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Fantasy. Fiction. Mystery. THE FINAL SOOKIE STACKHOUSE NOVEL There are secrets in the town of Bon Temps, ones that threaten those closest to Sookie— and could destroy her heart.... Sookie Stackhouse finds it easy to turn down the request of former barmaid Arlene when she wants her job back at Merlotte' s. After all, Arlene tried to have Sookie killed. But her relationship with Eric Northman is not so clearcut. He and his vampires are keeping their distanceand a cold silence. And when show more Sookie learns the reason why, she is devastated. Then a shocking murder rocks Bon Temps, and Sookie is arrested for the crime. But the evidence against Sookie is weak, and she makes bail. Investigating the killing, she' ll learn that what passes for truth in Bon Temps is only a convenient lie. What passes for justice is more spilled blood. And what passes for love is never enough. show lessTags
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4.5* of five
The Publisher Says: Sookie Stackhouse finds it easy to turn down the request of former barmaid Arlene when she wants her job back at Merlotte’s. After all, Arlene tried to have Sookie killed. But her relationship with Eric Northman is not so clearcut. He and his vampires are keeping their distance…and a cold silence. And when Sookie learns the reason why, she is devastated.
Then a shocking murder rocks Bon Temps, and Sookie is arrested for the crime.
But the evidence against Sookie is weak, and she makes bail. Investigating the killing, she’ll learn that what passes for truth in Bon Temps is only a convenient lie. What passes for justice is more spilled blood. And what passes for love is never enough...
My Review: Parting show more is such sweet sorrow. Sookie is not to have another annual entry in the Sookieverse after this.
I got my first Sookieverse bite in 2001. I was dating Andy, who worked at the Half Price Books near my house. I stopped in after work one fine afternoon to make goo-goo eyes at him, and his boss complained. Andy handed me Dead Until Dark and told me to go wait in the bar down the strip mall.
I barely noticed when he came in. I was hooked.
Andy had some troubles, vanished, reappeared twice, then vanished for good. Sookie, on the other hand, has been with me, amusing me, sometimes making me mad, for twelve years. So thanks, Andy, for the longest relationship of my entire life! Even though it wasn't with you.
And now Miss Charlaine has snapped that branch. She's whacked me in the readerly kneecaps. She's stuck the shiv into my pageturnin' shoulder. And, after I get my copy of After Dead this coming October, the what's-next wrapup of everyone in the Sookieverse's life or undeath, it will be all True Blood all the time.
That's not a bad thing, I hasten to add, since there exists the possibility in each episode that either Alexander Skarsgard or Ryan Kwanten will get naked, but the series is real, real, real different from the books. And I loved the books first. And I will miss the books.
I'm past the point in life where re-reading stuff seems like a good use of my eyeblinks. I'm well and truly past middle age...not a lot of 106-year-old men around...and there are squillions of books I want to read. Lucky me, in a weird way, that I can't work anymore as that leaves time to read. Not much money, but time! None of which I want to use re-reading even the most wonderful books.
The events of this book are fast-paced. The people from Sookie's past are effectively deployed to move the plot along while also tying up the loose ends. The entire ending made me smile through tears. The last line? Well, sentimental old fustilugs that I am, that last line was a dam-breaker.
Yeah. I am FOR SURE gonna miss these books, all Sookie's Jesusiness aside, all the moments I've thought Harris had lost interest or lost the thread or just lost me, all the emotional rollercoaster-ride queasiness...all of it is over now.
Unlike every other relationship of my life, this one ends well. I'm smiling because it happened, if also sniveling a bit because it's over. It's been a terrific ride.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. show less
The Publisher Says: Sookie Stackhouse finds it easy to turn down the request of former barmaid Arlene when she wants her job back at Merlotte’s. After all, Arlene tried to have Sookie killed. But her relationship with Eric Northman is not so clearcut. He and his vampires are keeping their distance…and a cold silence. And when Sookie learns the reason why, she is devastated.
Then a shocking murder rocks Bon Temps, and Sookie is arrested for the crime.
But the evidence against Sookie is weak, and she makes bail. Investigating the killing, she’ll learn that what passes for truth in Bon Temps is only a convenient lie. What passes for justice is more spilled blood. And what passes for love is never enough...
My Review: Parting show more is such sweet sorrow. Sookie is not to have another annual entry in the Sookieverse after this.
I got my first Sookieverse bite in 2001. I was dating Andy, who worked at the Half Price Books near my house. I stopped in after work one fine afternoon to make goo-goo eyes at him, and his boss complained. Andy handed me Dead Until Dark and told me to go wait in the bar down the strip mall.
I barely noticed when he came in. I was hooked.
Andy had some troubles, vanished, reappeared twice, then vanished for good. Sookie, on the other hand, has been with me, amusing me, sometimes making me mad, for twelve years. So thanks, Andy, for the longest relationship of my entire life! Even though it wasn't with you.
And now Miss Charlaine has snapped that branch. She's whacked me in the readerly kneecaps. She's stuck the shiv into my pageturnin' shoulder. And, after I get my copy of After Dead this coming October, the what's-next wrapup of everyone in the Sookieverse's life or undeath, it will be all True Blood all the time.
That's not a bad thing, I hasten to add, since there exists the possibility in each episode that either Alexander Skarsgard or Ryan Kwanten will get naked, but the series is real, real, real different from the books. And I loved the books first. And I will miss the books.
I'm past the point in life where re-reading stuff seems like a good use of my eyeblinks. I'm well and truly past middle age...not a lot of 106-year-old men around...and there are squillions of books I want to read. Lucky me, in a weird way, that I can't work anymore as that leaves time to read. Not much money, but time! None of which I want to use re-reading even the most wonderful books.
The events of this book are fast-paced. The people from Sookie's past are effectively deployed to move the plot along while also tying up the loose ends. The entire ending made me smile through tears. The last line? Well, sentimental old fustilugs that I am, that last line was a dam-breaker.
Yeah. I am FOR SURE gonna miss these books, all Sookie's Jesusiness aside, all the moments I've thought Harris had lost interest or lost the thread or just lost me, all the emotional rollercoaster-ride queasiness...all of it is over now.
Unlike every other relationship of my life, this one ends well. I'm smiling because it happened, if also sniveling a bit because it's over. It's been a terrific ride.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. show less
Summary: Sookie is used to having enemies, but she's already got a lot on her plate right at the moment without dealing with any more plots against her. She used the magic power of the cluviel dor to save Sam's life, but now he's acting all strange, and her vampire boyfriend Eric is growing more and more distant. And then to make things worse, Arlene, who has been released from prison (where she was serving time for attempting to murder Sookie), returns to Merlotte's with the nerve to ask Sookie for a job. Sookie refuses, of course, which makes things look all the worse when Arlene winds up dead in Merlotte's dumpster with one of Sookie's scarves around her neck. Now she has to face murder charges, figure out who is attempting to frame show more her, try to resolve things with Eric, shake Sam out of his funk, and deal with all of her other supernatural friends and enemies if she ever has a hope of having a normal life - as normal as life for a telepathic part-fairy can be, anyways.
Review: I have not been super-happy with the direction this series has taken over the past few books. The early books in the series were fun, silly, escapist guilty pleasure reads. But by about book 9 (or maybe earlier?), they started feeling scattered, a little repetitive, and a little labored, like they'd lost some of the spark that made them so much fun in the first place. This book is ostensibly the last one in the series (although of course there's still After Dead coming out, because gods forbid Harris's publishers just let things lie when there is still money to be made), and it was admittedly better than some of the ones that came before it. But my overall impression was "eh, y'know... fine." It was fine. It wasn't great. It wasn't terrible. It did a good job wrapping up all of the many, many plot threads established in the earlier books, in a way that felt mostly pretty organic to the story. (Less organic was the constant parade of familiar characters who show up for a few pages for no good reason whatsoever. I mean, I like Quinn and all, but did he add anything to the story?) The prose was not exactly the smoothest I've ever read, but at least avoided some of the howlingly awful lines of some of Harris's earlier books. But the story never really regained the spark of the early books, and the "who's trying to kill Sookie this week?" plot just felt tired. It was a decent ending to the series, but it's also an ending that I was glad to finally see arrive. 3 out of 5 stars.
Recommendation: If you've read the rest of the books in the series: you may as well. If not: the first few books are a bunch of fun, although the series as a whole starts tapering off long before it ends... and it doesn't exactly end with a bang. show less
Review: I have not been super-happy with the direction this series has taken over the past few books. The early books in the series were fun, silly, escapist guilty pleasure reads. But by about book 9 (or maybe earlier?), they started feeling scattered, a little repetitive, and a little labored, like they'd lost some of the spark that made them so much fun in the first place. This book is ostensibly the last one in the series (although of course there's still After Dead coming out, because gods forbid Harris's publishers just let things lie when there is still money to be made), and it was admittedly better than some of the ones that came before it. But my overall impression was "eh, y'know... fine." It was fine. It wasn't great. It wasn't terrible. It did a good job wrapping up all of the many, many plot threads established in the earlier books, in a way that felt mostly pretty organic to the story. (Less organic was the constant parade of familiar characters who show up for a few pages for no good reason whatsoever. I mean, I like Quinn and all, but did he add anything to the story?) The prose was not exactly the smoothest I've ever read, but at least avoided some of the howlingly awful lines of some of Harris's earlier books. But the story never really regained the spark of the early books, and the "who's trying to kill Sookie this week?" plot just felt tired. It was a decent ending to the series, but it's also an ending that I was glad to finally see arrive. 3 out of 5 stars.
Recommendation: If you've read the rest of the books in the series: you may as well. If not: the first few books are a bunch of fun, although the series as a whole starts tapering off long before it ends... and it doesn't exactly end with a bang. show less
Now that we return to a stronger, smarter Sookie, Charlaine Harris goes and ends the series!
No, I'm not complaining, and this was one of the best Sookie Stackhouse novels I've read in years. I was put off a bit by the side story, but once I started turning the pages, the book was hard to put down. I actually regretted turning the last page. It was a thoroughly satisfying conclusion.
Wearing a yellow bridesmaid dress when the bride wore chocolate brown? Ew, girl. Both of you--just ew.
No, I'm not complaining, and this was one of the best Sookie Stackhouse novels I've read in years. I was put off a bit by the side story, but once I started turning the pages, the book was hard to put down. I actually regretted turning the last page. It was a thoroughly satisfying conclusion.
Wearing a yellow bridesmaid dress when the bride wore chocolate brown? Ew, girl. Both of you--just ew.
I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this one. In spite all the bitching and moaning I've read, the series ended pretty much how I expected, it was the journey that I enjoyed.
This is going to be a big ol' long ass spoiler filled "review", because I want to address some of the MANY points I have seen people complain about it, and my own take on it. I'm probably going to ramble. I'm probably going to add things and take things away from this review as I keep thinking and digesting.
On more thinking, I did bump off one star. One star, because I did realize that the narrative was all over the place, with evil villains popping out all over the place, too many, really, for one book. We have Steve Newlins and Jerome Glassport, who I didn't show more even remember, with some help in the beginning from Arlene and a manipulated officer Alcee Beck. Then there was Amelia the witch's father, and last but not least, Claude. It was almost like a Benny Hill episode, all these villians practically tripping over each other, trying to get to Sookie. There were moments not told from Sookie's POV, but from several of the villains, which took me out of the story every time. It just felt like a bit too much, when the focus should have been elsewhere.
The way Tara was written in this book kind of bugged me. I remember thinking when True Blood started that True Blood Tara was not like I remembered book Tara. But in this book, Tara sounded exactly like TB Tara. Maybe I need to go back over where she first appeared, and see if she really did always sound that way.
And now let's get to the meat and potatoes, what everyone is complaining about.
I think this story really should have been broken up differently. I almost think all the Eric stuff up to and including the divorce, should have been in another book- either the last book where all those issues first came up, or more thought out, in a book of it's own. I felt the issues surrounding Eric having to marry Freyda, and his denouncement of Sookie, was rushed. I think, for all the attention it was given, those few scenes could have been in the last book, with THIS one being about how Sookie was moving on from Eric.
By the time this story begins, although Sookie still loves Eric, she really just wants it to be done already. She knows Eric isn't willing to do whatever it takes to get out of this arrangement, and that hurts. I do think that if Eric really loved Sookie as much as a man should love a woman, he would have TRIED HARDER. But really, that's not the Eric we've come to know for so long. Eric loves Sookie, as much as he is able to love any human. I'm pretty sure that's been said quite a lot through the series. Eric is, most of all practical. He is a survivor. He is ruthless. He is also high enough in the vampire hierarchy, that he knows the laws and rules, and I think he knew that this was not a commitment he could get out of. I would like a story about what happens after he goes to OK, but I doubt it if it's something we'll ever get.
What we saw from him in this book was cruel, yes, but I don't know that I saw it as out of character, as many people are saying. Maybe I need to re-read the entire series and refresh myself. In the end, this just felt rushed, and like it all should have been explored more thoroughly. We basically had one quick meeting at Fangtasia, a text message, a late night visit, and a cold, fast vampire divorce. They deserved more time, more of a goodbye.
Now, Sam.... I feel like one of the few people that really loves Sam, and did throughout the series. I felt from the very beginning that Sam and Sookie would be together in the end. Yes, there were plenty of Bill moments, and plenty of Eric moments, where I thought each would be the HEA, but Sam always lingered in my mind, and, I think, Sookie's mind. I always felt Sam was in love with Sookie, even when he was dating other women. That's why he dated such HORRIBLE women- they were not Sookie, and they were never meant to work.
I think that Sookie saving Sam forced Sookie to rethink things. I think it drew them closer together emotionally. It has to be a big, confusing deal, bringing someone back from the dead. Do I wish there was MORE, especially during the last few books, between Sookie and Sam? Yes. But was I in any way surprised, no.
Many people are thinking Sookie settled. I don't think so. She had to go through all the things she went through, to realize what she really wanted was to be home, and live an "ordinary" life. Many people think she can never have an ordinary life because of the history with the vampires. I do think that that was one thing Eric managed to give her- safety from other vamps. I know Sam is still a supe, but his life is VERY different from the weres, the fae, and the vamps. Sam is not part of a pack, and not part of pack politics. I think they will be able to live a mostly normal life together. Do I think they'll be pulled into things once in a while? Probably, because of who they both are. But I think maybe the chaos is done and over.
Some people pointed to the last lines of the book as another reason Sookie was settling for Sam. How, she could see herself years down the road, happy with Sam, but if it didn't work out, she would survive. I don't think that was a sign of settling at all, but a sign that she had known love and loss, and had made it through, and that she would do so again if she had to.
It's really funny how many people are putting down her relationship with Sam because apparently losing him won't kill her, when those SAME people are the ones who hate on Bella Swan for how she totally fell apart when Edward left her. What do people want then? The woman who falls apart over a man is wrong, a woman who knows she can survive the loss is also wrong? WTF, people?
All in all, yes, I understand why people are upset, but I also think maybe at least some of those people wouldn't hate this book so bad if they actually bothered to read it. I was surprised at how much it pulled me in, and kept me interested from beginning to end. It wasn't nearly as dull as the last few books. I think this book took Sookie full circle, from the weird, lonely young barmaid in the first book, who didn't dream of more exactly, but of having someone to love her for herself, someone she could be normal with. Her journey took her far from those beginnings. I think she had to find out that what was out there wasn't necessarily better, and that it would actually be so, so much worse. I think she had to learn that, while humans looked at her funny because of her telepathy and vampires didn't, at the end of the day, all the humans in her life stood up and were there for her, while almost every vampire in her life only ever wanted to use her for her ability- yes, even Eric.
Now I have to apologize. This isn't really a review, so much as me rambling about what I read, and several points I've seen people make. This is merely my thoughts on a few of those things, and why I actually did enjoy the book, even though it did have some faults. show less
This is going to be a big ol' long ass spoiler filled "review", because I want to address some of the MANY points I have seen people complain about it, and my own take on it. I'm probably going to ramble. I'm probably going to add things and take things away from this review as I keep thinking and digesting.
On more thinking, I did bump off one star. One star, because I did realize that the narrative was all over the place, with evil villains popping out all over the place, too many, really, for one book. We have Steve Newlins and Jerome Glassport, who I didn't show more even remember, with some help in the beginning from Arlene and a manipulated officer Alcee Beck. Then there was Amelia the witch's father, and last but not least, Claude. It was almost like a Benny Hill episode, all these villians practically tripping over each other, trying to get to Sookie. There were moments not told from Sookie's POV, but from several of the villains, which took me out of the story every time. It just felt like a bit too much, when the focus should have been elsewhere.
The way Tara was written in this book kind of bugged me. I remember thinking when True Blood started that True Blood Tara was not like I remembered book Tara. But in this book, Tara sounded exactly like TB Tara. Maybe I need to go back over where she first appeared, and see if she really did always sound that way.
And now let's get to the meat and potatoes, what everyone is complaining about.
I think this story really should have been broken up differently. I almost think all the Eric stuff up to and including the divorce, should have been in another book- either the last book where all those issues first came up, or more thought out, in a book of it's own. I felt the issues surrounding Eric having to marry Freyda, and his denouncement of Sookie, was rushed. I think, for all the attention it was given, those few scenes could have been in the last book, with THIS one being about how Sookie was moving on from Eric.
By the time this story begins, although Sookie still loves Eric, she really just wants it to be done already. She knows Eric isn't willing to do whatever it takes to get out of this arrangement, and that hurts. I do think that if Eric really loved Sookie as much as a man should love a woman, he would have TRIED HARDER. But really, that's not the Eric we've come to know for so long. Eric loves Sookie, as much as he is able to love any human. I'm pretty sure that's been said quite a lot through the series. Eric is, most of all practical. He is a survivor. He is ruthless. He is also high enough in the vampire hierarchy, that he knows the laws and rules, and I think he knew that this was not a commitment he could get out of. I would like a story about what happens after he goes to OK, but I doubt it if it's something we'll ever get.
What we saw from him in this book was cruel, yes, but I don't know that I saw it as out of character, as many people are saying. Maybe I need to re-read the entire series and refresh myself. In the end, this just felt rushed, and like it all should have been explored more thoroughly. We basically had one quick meeting at Fangtasia, a text message, a late night visit, and a cold, fast vampire divorce. They deserved more time, more of a goodbye.
Now, Sam.... I feel like one of the few people that really loves Sam, and did throughout the series. I felt from the very beginning that Sam and Sookie would be together in the end. Yes, there were plenty of Bill moments, and plenty of Eric moments, where I thought each would be the HEA, but Sam always lingered in my mind, and, I think, Sookie's mind. I always felt Sam was in love with Sookie, even when he was dating other women. That's why he dated such HORRIBLE women- they were not Sookie, and they were never meant to work.
I think that Sookie saving Sam forced Sookie to rethink things. I think it drew them closer together emotionally. It has to be a big, confusing deal, bringing someone back from the dead. Do I wish there was MORE, especially during the last few books, between Sookie and Sam? Yes. But was I in any way surprised, no.
Many people are thinking Sookie settled. I don't think so. She had to go through all the things she went through, to realize what she really wanted was to be home, and live an "ordinary" life. Many people think she can never have an ordinary life because of the history with the vampires. I do think that that was one thing Eric managed to give her- safety from other vamps. I know Sam is still a supe, but his life is VERY different from the weres, the fae, and the vamps. Sam is not part of a pack, and not part of pack politics. I think they will be able to live a mostly normal life together. Do I think they'll be pulled into things once in a while? Probably, because of who they both are. But I think maybe the chaos is done and over.
Some people pointed to the last lines of the book as another reason Sookie was settling for Sam. How, she could see herself years down the road, happy with Sam, but if it didn't work out, she would survive. I don't think that was a sign of settling at all, but a sign that she had known love and loss, and had made it through, and that she would do so again if she had to.
It's really funny how many people are putting down her relationship with Sam because apparently losing him won't kill her, when those SAME people are the ones who hate on Bella Swan for how she totally fell apart when Edward left her. What do people want then? The woman who falls apart over a man is wrong, a woman who knows she can survive the loss is also wrong? WTF, people?
All in all, yes, I understand why people are upset, but I also think maybe at least some of those people wouldn't hate this book so bad if they actually bothered to read it. I was surprised at how much it pulled me in, and kept me interested from beginning to end. It wasn't nearly as dull as the last few books. I think this book took Sookie full circle, from the weird, lonely young barmaid in the first book, who didn't dream of more exactly, but of having someone to love her for herself, someone she could be normal with. Her journey took her far from those beginnings. I think she had to find out that what was out there wasn't necessarily better, and that it would actually be so, so much worse. I think she had to learn that, while humans looked at her funny because of her telepathy and vampires didn't, at the end of the day, all the humans in her life stood up and were there for her, while almost every vampire in her life only ever wanted to use her for her ability- yes, even Eric.
Now I have to apologize. This isn't really a review, so much as me rambling about what I read, and several points I've seen people make. This is merely my thoughts on a few of those things, and why I actually did enjoy the book, even though it did have some faults. show less
Sookie is back. And people want to kill her. For reasons (don’t ask what they are, I barely know, the book certainly doesn’t know. But then again they may have met her for 10 minutes, that could be motive enough)
Which means every character this 13 book series has ever had since the very beginning decides to pop in to wave and say hi, most of them leaving again, others staying for breakfast. Sookie whines and complains and whines and complains and whines some more with an extra side order of how awful all woman are except the Sookzilla are.
And then badness happens, convoluted rescue and Sookie ends up shagging someone half of fandom hates.
What you wanted a real recap? Seriously, there’s nothing to recap. Some random guys decide show more they hate Sookie and try to destroy her in a fashion that makes your average Scooby Doo villain look direct and simple. Arlene is sprung out of prison is evil and bad, dies and Sookie is framed – inelegantly – for her murder that would never have stuck anyway. Everyone rallies round the wonderful Sookie. Sookie is her usual nasty self and whines about her love life while doing nothing.
Let me preface this review with a point: I know a lot of fans are giving this book low ratings because they are absolutely horrified, shocked and appalled that Sookie didn’t end up with their lover of choice. So upset, in fact, that some of them have lost their ever loving minds.
So let me be clear, I do not care who Sookie ends up with. No, no, I do, but only in a sense of wanting to know which man to pity, which man is forced to bite the bullet, and which men manage to flee from the Sookzilla and escape her clutches.
That said, her relationship is frankly the least reason I dislike this book – what with the writing, the broken plot, the ridiculous characterisations and, of course, Sookie herself.
Firstly, since this is the last book in the series, every character there has ever been showed up to wave and say hi. These characters fit into two categories – men who turned up to remind us how awful all the other women in their lives were compared to the precious Sookie (Sam runs down his lovers – the Maenad, Jannalyn, both worse than Sookie. Quinn reflects on the mother of his child – who won’t let him nearby – and the sister Sookie disapproves of. Alcide has 1 out of three lovers Sookie found tolerable – and she’s dead). They all consider their past relationships – in some cases it’s the only reason they actually show up at all – just to remind us how wonderful and perfect Sookie is next to every other woman in the world ever.
Of course, some women return to the fold as well – and there begins the grand apology genuflections for being women who have inevitably failed the perfect Sookzilla. Tara is there to apologise for how she failed her Sookieness and later Amelia shows up to do her own penitence at the altar of Sookie perfection. It’s pretty glaring when you compare the men returning to Sookie’s service and the women – the men reflect on how bad their women were, the women are penitent about what bad people they are, because no woman can ever match the Sookzilla, no woman is allowed to be her peer, they always have to be beneath her or lesser than her because she is Sookie, the special woman. And, of course, there’s the evil evil betraying Arlene who finally gets hers! And absolutely no-one is sorry about the death of a single mother because of what she did to Sookie, she knows because she read the bar’s minds and they’re all Team!Sookie.
Even new women on the scene – like Ann and Sam’s mother – have to have their flaws paraded through Sookie’s mind to remind us how terribad wrong all other women are compared to the Sookzilla!
It just adds to the general unpleasantness that is Sookie. I can’t emphasise this enough, but Sookie is a really really nasty person. Tara, her best friend who has just had twins, returns to Sookie’s life and some of her first thoughts are 1) Tara is more-than-curvy (and mentally commenting that Tara has put on 2 dress sizes, not one) and 2) that she isn’t grooming her eyebrows neatly any more. She also moans about Tara sending baby pictures of her newborn twins and even assumes one of Tara’s other friends must be relieved with Sookie taking Tara away to escape the dreaded scourge of baby pictures
Or there’s her garden. Niall has blessed her garden to turn it into an Eden – it is lush and beautiful and stunning and thriving and has awesome tomato plants of infinite growth, constantly refreshing their super-perfect, amazing fruit. Sookie’s reaction? Oh it’s nice – but now she has to mow the lawn more often, damn it! Typical backfiring faerie gift! And he could have thrown in a protection circle! And she’s sick of tomatoes anyway!
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Which means every character this 13 book series has ever had since the very beginning decides to pop in to wave and say hi, most of them leaving again, others staying for breakfast. Sookie whines and complains and whines and complains and whines some more with an extra side order of how awful all woman are except the Sookzilla are.
And then badness happens, convoluted rescue and Sookie ends up shagging someone half of fandom hates.
What you wanted a real recap? Seriously, there’s nothing to recap. Some random guys decide show more they hate Sookie and try to destroy her in a fashion that makes your average Scooby Doo villain look direct and simple. Arlene is sprung out of prison is evil and bad, dies and Sookie is framed – inelegantly – for her murder that would never have stuck anyway. Everyone rallies round the wonderful Sookie. Sookie is her usual nasty self and whines about her love life while doing nothing.
Let me preface this review with a point: I know a lot of fans are giving this book low ratings because they are absolutely horrified, shocked and appalled that Sookie didn’t end up with their lover of choice. So upset, in fact, that some of them have lost their ever loving minds.
So let me be clear, I do not care who Sookie ends up with. No, no, I do, but only in a sense of wanting to know which man to pity, which man is forced to bite the bullet, and which men manage to flee from the Sookzilla and escape her clutches.
That said, her relationship is frankly the least reason I dislike this book – what with the writing, the broken plot, the ridiculous characterisations and, of course, Sookie herself.
Firstly, since this is the last book in the series, every character there has ever been showed up to wave and say hi. These characters fit into two categories – men who turned up to remind us how awful all the other women in their lives were compared to the precious Sookie (Sam runs down his lovers – the Maenad, Jannalyn, both worse than Sookie. Quinn reflects on the mother of his child – who won’t let him nearby – and the sister Sookie disapproves of. Alcide has 1 out of three lovers Sookie found tolerable – and she’s dead). They all consider their past relationships – in some cases it’s the only reason they actually show up at all – just to remind us how wonderful and perfect Sookie is next to every other woman in the world ever.
Of course, some women return to the fold as well – and there begins the grand apology genuflections for being women who have inevitably failed the perfect Sookzilla. Tara is there to apologise for how she failed her Sookieness and later Amelia shows up to do her own penitence at the altar of Sookie perfection. It’s pretty glaring when you compare the men returning to Sookie’s service and the women – the men reflect on how bad their women were, the women are penitent about what bad people they are, because no woman can ever match the Sookzilla, no woman is allowed to be her peer, they always have to be beneath her or lesser than her because she is Sookie, the special woman. And, of course, there’s the evil evil betraying Arlene who finally gets hers! And absolutely no-one is sorry about the death of a single mother because of what she did to Sookie, she knows because she read the bar’s minds and they’re all Team!Sookie.
Even new women on the scene – like Ann and Sam’s mother – have to have their flaws paraded through Sookie’s mind to remind us how terribad wrong all other women are compared to the Sookzilla!
It just adds to the general unpleasantness that is Sookie. I can’t emphasise this enough, but Sookie is a really really nasty person. Tara, her best friend who has just had twins, returns to Sookie’s life and some of her first thoughts are 1) Tara is more-than-curvy (and mentally commenting that Tara has put on 2 dress sizes, not one) and 2) that she isn’t grooming her eyebrows neatly any more. She also moans about Tara sending baby pictures of her newborn twins and even assumes one of Tara’s other friends must be relieved with Sookie taking Tara away to escape the dreaded scourge of baby pictures
Or there’s her garden. Niall has blessed her garden to turn it into an Eden – it is lush and beautiful and stunning and thriving and has awesome tomato plants of infinite growth, constantly refreshing their super-perfect, amazing fruit. Sookie’s reaction? Oh it’s nice – but now she has to mow the lawn more often, damn it! Typical backfiring faerie gift! And he could have thrown in a protection circle! And she’s sick of tomatoes anyway!
Read More show less
This book is the perfect conclusion to a long running series. The character of Sookie has grown from the simple and somewhat dim-witted acting bar-maid, to the nearly perfect kick-ass heroine we have all come to love in our speculative fiction literature. If you are like me and love to re-read books, I have just spent the last week rereading this whole series so I could understand what all the hub-bub is about, and for the life of me I can not understand how everyone is so unhappy.
The story and mystery was an interesting one, with a plot and characters that I did for the life of me expect.
Ms Harris and her imagination took me places that I and the characters really needed to go to, the dark black corners of Sookies life. The show more introspection alone shows how Sookie has grown and matured.
This book closes all the doors that needed to be closed, it gives us the perfect HEA that had been building right from book one. SPOILERS-------> Sam has always been the perfect man for Sookie.
Unlike so many conclusions to series that leave you wondering if it really is the last book, Dead Ever After doesn't leave you wondering...although I would love a follow up someday to see how Sookie and her man are getting along. And no I do NOT want to do it by reading After Dead, I would love a *real* book about them!
I feel not the least bit ripped off, since I have never been a fan of Eric or Bill and Sookie had never had a long and important friendship/relationship with any other male.
For me this was the perfect conclusion. show less
The story and mystery was an interesting one, with a plot and characters that I did for the life of me expect.
Ms Harris and her imagination took me places that I and the characters really needed to go to, the dark black corners of Sookies life. The show more introspection alone shows how Sookie has grown and matured.
This book closes all the doors that needed to be closed, it gives us the perfect HEA that had been building right from book one. SPOILERS-------> Sam has always been the perfect man for Sookie.
Unlike so many conclusions to series that leave you wondering if it really is the last book, Dead Ever After doesn't leave you wondering...although I would love a follow up someday to see how Sookie and her man are getting along. And no I do NOT want to do it by reading After Dead, I would love a *real* book about them!
I feel not the least bit ripped off, since I have never been a fan of Eric or Bill and Sookie had never had a long and important friendship/relationship with any other male.
For me this was the perfect conclusion. show less
I cannot express how glad I am that this series that I once loved is now finished. I'm not sure why the series had to decline so sharply in quality over the last few books, but it did. And with this last book, it continued that decline. No, it didn't continue that decline; it jumped off a cliff and sank to the very bottom of the ocean in quality. It wasn't just a little bad. It was horrible. It was awful. It was a cross between mind-numbingly bad and just plain torturous.
I know that some have been quick to say that the backlash related to this book has to do with who people 'shipped Sookie with. Even though I'm a Sooric (Sookie/Eric shipper), I can honestly say that that has nothing to do with my distaste for this book. And I'm a bit show more perturbed that people think that upset fans are really that shallow. I would have been fine with her ending up with just about anyone in the franchise, as long as there was a proper build-up to the relationship. And even if it ended with a sudden relationship, like it did, I wouldn't have dismissed the book as being bad just for that.
No, the reasons that this book sucks are a bit more complex than that.
1.) For the first nine books, Sookie had a definitive voice. She was likable. She was funny. She wasn't always the brightest or least-self involved character in the world, but she wasn't the most shallow and she wasn't horribly rude. At some point in the tenth book, this changed. Sookie became more hateful. She became more judgmental. She became obsessed with the most idiotic things. She became a character that disgusted me. By the time I finished this book, I felt like I had been reading from the perspective of the villain for the last 13 books. She was just rude, bigoted, and selfish. She tried to make it seem like she was a good person, but it was quite clear in her attitude and dismissal of certain characters (and their species' in general) that she was just as bad, if not worse, than the antagonists. Oh, and she wasn't just judgmental of bad guys. No, she even judged Tara for still being two sizes bigger than she was pre-pregnancy. She just had twins and Sookie is judging her for not bouncing back quick enough. Pathetic. Absolutely pathetic. Oh, and everything that Eric does in this book is somehow wrong. He comes to Sookie's house to tell her that he still cares for her and is leaving someone outside to protect her since he can't, and she gets pissed. He bails her out of jail, she gets pissed. He wants to keep her in his (un)life, she gets pissed. He agrees to being away from Pam and Karin for a longer period of time to keep her protected, she gets pissed. He makes it so that she can't be hurt by any vampire ever, she gets pissed. She is just so pissy in this book.
2.) For a character who has been sexually assaulted and a writer who has as well, the lack of compassion for Eric being sold into sex slavery with his marriage to Freyda was appalling. (His being forced to have sex with Freyda is described as a cushy benefit of his job.) What was also appalling is that even after Bill attempted to rape Sookie in Club Dead and after finding out that their whole relationship was built on him using her, meaning that any sex that she consented to was consented to under false pretenses and was, therefore, akin to rape, Sookie is still attracted to him. She describes his kissing like it's magical and wonderful. She lets him in her house whenever he wants. She doesn't care that he brings along a character in the beginning of the book that is actually out to possibly impune her character. She gets all googly eyed when he's around. If she can so easily dismiss Eric for being a vampire and therefore soulless, evil, etc., then why can't she do that with Bill? Why is he immune to her bigotry?
3.) At one point, Sookie says that she doesn't think that her relationship with Eric was meant to be because he wanted to save it using the cluviel dor. She doesn't think magic should be used to save or create a relationship. She then turns around and hooks up with her "HEA" because the has opened his eyes to the fact that he wants to have a relationship (with wild seal sex) with her. If magic can doom her relationship with Eric, why can't it doom the relationship with Sam? Because, technically, the only reason for their hookup is that she used magic.
4.) For twelve books, Sookie was the sole narrator. For twelve mysteries, we only knew what was happening in the story based on what Sookie knew. For twelve books, that format was good enough for all involved. Why, in the thirteenth and final book, do we have to go from first person (Sookie) to third person? It was annoying. It made it harder to read. And it just seemed lazy.
5.) Speaking of laziness, there were times when it seemed like CH just half-assed her way through chapters and scenes. Either we were being told every single mundane thing that some random character was doing, or we would get one or two sentences that seemed more like they were part of an outline for the story. It was annoying and I can't believe that someone along the way didn't pick up on how bad that made it look. Of course, there were other editing issues with this book, so I'm wondering if maybe the editor just ignored all the issues that were going on in the book.
6.) When Tyrese is given HIV as part of a Faustian deal (on page 17), I got a bit pissed. Using an illness as a punishment for someone selling their soul is just wrong on so many levels. It makes it seem like it is okay to say that anyone who ends up with a disease, especially a deadly disease, is somehow responsible for ending up with that disease. It makes it seem like diseases are punishments from a supernatural force. Equating the cause for having a disability with selling your soul/sinful behavior? It is offensive. Absolutely offensive.
7.) The character interactions were off. The whole story lacked flow, but the character interactions were some of the worst. It was almost like watching a student film where no one in the film actually knows how to act. Basically, reading the interactions was like watching a trainwreck...in slow motion.
8.) Speaking of the characters, was it really necessary to have so many of the less-important characters from past books in this particular book. Did we really need Barry and Quinn and Mr. C and Diantha and Amelia and Bob and Copley and Johan and on and on and on? I know that Charlaine probably wanted to have Sookie have this one last battle with all her friends and enemies, but it wasn't really necessary. Sometimes less is actually more, especially when it comes to ending a series. It just seemed like overkill.
I didn't enjoy this book. I can't imagine anyone who has been a fan of the series enjoying it. I can't even imagine non-fans enjoying it. If there were a way to give it an even more negative rating, I would because it deserves it. This book was nothing but a waste of time. It makes the whole series, a series that I used to enjoy, seem like a gigantic waste of time. Avoid this book if you can. Even if--no especially if--you loved the series. show less
I know that some have been quick to say that the backlash related to this book has to do with who people 'shipped Sookie with. Even though I'm a Sooric (Sookie/Eric shipper), I can honestly say that that has nothing to do with my distaste for this book. And I'm a bit show more perturbed that people think that upset fans are really that shallow. I would have been fine with her ending up with just about anyone in the franchise, as long as there was a proper build-up to the relationship. And even if it ended with a sudden relationship, like it did, I wouldn't have dismissed the book as being bad just for that.
No, the reasons that this book sucks are a bit more complex than that.
1.) For the first nine books, Sookie had a definitive voice. She was likable. She was funny. She wasn't always the brightest or least-self involved character in the world, but she wasn't the most shallow and she wasn't horribly rude. At some point in the tenth book, this changed. Sookie became more hateful. She became more judgmental. She became obsessed with the most idiotic things. She became a character that disgusted me. By the time I finished this book, I felt like I had been reading from the perspective of the villain for the last 13 books. She was just rude, bigoted, and selfish. She tried to make it seem like she was a good person, but it was quite clear in her attitude and dismissal of certain characters (and their species' in general) that she was just as bad, if not worse, than the antagonists. Oh, and she wasn't just judgmental of bad guys. No, she even judged Tara for still being two sizes bigger than she was pre-pregnancy. She just had twins and Sookie is judging her for not bouncing back quick enough. Pathetic. Absolutely pathetic. Oh, and everything that Eric does in this book is somehow wrong. He comes to Sookie's house to tell her that he still cares for her and is leaving someone outside to protect her since he can't, and she gets pissed. He bails her out of jail, she gets pissed. He wants to keep her in his (un)life, she gets pissed. He agrees to being away from Pam and Karin for a longer period of time to keep her protected, she gets pissed. He makes it so that she can't be hurt by any vampire ever, she gets pissed. She is just so pissy in this book.
2.) For a character who has been sexually assaulted and a writer who has as well, the lack of compassion for Eric being sold into sex slavery with his marriage to Freyda was appalling. (His being forced to have sex with Freyda is described as a cushy benefit of his job.) What was also appalling is that even after Bill attempted to rape Sookie in Club Dead and after finding out that their whole relationship was built on him using her, meaning that any sex that she consented to was consented to under false pretenses and was, therefore, akin to rape, Sookie is still attracted to him. She describes his kissing like it's magical and wonderful. She lets him in her house whenever he wants. She doesn't care that he brings along a character in the beginning of the book that is actually out to possibly impune her character. She gets all googly eyed when he's around. If she can so easily dismiss Eric for being a vampire and therefore soulless, evil, etc., then why can't she do that with Bill? Why is he immune to her bigotry?
3.) At one point, Sookie says that she doesn't think that her relationship with Eric was meant to be because he wanted to save it using the cluviel dor. She doesn't think magic should be used to save or create a relationship. She then turns around and hooks up with her "HEA" because the has opened his eyes to the fact that he wants to have a relationship (with wild seal sex) with her. If magic can doom her relationship with Eric, why can't it doom the relationship with Sam? Because, technically, the only reason for their hookup is that she used magic.
4.) For twelve books, Sookie was the sole narrator. For twelve mysteries, we only knew what was happening in the story based on what Sookie knew. For twelve books, that format was good enough for all involved. Why, in the thirteenth and final book, do we have to go from first person (Sookie) to third person? It was annoying. It made it harder to read. And it just seemed lazy.
5.) Speaking of laziness, there were times when it seemed like CH just half-assed her way through chapters and scenes. Either we were being told every single mundane thing that some random character was doing, or we would get one or two sentences that seemed more like they were part of an outline for the story. It was annoying and I can't believe that someone along the way didn't pick up on how bad that made it look. Of course, there were other editing issues with this book, so I'm wondering if maybe the editor just ignored all the issues that were going on in the book.
6.) When Tyrese is given HIV as part of a Faustian deal (on page 17), I got a bit pissed. Using an illness as a punishment for someone selling their soul is just wrong on so many levels. It makes it seem like it is okay to say that anyone who ends up with a disease, especially a deadly disease, is somehow responsible for ending up with that disease. It makes it seem like diseases are punishments from a supernatural force. Equating the cause for having a disability with selling your soul/sinful behavior? It is offensive. Absolutely offensive.
7.) The character interactions were off. The whole story lacked flow, but the character interactions were some of the worst. It was almost like watching a student film where no one in the film actually knows how to act. Basically, reading the interactions was like watching a trainwreck...in slow motion.
8.) Speaking of the characters, was it really necessary to have so many of the less-important characters from past books in this particular book. Did we really need Barry and Quinn and Mr. C and Diantha and Amelia and Bob and Copley and Johan and on and on and on? I know that Charlaine probably wanted to have Sookie have this one last battle with all her friends and enemies, but it wasn't really necessary. Sometimes less is actually more, especially when it comes to ending a series. It just seemed like overkill.
I didn't enjoy this book. I can't imagine anyone who has been a fan of the series enjoying it. I can't even imagine non-fans enjoying it. If there were a way to give it an even more negative rating, I would because it deserves it. This book was nothing but a waste of time. It makes the whole series, a series that I used to enjoy, seem like a gigantic waste of time. Avoid this book if you can. Even if--no especially if--you loved the series. show less
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Charlaine Harris was born in Tunica, Mississippi on November 25, 1951. She attended Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee. She wrote poetry and plays before beginning to publish mysteries set in the American South. She is the author of the Aurora Teagarden Mystery series, the Lily Bard Mystery series, the Harper Connelly series, and the Sookie show more Stackhouse series. In 2001, the first book in the Sookie Stackhouse series, Dead until Dark, won an Anthony Award for Best Paperback Mystery. The series was adapted as a TV show on HBO called True Blood. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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- Canonical title
- Dead Ever After
- Original title
- Dead Ever After
- Original publication date
- 2013-05-07
- People/Characters
- Sookie Stackhouse; Sam Merlotte; Eric Northman; William "Bill" Erasmus Compton; Mr. Cataliades
- Important places
- Bon Temps, Louisiana, USA
- Related movies
- True Blood (2008 | IMDb)
- Dedication
- This book is dedicated to the loyal readers who have followed this series from beginning to end. Some of you were reading the books before True Blood, and some came after, but you were all amazingly generous with you... (show all)r ideas, speculations, and votes on Sookie's future. There isn't a way I could make all of you happy with the ending of the series, so I've followed my own plan, the one I've had all along, and I hope you agree that it's fitting.
- First words
- JANUARY
The New Orleans businessman, whose gray hair put him in his fifties, was accompanied by his much younger and taller bodyguard/chauffeur on the night he met the devil in the French Quarter. The meeting was by prea... (show all)rrangement. - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)I am Sookie Stackhouse. I belong here.
- Publisher's editor
- Buchanan, Ginjer
- Original language
- English
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- Reviews
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