Helpful Score: 4
What. The. Hell.
Ever So Spoilery...
This was so oddly written. The voice didn't sound like Sookie at all, but a person going through the motions, alternating between teenager sullenness and elderly worn out apathy.
Harris' choice to alternate between 1st person Sookie and 3rd person all-the-many-villains was pure laziness. In the past, there had always been a certain amount of cleverness to how the plot had to play out due to it all being 1st person. In Dead Ever After, Harris decided to just spell it out for us, as if she couldn't care enough to make the effort.
The plot was a jumbled mess. Characters came and went for no particular reason, casseroles were made and delivered, villains ganged together. Where previous books could nearly stand on their own, this tangled web was hard to follow, what with dragging in characters from all over the Sookie timeline and mashing them together without much explanation--- and definitely no plausible explanation.
Harris steadily went about trashing one beloved character after another. No one could be redeemed, all that was once cherished was suddenly meaningless and dropped like used tissues to roll ploddingly towards its doom for the sake of just ending it already.
I don't care who Sookie ended up with. A couple of books of heartbreak and angst and realizations and what not and Sam could have been her soul mate. Instead, he's a shadow of a character whom she has creepy creepy CREEPY dirty trailer park sex with. Seriously, it would've been less creepy for her to end up with Dermot, the visual twin of her brother. Well, maybe not...
I keep going back to the beginning. When Bill was the love of her life and then vampire politics made him a villain and things went to hell. Or when Eric forgot his centuries as a vampire and we got a glimpse of what he would be as a human.
A magic get out of jail free card and Harris doesn't use it to return even one vampire to their humanity? And when it is used, it turns Sam into a beaten dog despondent over having been momentarily dead?
Any way she turned the story, it could've been beautifully done. Hell, with her former effort and passion for writing, Harris could've made Claude the fricking hero. It would've been weird, but...
Or, she could've just killed Sookie. That could've been pretty spectacular. Sookie could've gone down in a blaze of glory or a martyr for everyone she loved.
It wasn't what happened, it was that it happened badly. This was a horribly written book, not at all in line with the established story.
It was wholly disappointing, even though, secretly, I kind of always loved the idea of steady, affable Sam being the last man standing. Now it just makes my skin crawl.
Shame on you, Harris, for foisting this mockery of a book on your loyal fans. I'm going to pretend this never happened. Actually, I may pretend Dead Reckoning and Deadlocked never happened as well.
Ever So Spoilery...
This was so oddly written. The voice didn't sound like Sookie at all, but a person going through the motions, alternating between teenager sullenness and elderly worn out apathy.
Harris' choice to alternate between 1st person Sookie and 3rd person all-the-many-villains was pure laziness. In the past, there had always been a certain amount of cleverness to how the plot had to play out due to it all being 1st person. In Dead Ever After, Harris decided to just spell it out for us, as if she couldn't care enough to make the effort.
The plot was a jumbled mess. Characters came and went for no particular reason, casseroles were made and delivered, villains ganged together. Where previous books could nearly stand on their own, this tangled web was hard to follow, what with dragging in characters from all over the Sookie timeline and mashing them together without much explanation--- and definitely no plausible explanation.
Harris steadily went about trashing one beloved character after another. No one could be redeemed, all that was once cherished was suddenly meaningless and dropped like used tissues to roll ploddingly towards its doom for the sake of just ending it already.
I don't care who Sookie ended up with. A couple of books of heartbreak and angst and realizations and what not and Sam could have been her soul mate. Instead, he's a shadow of a character whom she has creepy creepy CREEPY dirty trailer park sex with. Seriously, it would've been less creepy for her to end up with Dermot, the visual twin of her brother. Well, maybe not...
I keep going back to the beginning. When Bill was the love of her life and then vampire politics made him a villain and things went to hell. Or when Eric forgot his centuries as a vampire and we got a glimpse of what he would be as a human.
A magic get out of jail free card and Harris doesn't use it to return even one vampire to their humanity? And when it is used, it turns Sam into a beaten dog despondent over having been momentarily dead?
Any way she turned the story, it could've been beautifully done. Hell, with her former effort and passion for writing, Harris could've made Claude the fricking hero. It would've been weird, but...
Or, she could've just killed Sookie. That could've been pretty spectacular. Sookie could've gone down in a blaze of glory or a martyr for everyone she loved.
It wasn't what happened, it was that it happened badly. This was a horribly written book, not at all in line with the established story.
It was wholly disappointing, even though, secretly, I kind of always loved the idea of steady, affable Sam being the last man standing. Now it just makes my skin crawl.
Shame on you, Harris, for foisting this mockery of a book on your loyal fans. I'm going to pretend this never happened. Actually, I may pretend Dead Reckoning and Deadlocked never happened as well.
Elisabeth P. (BetsyP) reviewed Dead Ever After (Sookie Stackhouse, Bk 13) on + 566 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
Final installment of the Sookie Stackhouse series. Sookie has to contend with old adversaries, but she has the help of lots of old friends. I don't want to give too much away. This book is just as good if not better than any of the ones that came before. Good storyline, lots of twists and surprises and a really great HEA. I will miss Sookie.
Tiffany K. (tiffanyak) -
Helpful Score: 2
This was a brilliant conclusion to a great series. I confess that a part of me was disappointed with how it ended at first, but upon further reflection, I now realize that it is the perfect conclusion to Sookie's story. Which is not to say that I don't hope she's given a very different ending in her alternate universe that is the TV show, so that I can hopefully be pleased on both counts. More than that, and back to the book, it was a completely gripping read, so good that I read it in one day. I don't want to say too much, for fear of spoilers, but this was certainly one of my favorite installments of the series. Considering how many volumes there are, that's saying a lot.
Christine H. (solarawynn) reviewed Dead Ever After (Sookie Stackhouse, Bk 13) on + 724 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Charlaine Harris did a fine job of ending the Sookie Stackhouse novels.I cried.I laughed out loud.I will miss this series.
Helpful Score: 1
As someone who has enjoyed this series, I was worried about the final book. I successfully stayed away from the spoilers posted before the book was even released (and post release). What I did know was people were pissed. The dedication is fitting: "This book is dedicated to the loyal readers....There isn't a way I could make all of you happy with the ending..."
Like most of the previous Sookie books, this one takes some time to get started. Strangely, I don't mind reading about Sookie doing mundane things (cooking, shaving her legs, etc) and there's plenty of that here. I loved how Mr C, Diantha, Quinn (who left abruptly), Barry, Bob, and Amelia all came to help Sookie. I thought it was nice the turn-out in the courtroom. Sookie had more support than she knew. Now Sookie's enemies are gone. My only issue is I thought the ending was too abrupt. I'm not surprised at the ending, this person has been present in the previous books and a good friend to Sookie.
(A bit of my own rant follows- read at your own risk!)
I am surprised at all the hate with this character though. Yes, I'm an Eric lover too, but come on, he hasn't behaved all the well in the last couple of books. And knowing that Sookie had never wanted to be turned and would like to be a mother, the ending that is, is much more fitting.
Like most of the previous Sookie books, this one takes some time to get started. Strangely, I don't mind reading about Sookie doing mundane things (cooking, shaving her legs, etc) and there's plenty of that here. I loved how Mr C, Diantha, Quinn (who left abruptly), Barry, Bob, and Amelia all came to help Sookie. I thought it was nice the turn-out in the courtroom. Sookie had more support than she knew. Now Sookie's enemies are gone. My only issue is I thought the ending was too abrupt. I'm not surprised at the ending, this person has been present in the previous books and a good friend to Sookie.
(A bit of my own rant follows- read at your own risk!)
I am surprised at all the hate with this character though. Yes, I'm an Eric lover too, but come on, he hasn't behaved all the well in the last couple of books. And knowing that Sookie had never wanted to be turned and would like to be a mother, the ending that is, is much more fitting.
