Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris


Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Ace Trade
Release Date: January 1, 2001 
Language: English
Source: Library


Synopsis: Sookie Stackhouse is just a small-time cocktail waitress in small-town Louisiana. Until the vampire of her dreams walks into her life-and one of her coworkers checks out....Maybe having a vampire for a boyfriend isn't such a bright idea. A fun, fast, funny, and wonderfully intriguing blend of vampire and mystery that's hard to put down, and should not be missed.

With everyone obsessing over the new HBO hit True Blood, I thought it was time to look into the Sookie series. I've seen the books before but never picked them up since I thought the covers were silly-looking. But why not give it a try? I thought as I picked up my mutilated, library-owned copy. I settled in so I could listen to Sookie.
Vampires, in Sookie's world, have recently "come out of the coffin" and are integrating themselves into the human world. The Japanese have even created synthetic blood so their thirst can be quenched without killing. (the japanese....we'll never beat them, will we?). Sookie's waitressing job is fun but she does her best not to be obvious about her "handicap"-her psychic abilities that enable her to hear everyone's thoughts. Her handicap makes it hard for her to have relationships so she naturally shies away from that. (Not that she doesn't get offers because believe me, guys like her.) So when Bill strolls into the bar one night, she's immediately attracted to him since a.) he's a vampire and she knows nothing about his kind and b.) she can't hear his thoughts; she loves this. So when Sookie starts dating Bill, it's heaven. Until two local women in town are brutally murdered and people suspect that vampires are behind it....
When I started, I felt that the pace of the book was perfect-not too fast but nowhere near boring. It was almost like Sookie was taking me on a leisurely stroll. I was confident I would get through intact...until there were a lot of jolts on the road. So much crap happened in this one book; I couldn't believe it! Even the identity of the murderer shocked me. Obviously I'm not telling you guys who it is, but it was like whooooa, what?! I instantly liked Sookie; her character is so lovable and cute! I enjoyed how she could be naive one minute and then shock people by how intelligent and observant she was. She always took people, even Bill, by surprise. I wasn't a big fan of Bill; I can't pinpoint what I didn't like about him. I just....eh. He was okay. I LOVED Sam, however. I wish Sookie could've given him a chance!
So what's left for me to say? Dead until Dark is engaging, funny, full of southernly charm and filled to the brim with mystery. A perfect start to a series. Definetely pick this one up! You won't regret it. :)

rating: 5.0

6 comments:

  1. I'm reading this now! Great review-- and no. I'm not doing the challenge. I'm just reading them for fun. :)

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  2. Yeah, I don't really like the covers of these books, either. I'd actually never heard of them until hearing about the challenge. I've never read any vampire-related books other than Twilight (Does it count?), so I think I'm definitely going to have to check this book out. How does she know he's a vampire if she can't read his thoughts?

    On a completely unrelated note, how's North and South coming along?

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  3. I really want to read this book but I'm having such a hard time tracking it down at the surrounding local libraries! Now I can hardly wait, what with a 5/5 rating!

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  4. When I saw this on the dashboard I was like, please tell me she likes it, and you do! YEY!

    I love this series, and it gets even better with each book. I merely liked it in this one book, after the third book i started to love them.

    My vampire is Eric, period. He is so rawr! And I don't like Bill :s hes... Bill.

    And contrary to Melanie, I do like the covers. I like the easy art, and it catches the eye. Better than a normal human trying to impersonate a vampire and bitting someones neck, better than the new cover they have come up with :S

    Then again I like Chibi anime so Lol

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  5. Can the vampires in this book levitate like on the cover?

    Of course we can gush over John Thornton together! My favorite line was, "Look back at me." xD

    I felt sorry for Henry through the entire thing. He seems like a nice dude. I loved the first proposal between John and Margaret. The ending was completely swoonworthy. He did hold her so sweetly! *sigh* Who knows? There's probably a few more guys like that in this world. Do you think the two of them could be happy together? They'd certainly get into some interesting arguments with their personalities both being so upfront!

    You graduated high school at 17? That's pretty awesome!

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  6. I may have to read this series! I loved the first season, but since I don't have HBO, I'll have to wait for the 2nd season to come on DVD. So maybe instead of waiting, I'll just read the books!

    -Briana

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