Publication: January 2nd 2008 by Ace Books
Source: Library Book
Goodreads Summary: Sookie Stackhouse is a small-time cocktail waitress in small-town Louisiana. She's quiet, keeps to herself, and doesn't get out much. Not because she's not pretty. She is. It's just that, well, Sookie has this sort of "disability." She can read minds. And that doesn't make her too dateable. And then along comes Bill. He's tall, dark, handsome--and Sookie can't hear a word he's thinking. He's exactly the type of guy she's been waiting for all her life....
But Bill has a disability of his own: He's a vampire with a bad reputation. He hangs with a seriously creepy crowd, all suspected of--big surprise--murder. And when one of Sookie's coworkers is killed, she fears she's next....
Goodreads Page
My Thoughts:
I have to admit that if I hadn't watched the TV series before reading this book, I probably would have given it 3 stars. I also haven't read much in the paranormal romance genre so I can't tell if the writing style is typical or if it's something unique to Harris. But Sookie and her special snowflake syndrome kind of got to me in this book.
I understand that Sookie is a special snowflake since I've seen through season 5 of the TV series. But if I had gone blindly into this book, I would've been so frustrated with her. I mean, come on, the first chapter is just her bragging about herself and her looks. Not exactly the most endearing type of character. However, I did like Sookie in how human she is (har har). I liked reading about the waitress and her usual routine life. While I've seen some reviews complaining about having to read through her shower routine and the like, I personally liked it since it's not something you typically see in books and felt it lent a much needed ordinary air to Sookie. However, there were definitely times when I felt Sookie underreacted. I still can't get over how calmly she accepted finding out what Sam truly is and wasn't even upset about the circumstances surrounding it. The TV show definitely portrayed that in much more normal light I feel. Finally, her excitement over vampires finally coming out of the coffin was also something I enjoyed reading about. I can only imagine how life would change if that were to happen to us. I can definitely say I'd be just as fascinated as Sookie in learning about them and their new synthetic blood.
The world definitely intrigued me. I'm always the type of reader to enjoy big ideas and big worlds such as the idea of vampires finally being revealed and mainstreaming into life. Although I know that many more paranormal creatures are brought into the series, part of me wishes it had been kept strictly to vampires. So often vampire novels turn into all-types-of-paranormal novels and it usually takes away from the fascination with vampires.
The plot was a little on the slow side but didn't bother me. There were definitely some events that didn't fit or make sense to me such as the graveyard scene with Bill and Sookie. I was disappointed not to see Tara at all in this book and to see so little of Lafayette. They're definitely some of my favorite characters in the series and I hope to see them in the continuing books. I've heard that the books are much different from here on out compared to the TV series and I'm definitely intrigued enough to continue on.
Likes: The world. Bill. Eric. The ordinariness of the writing.
Dislikes: No Tara! Some events didn't make sense or fit the pacing of the story in my opinion.
Overall:
Recommend? Yes, if you're a forgiving reader and enjoy the story more than the plotline.
Reading the Next One? Yes.
No comments :
Post a Comment