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A review by kimberly_b
After Dead: What Came Next in the World of Sookie Stackhouse by Charlaine Harris
1.0
*Caution: This review is snarky*
Charlaine Harris says it herself in the beginning of this book: it's only a coda. I feel sorry for those who preordered this online without first being able to flip through the 195 pages, the majority of which are mostly blank. Sure, it's clear from the description that this isn't an actual story, but I was expecting more than this extremely unsatisfying glorified 'coda' that not only left me feeling unsatisfied, it left me mad.
Harris has always seemed so grateful to her fans, so how she can justify letting her fans spend their hard earned money on this disappointment is beyond me. But wait, Harris justifies it in 'A Note from the Author:'
"I was deluged by questions from readers who all wanted to know...what happened to a score of characters who couldn't make an appearance in the last book."
Um, I'm pretty sure the vast majority of fans only wanted to know about Bill, Eric, Sam, and Sookie, and maybe Pam, Bubba, and Jason. You're telling me fans were clamoring to find out what happened to Mr. Hob (who the hell is that you say?) or Boom (again, who??)? Really. I find that incredibly hard to believe. Here is an example of how much closure Harris offers (this sentence takes up an entire page):
"John Quinn had many more adventures."
Well, thanks for clearing that up. I don't know how I would have moved on with my life if I didn't know that! I honestly felt like Harris was playing Yahtzee to write this (mild spoilers if you even care): Oh, I got a 'died falling off the toilet'...let's give that to Jane Bodehouse. Oh, now I got 'died after being hit with beer bottle'...let's see...Christian Baruch? No. Ummm...how about Mark Duffy? Yeah, that's it.
There is no excuse for this book to exist. Harris should have taken the characters her fans really cared about, like Sookie, and added an epilogue to the end of [b:Dead Ever After|15985348|Dead Ever After (Sookie Stackhouse, #13)|Charlaine Harris|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1352158186s/15985348.jpg|17328606]. Even Sookie, the main freaking character of thirteen books, only has 3.5 pages devoted to her in this. And, it wasn't that interesting or satisfying to me.
The only positive thing I can salvage from this book is the artwork. The characters are arranged alphabetically and an artistic page is devoted to each letter. Yeah, that's really the only good thing I have to say.
I really do think Harris is a nice woman and that she cares about her fans. Her publisher did her a huge disservice with either agreeing too or making her produce this sad waste of money. Instead of feeling closure, I feel sad that my positive feelings about the series have been marred by this wasteful edition with unsatisfying endings, and I also feel thankful that I got this from the library and didn't pay for it.
I wish Harris well and, in the future, I hope she thinks more thoughtfully about the product she is producing and what her fans are paying for.
Charlaine Harris says it herself in the beginning of this book: it's only a coda. I feel sorry for those who preordered this online without first being able to flip through the 195 pages, the majority of which are mostly blank. Sure, it's clear from the description that this isn't an actual story, but I was expecting more than this extremely unsatisfying glorified 'coda' that not only left me feeling unsatisfied, it left me mad.
Harris has always seemed so grateful to her fans, so how she can justify letting her fans spend their hard earned money on this disappointment is beyond me. But wait, Harris justifies it in 'A Note from the Author:'
"I was deluged by questions from readers who all wanted to know...what happened to a score of characters who couldn't make an appearance in the last book."
Um, I'm pretty sure the vast majority of fans only wanted to know about Bill, Eric, Sam, and Sookie, and maybe Pam, Bubba, and Jason. You're telling me fans were clamoring to find out what happened to Mr. Hob (who the hell is that you say?) or Boom (again, who??)? Really. I find that incredibly hard to believe. Here is an example of how much closure Harris offers (this sentence takes up an entire page):
"John Quinn had many more adventures."
Well, thanks for clearing that up. I don't know how I would have moved on with my life if I didn't know that! I honestly felt like Harris was playing Yahtzee to write this (mild spoilers if you even care): Oh, I got a 'died falling off the toilet'...let's give that to Jane Bodehouse. Oh, now I got 'died after being hit with beer bottle'...let's see...Christian Baruch? No. Ummm...how about Mark Duffy? Yeah, that's it.
There is no excuse for this book to exist. Harris should have taken the characters her fans really cared about, like Sookie, and added an epilogue to the end of [b:Dead Ever After|15985348|Dead Ever After (Sookie Stackhouse, #13)|Charlaine Harris|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1352158186s/15985348.jpg|17328606]. Even Sookie, the main freaking character of thirteen books, only has 3.5 pages devoted to her in this. And, it wasn't that interesting or satisfying to me.
The only positive thing I can salvage from this book is the artwork. The characters are arranged alphabetically and an artistic page is devoted to each letter. Yeah, that's really the only good thing I have to say.
I really do think Harris is a nice woman and that she cares about her fans. Her publisher did her a huge disservice with either agreeing too or making her produce this sad waste of money. Instead of feeling closure, I feel sad that my positive feelings about the series have been marred by this wasteful edition with unsatisfying endings, and I also feel thankful that I got this from the library and didn't pay for it.
I wish Harris well and, in the future, I hope she thinks more thoughtfully about the product she is producing and what her fans are paying for.