Book Review - Dead Until Dark

 The Sookie Stackhouse Series, by Charlaine Harris
1. Dead Until Dark, 6/26/2011, * * * *

So, it seems kind of weird to try to do a "review" on a book that I just finished doing a "Read & React" on, because I've already said a lot about what I thought of the book and characters specifically.  What's left to say?

Let's start with the Goodreads 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."

My thoughts:
Earlier this spring we got HBO at our house so that I could watch their adaptation of GRRM's Game of Thrones.  Once I realized that the subscription also included HBO On Demand (or whatever it's called), I quickly raced through the first three seasons of True Blood, which I hugely enjoyed.  The show increased my interest in the book series, and gave me a general idea of what to expect when I picked up Dead Until Dark.

The book is good - great pacing, nice mystery, intriguing love-triangle possibilities.  But I have to say that I was slightly disappointed that some of my favorite characters from the show (Lafayette, Tara, Jessica), were either not in the book at all, or else took a serious back seat role.  (As in, all the way in the very back of the very long car that's two cars behind the car that I'm in).

However, there's also a lot that is good about the book.  It's very obviously the first in a series, and as such a lot of time is spent setting up the characters and settings, many of which while seeming to go nowhere, will probably be followed up on in later novels.  The author is very good at describing the settings and environments, but sometimes a little too good, such as when Sookie decides what to wear and showers and shaves her legs, etc.  Sometimes the reader just really doesn't need to know that much detail and just wants to move along to the next plot point.

And there are some great plot points, including several things that were different from what I had expected by watching the series, and that I think were handled better by the book.  Overall, I think that it is a good, solid, first book and does a good job in setting up the series.

~Ang at Eastern Sunset Reads also posted a review of Dead Until Dark - you should definitely check out her review as well!!

Have you read this series?  Liked it, loved it, hated it?  Should I continue on with Book 2: Living Dead in Dalas, or skip it?  Leave a comment and let me know what you think!!