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Dual Review: Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris (Sookie Stackhouse #11)

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Dead Reckoning bt Charlaine Harris I’ve been a long-time fan of Charlaine Harris’ Southern Vampire Mysteries (a.k.a. the Sookie Stackhouse novels). And while I now picture Alexander Skarsgard as Eric thanks to True Blood, I’m still eager to see what’s coming next for the waitress from Bon Temps.

My friend and fellow blogger Kristin from My Bookish Ways is in the same boat. (Though I’m not sure her stance on ASkars’ overwhelming hotness.) Recently she and I decided to partner our blogs — so when you’re looking for darker titles, urban fantasy and thrillers without paranormal elements, you’ll want to check out My Bookish Ways — and to kick off our new blog bestie status, we decided to tackle today’s release of Dead Reckoning tag-team style.

Dead Reckoning (Sookie Stackhouse #11)
Charlaine Harris
Published: May 3, 2011 (Ace)
Purchase at: Book Depository or Amazon
Read an excerpt

Chelsea’s rating (out of 5): 3 stars
Kristin’s rating (out of 5): 3.5 stars

Chelsea: As with every Southern Vampire Mystery book, I liked getting to spend a few hundred pages with Sookie in Dead Reckoning. But this there were moments where she didn’t really behave like the Sookie I’ve come to know. She was freaked out about things she’s already come to terms with and doesn’t get into enough of an uproar about others. She just felt off.

Kristin: I agree. It took me about 85 pages or so to really get involved in the story, and my normal patience for Sookie’s puttering wasn’t quite as high in this one. Although, Ms. Harris did start the book off with a bang (literally) with the firebombing of Merlotte’s, and Sookie’s glimpse of the mysterious figures behind it.

Chelsea: The action scenes in Dead Reckoning were certainly the highlights. Harris is always great at choreographing action sequences with the right amounts of violence, fear and plot purpose.

Kristin: Her action scenes are always great, and I love it when we get visits from Bill (who is still close to my heart), and Bubba, which we do in Dead Reckoning. Unfortunately, Sookie also gets visits from some old enemies, adding just one more problem in the ever growing threat list. It also doesn’t help that things are coming to a head for Eric and Pam, and vamp politics are again threatening to take over Sookie’s life.

Chelsea: There’s always some otherworld politics at play! In addition to dealing with an Eric/Pam standoff, we have Victor’s vendetta against them.

Plus, Harris begins to lay groundwork for more faerie drama (when are they not up to something?) but she doesn’t do a whole lot with them other than hint at something big on the horizon. I wish we would have gotten a bit more movement on that subplot in Dead Reckoning.

Kristin: I definitely would have liked to learn more about that, but I suppose we’ll have to wait for that in the next one. That’s not all we’ll have to wait for! The fate of Sookie and Eric’s relationship is certainly up in the air, and I’m not at all sure I like Sam’s newest love interest, Jannalyn, although she is fierce! I’ll admit I always had hopes for Sam and Sookie, but alas…

Chelsea: Eric and Sookie’s relationship hit some spikes, again, for forthcoming events, but really their personal interaction is limited in this latest installment. When some big decisions need to be made or things get sketchy, I found myself wondering where the hell Eric was and just what was more important than Sookie. And why she didn’t seem to be bothered that he wasn’t around all that much. I can’t say if that’s supposed to hint to something, or if Harris was just wanting to focus on the ‘someone’s out to kill you’ end of things. Sookie was shocked by some of Eric’s behavior, but it’s the same type of behavior that freaked her out in Dead in the Family. Vampires can be callous, and at some point she’s going to have to truly come to terms with that.

All that said, I had a really good time reading Dead Reckoning. It was when I finished that I noted all the pieces that fell short for me. Worth the read for fans, who I think will be pleased it’s stronger than Dead in the Family.

Kristin: Oh, I certainly had a wonderful time with it too! I think there’s just so many things I’d like to tie up in a bow, and I’m not known for my patience! Sookie is one of my all-time favorite characters, and I always feel at home in her world, among her friends, family, and lovers. It was certainly stronger than Dead in the Family, and I highly recommend it to fans of the series!

39 Responses to “Dual Review: Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris (Sookie Stackhouse #11)”

  1. iamjenai says:

    as i mentioned in my blog, i stopped loving sookie after the book 9 but im willing to give it a try if bill is in Dead reckoning. Oh i love Bill thats why…. he’s my first love… please tell me there’s still a chance for him and sookie to be together!!! if not, ahhh sookie’s definitely dead to me!

  2. Laura says:

    I found that when reading this book there actually wasnt a major story going on, i was slightly disappointed in the book as it seemed as though she was trying to mention everybody she could from the previous novels and it was just a little complicated in this respect, it seems that Harris is trying to distance sookie from Eric, which i think is a bad idea but i do like the insight we get into the fae world. Over all i found this book mildly entertaining , which, after spending a year waiting for it im slightly miffed!! 😀

    • You’re right. There was potential for them though. I felt like the plot that went along with the firebombing was resolved much too easily and quickly. Additionally, there were options to make the Eric/Sookie or the fae stuff into bigger plot points instead of using them as fuel for the next novel.

      I feel like she’s done this a lot in the later novels. Whereas in books 1-8 (and maybe 9) we got complete stories. There might be bigger mythology at play, but the core mystery is solved without tons of loose threads.

  3. Tonia says:

    I was disappointed with this book. I waited a long time for it and it fell flat. Sookie was different in this book, not the Sookie we know and come to love. Charlaine is having Eric and Sookie say they love each other multiple times but I saw no love between them in this book. The spice and juice was missing from this book. I felt Charlaine Harris had lost her passion for this series. I would have rather waited longer for a much better book. I too tire from the notion that Sookie really can’t find anyone oustide of Sam to trust. It’s like all these people, she has saved their lives or did them HUGE favors and she is constantly getting betrayed. It is tiring and she can’t be that naive.

  4. Julie says:

    Just finished the book. It explains Sookie’s esential spark, I personaly before the series has losts its spark… I loved this series but will not be buying the hardcover.

  5. Lin says:

    I just finished the book and thought it was excellent, yes it left many things in limbo like the Sookie/Eric relationship, with Bill making all the ‘right’ moves now, will he become a viable suiter again (personally I hope so, I’m still a Bill fan, to me he’s the one you’d want a long term relationship with), how will she use the love token. But it also brought a bit of closure to some things, her gram and Fintan, much of the fae history, how Mr. Cataliades was involved in Sookie’s early life and how she became telepathic. I loved having Bubba back in this book and I enjoyed reading about a softer side of Pam. I think it totally eliminated a love interest between Sookie and Alcide. I loved the inter-action with Bill when she crawled in his hidey hole….there was alot of humor and I liked that…there was a strength to Sookie in this book that she hasn’t had before, she’s becoming more of her own person. I love the fact that the blood bond was broken. But I’ll have to wait a year to find the answers to all the questions left at the end of Dead Reckoning…..

  6. Shell Johnson says:

    I couldn’t believe the way the book ended. I hoped for a better ending. I am a big Sookie fan. I liked how we find more “behind the scenes” looks at what’s been happening that Sookie didn’t know about (Terry), but again the ending without resolve about Eric, Pam, & Sookie left me hoping that another 3-4 chapters would magically appear after Chapter 17! If you ask me right now if I will buy the next book, the answer is No, but by the time Ms. Harris releases #12, I will have forgiven her & wanting to see the passion between the barmaid & Viking.

  7. Kelly says:

    To me this book felt like a reunion tour with limited engagements. Alcide’s presence was altogether unnecessary and felt overly contrived, but I have come to expect this with the Sookie series. Just when something gets resolved (relationships that will not work and so on), CH reintroduces the situation. How many times we have to be shown that something is not meant to be for Sookie is beyond me. The Pelt situation felt hollow at best and the entire Victor affair left much to be desired. On one hand, she states that killing Victor would bring down the wrath of Felipe, but in the end he is killed anyway–and publicly. Although this was one reason why they were reticent to proceed with that plan, no one seemed to be concerned about that after the deed was done. As to Eric and Sookie, broken bond or not, one would think that she would be more concerned with the fact that her ‘love’ is potentially going to leave her for the Q of OK. All of a few paras are given to her feelings and then she moves on to other events. There is no depth here. I found the book shallow and choppy, and it left me with the feeling that it was written quickly..that she pushed to the ending just to see it done. The ending itself did not truly tie up many loose ends, and while I appreciate that it will lead to future books, I think by not resolving some of the issues that she has written only half a book, a huge disservice to her fans.

  8. Kara says:

    I just finished this book and was disappointed! It took awhile for me to get into the book it seemed a little boring to me. Sookie was also very different to me in this book. I have been a huge fan of the series but the last two books have not been great for me. I’m a huge Eric and Sookie! I won’t be buying the next book in hard cover 🙁

  9. Katt says:

    I felt like while the action scenes were very good, Sookie was not herself. The entire writing style seemed off to me this time around. It was almost as if someone else was writing the book. Like many have said, Sookie was dismayed at things she has already accepted, not nearly bothered enough at new happenings, and all together distant from everyone except Sam. This was not the Sookie I have grown to love. I am a HUGE Eric and Sookie fan, but their relationship felt odd at times, even taking into account what was going on…I’m still holding out hope that the next book will be good, but I’m honestly starting to loose faith…

  10. Kelly says:

    Another point I’d like to bring up here as a topic of potential discussion. Because of this continuing Pelt issue, the bringing back of Alcide in the book for a short while, and the potential for Bill to be a future suitor for Sookie, I am beginning to wonder if CH is now writing material so that True Blood will have future stories with which to use and by extension, keeping some control over her characters and plots. We all know from the show that it differs from the book, but in the upcoming season, Eric will lose his memory. The issue with Debbie Pelt will come to light, and the whole Pelt family can be brought in to this to include Sandra (as seen in DR). With Eric’s memory loss in TB, this will bring in his relationship with Sookie (potentially). For DR could have simply left Bill at by this point, but here he is again. So is she writing what she wants or is she attempting to keep some control over the future of the series by keeping these characters out there?

  11. Courtney says:

    I was not a fan of this book and I certaintly did not think it was stronger than Dead in the Family. I enjoyed all of the previous novels and Dead Reckoning was a huge let down for me. I especially did not like how so much time was spent building up the Eric/Sookie relationship to have it be the way it is now. Hopefully Sookie will come to the conclusion that she can use the clivel dor to release Eric from the agreement his maker made with the Queen of Oklahoma.

  12. Juliette says:

    I think I only read the books for the Eric/Sookie relationship, so this was really frustrating, since it isn’t finished! If I had my way, she’d voluntarily renew the blood bond (I actually think it sounds like a nice thing to have!) and possibly use to dor thing to fix the Oklahoma situation. And there’d be no more fairies involved at all – I quite enjoy the vampire politics but am really tired of the fairies.

    However, I’m fairly convinced that when the series comes to an end in a book or two’s time, Sookie will be with Sam, so either she and Eric have to break up or Eric has to die 🙁 I’d actually prefer the death version, at least that could be more romantic! And melodramatically tragic, not just depressing (breaking up is just miserable, who wants to read about it?!)

  13. Noelle says:

    Can Sookie use the fairy love token on herself or Eric to turn him human or to turn herself into a full true fae then she would fit into the supernatural world without having to die ie to become vampire

    • Nicole says:

      That would be ideal, but wouldn’t that make it impossible for Eric to control himself and not kill her?

  14. Sarah Hallum says:

    I would like to say that Harris wraps this book up in a nice little bow; but when you finish reading, you feel like you have just spread out an FBI case in front of you and you still have to sort through all the information. I know this is in response to Harris beginning to wrap up the series and her plans to solve all the issues in the next two novels; however, it definitely leaves the reader wanting more. It is not, however, dissatisfying. I enjoyed every minute of my Sookie Stackhouse fix and I cannot wait to see where Harris is going with all of these plot twists she has spread throughout the book.

    If you would like to read the full review, go to my blog: http://hallumsbookreviews.blogspot.com/

  15. OPositive says:

    I liked this book much better than the last few probably because Bill had more of a role in it. I liked the hidey hole scene too, and love that Bill has gotten his sense of humor back. His reactions vs Eric’s reactions when they are stymied by Sookie are worlds apart and show what a gentleman Bill is and always will be. I can’t imagine Bill deliberately causing Sookie physical pain because he is angry with her. I also did not like the way Eric treated Pam to keep her quiet.
    I think CH is setting the stage for the final breakup of Sookie and Eric.
    I loved the letter from Gram, and the Fintan and Dermot stuff. Alcide was just plain creepy.
    I yelled yaay when Victor got his just desserts: that creep really deserved the end he got. Same thing with that byotch, Sandra Pelt.
    Sookie is hurting because she knows Eric may have to go through with the prearranged marriage with Oklahoma. As much as I don’t like a Sookie/Eric pairing, I was glad to see that CH eventually showed the love between those two; I never really felt it before. If she and Eric split the way I think, I hope Sookie takes some time before jumping into another relationsip, and hope all her potential love interests, Bill included, give her a chance to emotionally heal.

    To Noelle: your idea that Sookie use the cluviel dor to make Eric human is interesting; however, Eric likes being a vampire; he would hate to be human again. Bill on the otherhand…..(I’m just saying).

  16. Sweetheart says:

    This book was a total anti-climax. Yeah, I’m curious about the fae world, but more importantly I like the romance between Eric and Sookie the most. The sex scene in this book was entirely vulgar with no depth. The fact that she put an ice-pack on her private part was the cherry on top of impotence. We waited a year for this book only to see Eric become more shallow as a character and Sookie more like a teenage recluse with no depth. I know this review is harsh, but the first book I read was #4 and that inspired me to read the entire series to see not only vampire intrigue and the fae mystical world, but more importantly to see a love story that is fun, dynamic with a happy ending. Existentialism is so disappointing. Charlaine Harris needs to step it up not deflate.

  17. Tanya says:

    I didn’t like dead in the family and after reading all the reviews I will not waste my time buying dead reckoning. The series has lost its spark big time. In dead family I felt that she made Eric seem a little soft and out of character. I liked the confident (sometimes arrogant) Eric and even with the changes i’m still team Eric all the way. She really should just end the series and tie things up before people start really hating the series

  18. Loretta says:

    I just finished it and is was disappointed BIG TIME. Sookie was just a shadow of her old-self. She never was behaving logical, but this time – duh!

    The story itself was rather patchy. I sometimes had the feeling that events were thrown in for the sake of adding pages. In my mind, those scenes did not really connect – leave alone forming a story arc.

    There was a great parade of characters in the story, but all of them behaved one-dimensional, almost like stooges. Even Eric’s role felt like that in times. It was never clear what he wanted. Thinking about that, even Sookie was not really painted in 3D.

    Pam had the potential to shine in the book, with her own personal drama and problems. I still can not believe that she was not allowed to do so. More fuss was made about the fact that she could not tell Sookie that Eric was about to claim another bride.

    In short, after a rather disappointing DITF, this is another let-down. I will probably stay away from the next installment. But then again, who knows.

  19. irel says:

    I waited very long and very patiently but ended up being disappointed! I love the series but this one seems like it was written in a hurry just to get it over with! Eric is portrayed different! Fighting with Pam just because he didn’t want her to speak the truth, what was that?? That was not Eric’s character! Eric doesn’t even like to be called a boyfriend and he was portrayed exactly like a childish boyfriend. Eric love Sookie and would have done everything and as for Bill? I thought he loved Judith that is why Lorena had to separate her children apart but now the spark is gone? She needs to give Bill some happiness but not with Sookie. I heard that this is her second to last book but I really hope that the last one would bring justice and end the series very well. I don’t know what she will do with the Clovial Dor maybe she will turn Erick into human but we already knew Eric like being a vampire maybe she’ll wish that he’ll become a daywalker or maybe a back to the future with no more vampires in her life and just plain old telepathic Sookie with not so complicated life!

  20. Peter says:

    I’m glad I read the comments to see if I wasn’t the only one dissatisfied with many elements in the book. I actually liked reading about the Fae world, Sook’s plotline about the letter from her grandmother and explanation of her gift. With that aside I read Chelsea’s review from the last book and it explains a bad trend: “Perhaps Charlaine Harris is staging for the Book 11 to deal with both vampire and shifter politics, but mentioning them and then not doing anything with it was unsatisfying.”CH mentions a lot of stuff but didn’t do much with it and I think she very well could have made it longer and more satisfying for us for how long we’ve waited. I guess I won’t buy the next one on impulse…

  21. C says:

    The book was tripe. Harris was never that great of an author to begin with but I still enjoyed reading the series until the book before Reckoning. Trash. Complete freaking trash. I can’t tell you how completely disappointed to say the absolute least in this latest piece of trash.

    Girl needs to end the story and end it as soon as possible.

  22. Tina says:

    I have loved this series so much that to see it going downhill it’s painful. I’m just wondering if she’s creating this rupture between Sookie and Eric, so the book runs along with the series on TV (which I hate), creating a reunion between Sookie and Bill, discarding Eric. I’d hate that. I have loved the interaction between Eric and Sookie. In this new installment, Eric’s character doesn’t run true to form. I understand that the author might be setting up a break-up between the 2, but Eric has always been protective of Sookie, and here, he’s just violent with her. There is no sense of fun between them (or throughout the book for that matter) and no sense of love. I couldn’t see the reason either for breaking the blood bond. This book really left a bad taste in my mouth and a truly disappointed reader. I want to be able to re-read this series, but the way it’s going, I can’t see myself doing that.

  23. Amelia says:

    I agree, it’s the other worldy politics that get in the way and be so darn annoying. I almost wondering how much I actually like Sookie with Eric. Dare I suggest she go back to an old vampire fling? 😉

  24. It’s true that the “Alcide Scene” was kind of weird (if not creepy) and those scenes about Eric+Sookie were rather disappointing. I, too, missed the funny, arrogant Eric, not the one portrayed in this book. Can’t get my head through the idea of Bill and Sookie, though. He still keep secrets from her, wouldn’t be much good if not sharing, like what Sookie said before. All in all, it’s an okay storyline, one to tie some loose ends from all the previous books, and gearing up for the next (is it the last?) book.

  25. Tiffany says:

    I first got started watching True Blood & loved it … then I quickly read the series & loved it too! However, this book was just okay! Couple things I didn’t like … there’s hardly any Jason mentioned, who attacked her getting out of her car – I don’t think it clearly stated who was behind that, the Alcide story – that was just a waste of words & didn’t fit in with any of it, even the Victor character – how he was so easily killed – boring, why would she reveal to Jannalynn where the fae porthole is & even the demon lawyer seems like a bit of a coward this book. I do like where she’s taking Sookie & Eric! It’s not gonna be happily ever after – leaving us guessing, love that! It would be boring if they were always content & never changed. I always wished she’d have a fling with Alcide … maybe?! I can’t wait for True Blood Season 4 to start!! I love that it’s fresh – not the book redone – leaves us wondering & wanting more & have faces to go with the names! I’m hooked – on both & hope both series go on for a long time!

  26. Julie says:

    I really did not like this book which was so disappointing to me. I stayed up until 2am to finish it and was shocked by the way it ended. I felt that there were so many storylines in this book, but not one “main” one which made, in my mind, the book never really come together. Also, I felt that so many issues were left up in the air it made it a completely unsatisfying experience. Also, only one love scene? I mean…come on! 🙂 But seriously, this book did not feel like the same books that I have come to love and I am really sad about that.

  27. Annabelle says:

    I started with the book series just a few months ago, having received the first few books as a gift and being a fan of the tv show. I whipped through the series in a couple of months and I am hugely addicted to the characters. I LOVE, love, love Eric and Sookie together. So I was very disappointed, at first, with the broken blood bond. But…in retrospect, I feel it was necessary to break it (though I hope they reinstate it in the future) for them to find out their true feelings for each other and to have Sookie stop using the bond as a shield against furthering her relationship with Eric. I liked Bill in this book more than I have since the beginning of the series, though I will never think Bill ‘gets’ Sookie the way Eric does and I still don’t see them ever ending up together. I DO worry CH is setting the scene for Sam and Sookie to be together, and I would be hugely disappointed in that ending. Almost from the time Eric entered the picture, he and Sookie have had this undeniable connection – and I think despite their differences they are very much alike. I am hoping the ending of this book and a few odd incidents in character were just to throw us off – I will like this book more if she used it as a red herring, rather than if she just follows some predictable and boring plot lines that have been planted to end the series.

    As a stand alone book, it wasn’t so great. As part of the series, it is yet to be seen…it could redeem itself in the grand picture depending what comes next!

    I have read some interviews with Charlaine, and for those who are wondering (in response to some speculation above) she has said:
    1.) Sookie will live a normal human life span, and she will not become a vampire. Eric will not become human.
    2.) She will use the cluviel dor before the end of the series.
    3.) She will not have a conventional happily ever after, and she will not settle down to a family and a white picket fence.
    4.) She will end the series with someone as her ‘happily ever after’ (not alone)

    Lots of food for thought! It was not my favorite book in the series, but I have come too far to quit now…I think the author may still have some tricks up her sleeve, after all, she has said she has known the ending since around book 2 or 3 when her writing was still quite strong…

  28. Mallory says:

    I liked some parts of Dead Reckoning but it did seem to be lacking something to me. Some of the events that happened seemed kind of random. The whole Alcede thing was weird, but in a way I think that was put in there just to let everyone know that Sookie will not end up with Alcede, which is fine by me. He can have Jannalynn as far as I’m concerned.

    Sandra’s death also seemed rushed to me. It was like… she shows up to kill Sookie and two seconds later, she’s dead and then everyone’s leaving like nothing happened. I do think CH is trying to find a way to end the Sookie/Eric relationship. Though I have loved the two of them together, I never really thought they’d end up together in the end. Now I think she may end up with Sam, which would be okay with me. I’ve liked him from the beginning and I feel like their relationship has been building throughout the series even though they haven’t been romantic (much) with each other. I just hope Sookie doesn’t get back with Bill. I felt like that possibility was returning a bit in this book, but even when she was naked atop Bill she never even thought about doing anything with him. I feel like she’s over him. CH should give Bill another love interest, not Sookie.

    Though I feel like the series has lost a bit of its excitement in the last book or so, I still hope there’s more than just one more book because I just don’t think everything could be wrapped up in 400 pages without seeming too rushed. My main dissapointment in Dead Reckoning was that even though the Sandra thing was resolved and Victor’s dead, I still didn’t feel like a lot of stuff happened. Maybe because there was a lack of romance, which always makes a story more interesting. I will still buy the next book and I’m also interested to read the novella “Small Town Wedding” coming out this Fall. Maybe that will help set us up for a Sookie/Sam-type ending.

  29. Anakondana says:

    I resonate with the great majority of comments – I am a huge fan of the Sookie Stackhouse Series (which pulled me through a bad bout of baby-blues) and am currently brokenhearted by this latest novel which is at best poorly-written. I love and respect Charlaine Harris but she needs to remember what made the first books such a hit – the outrageness of it all, the humor, the violence and the sex. I mean where has Eric’s dry but savory humor gone?!? Where has the hot sex gone? And why did we have two diffrent scenes where Sokkie reveals Eric’s dilemma to Bill?? The novel was choppy, sloppy and lacked depth…I really hope CH redeems herself in the last two installments of the SSS. I am seriously considreing re-reading the stellar first books just to wash away the taste of dissapointment from this novel. I thougt it was worse than DITF…at least DITF had a decent main plot-line.

  30. Destiny says:

    I have to say I’m extremely upset!! I absolutely fell in LOVE with the Sookie Stackhouse novels. I loved how there was always so much going on in a single book. There was a main mystery. A mystery that happened at the beginning of the book and was solved by the middle of the book and then a sort of “hmmm” that was always brought into the second book … and tied up in that second book. I had SUCH high expectations for Dead in the Family. I thought so many questions were going to be answered, so much that we were left on the hook about in Dead and Gone. However she didn’t. It almost seemed as though she deliberately left the WHOLE story line open and didn’t revisit it, and it’s looking like she’s done it again with Dead Reckoning. I can’t stand it any longer!! Charlaine used to be WONDERFUL with writing with such passion and action and suspense, while tying it up perfectly at the end with just enough suspense to make you wonder what happens NEXT… not ..”what IS happening”!!! I suppose I will wait for this one as well, possibly borrow it. I may even visit the library. I’m definitely NOT interested in purchasing this book … ESPECIALLY the hardcover. **sigh**

    • dan says:

      I thought so many questions were going to be answered, so much that we were left on the hook about in Dead and Gone. However she didn’t. It almost seemed as though she deliberately left the WHOLE story line open and didn’t revisit it, and it’s looking like she’s done it again with Dead Reckoning.

      -It’s called an epic storyline and is the mark of a good author, but I understand that there are people who do not possess the mental capacity needed to enjoy a multi-novel storyline which leaves questions unanswered until the last novel of the story arc. This is probably because these people are like two year olds who stomp there feet whilst screaming “I want it and I want it now!”

  31. Katrina says:

    I just finished Dead in the Family and am getting ready to get DR. I used to like Sookie, both in the books and on True Blood, but the further I get in the books, the more I really don’t like her. Or what Charlaine puts across as love. I understand Sookie has had a lot to deal with and she’s been screwed over more than 1,000 times, but the way she treats people especially in the last 2-3 books is not right. She goes on and on about her manners and being raised right, but all through the last few books she’s had no patience and treats everyone around her, especially Eric like crap. Plus she’s a bit loose, (if ya know what I mean) the books only span weeks maybe months, one right after another. She went from Bill’s bed, to Eric’s bed, to Quinn’s and then back to Eric’s all in matter of months it felt like. Then there’s the “love” thing, I love Eric and Sookie together but as they talk about their “love” for each other it always comes back to sex, I think to them sex equals love, which never lasts. Although Eric (at least in Dead in the Family) seemed to be affected by their “love” far more than Sookie has. I love the way Eric has changed with her, his inneraction with her makes him almost seem human. I know that Bill loves Sookie and so does Sam. Bill is the gentleman, Sam is the trusted friend, and Eric is the bad boy. I know these 3 men love her, which one is right for her…who knows? I know she’ll end up with Sam though, the friend that’s been in the background patiently waiting in the wings, and Eric and Bill will end up dead. Neither of those men could live without Sookie in their lives and Sookie couldn’t “move on” with another man if those two were still in the picture. It’s just frustrating, I wish Charlaine would make Sookie stop acting like a whiney spoiled brat, make a decision and stick to it.

    • dan says:

      She goes on and on about her manners and being raised right, but all through the last few books she’s had no patience and treats everyone around her, especially Eric like crap.

      So…you would rather the story portray the lead charecter in completly unrealistic way? Personally I would have found it ridiculous if CH had kept Sookie the same as she was at the begining of the story. Her grandma was killed by a psycho, she has been almost killed herself several times and she has been the victim of extended torture, so yeah essence of the sookie charecter has changed, she has been thrust into a world where she is frequently betrayed and under the threat of death on a regular basis, to have her not change would have been contrived and idiotic.

  32. Cindi says:

    I also was not really satisfied with the latest installment. Sookie does seem off a bit, but at the end of Book 9 who wouldn’t be. I think her being tortured has her off her game, and she is trying to figure out who she is again. If I had Sookie’s history I would hide under a rock and never come out; at least she is trying.

  33. raggedyanne says:

    I’m a great fan of the Sookie Stackhouse novels. However, Dead in the Family and this new Dead Reckoning proved a gigantic dissapointment for me. There wasn’t much mystery and it only got exciting in the last third of the book due to the fighting scenes. I think CH is off her game or just uterly bored with this series. I guess it’s time I bid farewell to Sookie Stackhouse and pursue J.R.Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood. At least her characters consistently stay in role.

  34. Jenergizer says:

    With the way chapter 17 ended I thought I was missing pages in my book!
    Very disappointing 🙁

  35. Kat says:

    -It’s called an epic storyline and is the mark of a good author, but I understand that there are people who do not possess the mental capacity needed to enjoy a multi-novel storyline which leaves questions unanswered until the last novel of the story arc. This is probably because these people are like two year olds who stomp there feet whilst screaming “I want it and I want it now!”

    So…you would rather the story portray the lead charecter in completly unrealistic way? Personally I would have found it ridiculous if CH had kept Sookie the same as she was at the begining of the story. Her grandma was killed by a psycho, she has been almost killed herself several times and she has been the victim of extended torture, so yeah essence of the sookie charecter has changed, she has been thrust into a world where she is frequently betrayed and under the threat of death on a regular basis, to have her not change would have been contrived and idiotic.

    Really? You question mental capacity? You can’t disagree with posters without using insults an name calling.
    An “epic storyline” is only the mark of a great author if they can successfully pull it off. That success is in large part defined by how happy the readers are with it. Since the last book has yet to see the shelf, it remains to be seen if CH pulls it off. There can be no argument that CH changed her writing format after the 8th book. (About the time the TV series came into being. Intentional or not we may never know.) The novels are different. It has become progressively more evident over the last 3 books. Not everyone likes the change, it’s as simple as that. So don’t be a hater.

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