Thursday 23 July 2009

Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

"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's a very cute bubbly blonde - or not interested in a social life. She really is ...but Sookie's got a bit of a disability. She can read minds. And that doesn't make her too dateable. And then along comes Bill: he's tall, he's dark and he's handsome - and Sookie can't 'hear' a word he's thinking. He's exactly the type of guy she's been waiting all her life for. But Bill has a disability of his own: he's fussy about his food, he doesn't like suntans and he's never around during the day ...Yep, Bill's a vampire. Worse than that, he hangs with a seriously creepy crowd, with a reputation for trouble - of the murderous kind. And then one of Sookie's colleagues at the bar is killed, and it's beginning to look like Sookie might be the next victim ..."


Sookie is a telepathic waitress. She can hear the thoughts of everyone around her. She's also wanted to meet a vampire ever since they 'came out' to the human population. So when Bill Compton walks in to the bar where she works and sits in her section, she's thrilled.

Sookie is beyond curious about him and his kind. But with the entry of Bill to her life, brings chaos to Sookie's thus far (mostly) quiet and normal life. Bill also brings a silence Sookie's craved. She can't hear his thoughts, and to her, that's enough to put up with the trouble.

Sookie is tough when it comes to danger and protecting those she loves. But she's also a push over. She always seems to say yes to doing things for her friends, whether it's really okay with her or not. Sookie isn't the deepest character either, in my view, and those around her aren't any better. But it's still a decent story, well written and it is entertaining. And maybe I've gotten used to reading more recent UF books where it takes more than half a book for the couple to say 'I love you', but I found it annoying when it happened and wondered where it had come from.

There is plenty of death, darkness and action through out the book, but I couldn't take it completely seriously. I still really enjoyed it though and the not so good parts didn't really detract too much from that. I look forward to reading more of Sookie's adventures. 7/10

2 comments:

Rachy_N said...

Just read your review and have to say that I felt pretty much the same way when I first read it. I've now read the whole lot and have to say I'm addicted! Charlaine Harris takes her time peeling back the layers on her characters as the books progress. I actually like her writing style as it's a lot different from the 'normal' UF's out there :)

Claire (Cem) said...

That's interesting to hear! I plan on getting the next two books in the next couple of weeks, so we'll see if I feel the same about them as you. I do agree though, that even just with the first book they've got a really different feel to most UF books.