is and she likes that person.
She doesn't want to change that person for anybody, and anybody that asks doesn't love her the way she is.
About the romantic end:
I love Eric, I have always find it the most interesting character, by far better than Bill. But they were doomed from the start (all vamps with her were). She never wanted to be a vampire, she has said so herself many times. Is a credit to Eric's love for her that even thought he would have turn her in a second, even though he took many decisions for her, he respected her choice, even when it costed him his love. That is great tribute to his character.
They are all very true to themselves.
And in the end she chooses herself. I can only do a fist-pump and put Charlaine Harris under the column "women empowerment writers". Well done.
I'm going to miss Sookie very much.
The most interesting thing about this books (beside the fact that the vampire myth is kept pretty classic, which is not little) is what I like to call The Evolution of Sookie.
She starts as a lonely naive telepath, without friends or with only a couple that mostly use her to their convenience. Her life is dull, sad and she craves adventure.
Careful what you wish for, they say.In walks Bill Compton. The first vampire she has ever seen and all hell breaks loose in her life.
In the span of 13 books Sookie learns about love, about passion (and a lot about the difference between the two), about what makes her human (and more interestingly what means for her to be a good christian), she becomes ruthless, or the situations bring that out of her. But mostly even though she learns that she is not as alone as she thought, she realises that Sookie has to take care of Sookie.
She has come a long way and she really likes herself. She is comfortable in her own skin. In this book I haven't heard once how Sookie is fat. I did hear about her great boobs, and how good she is dancing. This book is told in the first person and what comes across is that, despite heartache and betrayal, she is going to be ok, because she knows who she is and she likes that person.
She doesn't want to change that person for anybody, and anybody that asks doesn't love her the way she is.
About the romantic end:
They are all very true to themselves.
And in the end she chooses herself. I can only do a fist-pump and put Charlaine Harris under the column "women empowerment writers". Well done.
It was OK: fairly predictable but not terrible. I'm tired of the series and glad this is the end, although I see there's a sort of addendum book (After Dead) due out at the end of October. I'll borrow it from the library just like I did this one, because I like to finish things, but I'm not wasting my money on it even though I own the first 10.
I loved this final book in Sookie Stackhouse's story. It also helps that I got the ending I wanted, the one that I felt was being set up since the beginning.
I'm content.
I'm content.
It looks like I'm going to be one of the few to say this - which I think is a shame, but definitely a compliment for how much people were wound into the storyline of this series - but I loved this book, and how Harris ended the series.
Now, I don't want to pop any spoilers into the mix, but what I will say is this: Sookie is quite seriously at a significant crossroads in her life given the events of the last book. She is taking a long - hard - look at her life, and she's exhausted. This is a young woman who - from book one - has pined to be normal. She never wanted her abilities. She wanted to be normal, to get married, to grow old and have babies. And none of that has ever really felt possible for her. What pieces of normalcy she has - her job, her kin, her home - she holds onto tightly and tries to let nothing she does interfere with that in any way. But minds are open books to Sookie, and that's always been the root of her problems.
So this book, which is the end of the series, was also in many ways a beginning for the character. And, again, I loved it. I loved that she stayed true to her character and what was important to her. I loved that the other characters in the books - especially the men in Sookie's life - stayed true to their characters. I like that the progressions felt natural, and that having a major, life-changing moment could have impact on Sookie.
So, thank you Charlaine Harris. In the interest of full disclosure: I'd been rooting for that particular pairing since the introduction of the characters, but that's beside the point. They're your characters. And thank you for writing them so honestly.
Now, I don't want to pop any spoilers into the mix, but what I will say is this: Sookie is quite seriously at a significant crossroads in her life given the events of the last book. She is taking a long - hard - look at her life, and she's exhausted. This is a young woman who - from book one - has pined to be normal. She never wanted her abilities. She wanted to be normal, to get married, to grow old and have babies. And none of that has ever really felt possible for her. What pieces of normalcy she has - her job, her kin, her home - she holds onto tightly and tries to let nothing she does interfere with that in any way. But minds are open books to Sookie, and that's always been the root of her problems.
So this book, which is the end of the series, was also in many ways a beginning for the character. And, again, I loved it. I loved that she stayed true to her character and what was important to her. I loved that the other characters in the books - especially the men in Sookie's life - stayed true to their characters. I like that the progressions felt natural, and that having a major, life-changing moment could have impact on Sookie.
So, thank you Charlaine Harris. In the interest of full disclosure: I'd been rooting for that particular pairing since the introduction of the characters, but that's beside the point. They're your characters. And thank you for writing them so honestly.
My preferred genres to read tend to be contemporary and historical fiction...romance, especially paranormal romance, isn't really up my alley at all (with the exception of the Twilight series). So I was surprised by how much I really enjoy reading Charlaine Harris' Southern Vampire Mysteries series, but enjoy it I do. For those who watched the show (True Blood), Sookie Stackhouse in the books is a different (and much more compelling) character than she is on TV, so if you're thinking you might not want to read these because Sookie annoys you, don't let that keep you away. Book Sookie is stronger, sassier, more independent. She does have the same kind of improbable love life (even more suitors in the books than the show, actually), but hey, it's a romance series.
Harris has stated that she ended the series, which was still quite popular, because (to paraphrase) she was just not really feeling it anymore. And to be honest, it's pretty obvious over the course of the last three or four books that her interest was waning. The "mystery" at the center of the story doesn't build a ton of tension, but it serves okay as a framing device. There was a lot of storyline tying up going on here, and token final appearances by Sookie's exes...it very much feels like a "farewell" to the series.
As for the final resolution of Sookie's love life, I know a lot of fans pitched a fit at who she ends up with, and while that wasn't my personal OTP for this series, it's Harris' story to tell and I didn't feel like it came out of left field or anything like that. It's hard to evaluate the final book in a series on its own merits. You can take it on its own to a certain extent, but it's inextricably (to me, at least) tied in with how you feel about the entire series and how the whole story was told. In the end, I feel like my fondness for the series is likely overshadowing the weaknesses of this individual volume. I did really like reading these books, and I'd recommend them even for those who don't usually dabble in this genre. They're quick and entertaining, and I think of them kind of as literary snacks, like maybe a Hostess cupcake or something. Not a lot of nutritional value or lasting fullness there, but every once in a while it's a fun way to indulge a little.
Harris has stated that she ended the series, which was still quite popular, because (to paraphrase) she was just not really feeling it anymore. And to be honest, it's pretty obvious over the course of the last three or four books that her interest was waning. The "mystery" at the center of the story doesn't build a ton of tension, but it serves okay as a framing device. There was a lot of storyline tying up going on here, and token final appearances by Sookie's exes...it very much feels like a "farewell" to the series.
As for the final resolution of Sookie's love life, I know a lot of fans pitched a fit at who she ends up with, and while that wasn't my personal OTP for this series, it's Harris' story to tell and I didn't feel like it came out of left field or anything like that. It's hard to evaluate the final book in a series on its own merits. You can take it on its own to a certain extent, but it's inextricably (to me, at least) tied in with how you feel about the entire series and how the whole story was told. In the end, I feel like my fondness for the series is likely overshadowing the weaknesses of this individual volume. I did really like reading these books, and I'd recommend them even for those who don't usually dabble in this genre. They're quick and entertaining, and I think of them kind of as literary snacks, like maybe a Hostess cupcake or something. Not a lot of nutritional value or lasting fullness there, but every once in a while it's a fun way to indulge a little.
Never fine literature, these novels have been getting more workmanlike, less surprising, as the series has progressed. In this final one I could tell that Harris was really not that into it any more. The gears were showing. Characters who haven't been seen for several novels suddenly pop up for spurious reasons, seemingly just to do a victory lap. And for the first time that I can recall, Harris departs from Sookie's first-person perspective to adopt an omniscient third-person narration. It really jars, since one of the best things about this series is Sookie's voice: her wry folksiness; her pleasure in her terrible, trashy dress sense; her pride in organisation and domesticity; her opinions about those she encounters.
The plot seems to be in a holding pattern. Sookie goes to work, there's a showdown at Merlotte's, she goes home, she gets visited by vampires, she goes to Fangtasia, she goes home, someone attacks her at home, she gets her supernatural friends over to protect her, she gets attacked again, some more vampires come over. Despite the fact that Sookie attracts an implausible number of enemies, and gets wounded and arrested at various points, she never feels in any real danger. The whole plot is a McGuffin because the real business of this novel is tying off the ends neatly and determining which of her various love interests Sookie will end up with.
I know the answer has been a source of angst for longtime fans, but honestly I was pleased on this front. I feel as though Harris's ultimate choice of partner for Sookie was flagged as early as the very first novel. It feels satisfying and true to character, and gives Sookie more agency and dignity – too often she's been treated as a fetish object. Perhaps my brain has been addled by reading too much of [a:Laurell K. Hamilton|9550|Laurell K. Hamilton|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1352276598p2/9550.jpg]'s faerie porn, but there seemed to be hardly any sex in this book, and not much sexual tension either. Both have been a successful part of the earlier novels, and it seems a shame to ease up on them now.
It's fascinating how much the novels have diverged from the TV series True Blood. The show is absolutely ridiculous, and as a fan of the novels I've felt annoyed by the directions in which the writers have taken Harris's characters, but I like knowing that someone is still writing adventures for Sookie and her friends and frenemies, even though Harris's series is now finished.
The plot seems to be in a holding pattern. Sookie goes to work, there's a showdown at Merlotte's, she goes home, she gets visited by vampires, she goes to Fangtasia, she goes home, someone attacks her at home, she gets her supernatural friends over to protect her, she gets attacked again, some more vampires come over. Despite the fact that Sookie attracts an implausible number of enemies, and gets wounded and arrested at various points, she never feels in any real danger. The whole plot is a McGuffin because the real business of this novel is tying off the ends neatly and determining which of her various love interests Sookie will end up with.
I know the answer has been a source of angst for longtime fans, but honestly I was pleased on this front. I feel as though Harris's ultimate choice of partner for Sookie was flagged as early as the very first novel. It feels satisfying and true to character, and gives Sookie more agency and dignity – too often she's been treated as a fetish object. Perhaps my brain has been addled by reading too much of [a:Laurell K. Hamilton|9550|Laurell K. Hamilton|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1352276598p2/9550.jpg]'s faerie porn, but there seemed to be hardly any sex in this book, and not much sexual tension either. Both have been a successful part of the earlier novels, and it seems a shame to ease up on them now.
It's fascinating how much the novels have diverged from the TV series True Blood. The show is absolutely ridiculous, and as a fan of the novels I've felt annoyed by the directions in which the writers have taken Harris's characters, but I like knowing that someone is still writing adventures for Sookie and her friends and frenemies, even though Harris's series is now finished.