Dead Until Dark (Sookie Stackhouse #1) by Charlaine Harris

"Interesting for its unique idea of Vampires existing alongside humans, it quickly devolved into sex, southern twangs and the barest semblance of a plot."

2 Stars

Pros: The idea of Vampires living among humans is what drew me to "True Blood" and then to this book. It was a unique idea, but Harris doesn't deliver any more information.

Cons: I always find the life altering sex in books hilariously unrealistic. The inevitable scenario of "everybody lusts after the MC but she's completely oblivious" is sigh inducing/The actual use of "gee golly whiz" as dialogue and not in a sarcastic way was cringeworthy.

Full Review:

Sookie Stackhouse lives in Bon Temps, Louisiana. A small, out of the way, rural town. She works as a waitress at the local bar Merlotte's. And she has a secret.

Sookie Stackhouse can read minds.

Telepathy isn't the only preternatural sensation that exists either. There are Vampires. They live and thrive off of synthetic blood and have managed to co-exist with humans. When one walks into Merlotte's one night, Sookie is intrigued. She's always been excited at the idea of meeting a real, live vampire.

She takes his order and tries to get a read on him with her ability. She's amazed, relieved and confused when she realizes she can't read his thoughts. He is silent as death. Suddenly rather smitten, Sookie is determined to learn more about this mysterious stranger.

And learn she does.

This book was on my TBR List for quite some time. I'd watched some of "True Blood" and was wondering how true the TV show was to the book series. It also fell under the category of "research" when it came to my writing, so it was a twofer. I picked the book up from the library and eagerly began.

Sadly, I was quickly disappointed. What I had hoped would be a unique take on Vampires, something fresh and new, turned into the same old tripe. Naive, kind, innocent girl falls hard for the dark, brooding, mysterious man/monster. Add in some life altering sex, sprinkle a vague mystery into the mix to say the plot's "compelling" and throw it in the oven. Always make sure to leave room for a sequel, or twelve.

I feel like it was Hamilton's "Anita Blake" series, only instead of a necromancer, this MC was a telepath. The narrative was choppy, the characters were painfully two dimensional and the plot was overdone. I wish I could say otherwise but I just didn't enjoy this book.

Comments

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