There are secrets in the town of Bon Temps, ones that threaten those closest to Sookie—and could destroy her heart...
Sookie Stackhouse finds it easy to turn down the request of former barmaid Arlene when she wants her job back at Merlotte’s. After all, Arlene tried to have Sookie killed. But her relationship with Eric Northman is not so clearcut. He and his vampires are keeping their distance…and a cold silence. And when Sookie learns the reason why, she is devastated. Then a shocking murder rocks Bon Temps, and Sookie is arrested for the crime. But the evidence against Sookie is weak, and she makes bail. Investigating the killing, she’ll learn that what passes for truth in Bon Temps is only a convenient lie. What passes for justice is more spilled blood. And what passes for love is never enough... |
WARNING
SPOILERS THROUGHOUT, INCLUDING THE ENDING
Wow, I just wrote a massively long review for this one that Goodreads did not save. I really need to remember to start saving them myself.
“I’d been waiting for the vampire for years when he walked into the bar.” was the first line in the series. It ends with: "I'm Sookie Stackhouse. And I belong here." Epic lines.
Sookie stays home a lot in the book. I think the biggest downer about this book is the lack of excitement. I always enjoyed that she went out to work and different places and interactions. At the beginning of the book she's upset over Eric (although that's a bit hard to tell) and confused by Sam so takes days off to mope at home, wonder on email, and take a shopping trip with Tara to a used clothing store. Of course it's nailed in on Tara's new twins. She also takes time off when she's injured, she has to be away from work when in jail, and then there's a period where Sam's not allowing her to come into work. We get a lot of her organizing, cleaning, dressing, sunbathing, musing.
Telepathy is no longer that important. There was magic in the earlier books. Sookie was a person struggling as a supernatural in her small town that feared her, and then she encountered other supernaturals and was thrust in the world of danger, intrigue, and excitement. In this book it's like everyone and their cousin is a telepath (Barry is around a lot for some reason) and the vamps no longer have interest in her abilities. They make it sound like Eric's protection stopped vamps from messing with her because of her being his vamp wife. Before they left her alone because of that and he was over her, but they were always really intrigued by taking her as their own for her abilities. Now it's like they don't care.
This book holds no mystery. Part of it was because there are now multiple points of view where we always know what's going on and the reader no longer has to figure it out along with the reader. The POV shifts were confusing. For every book it's always been told through Sookie's point of view. In this book there are different points of view. It would have been better if doing this to be in the head of main characters where we always wondered what they think, but no, these viewpoints are one time Barry the Bellboy and the new villain invented for the story.
Many characters came in just to make exit scenes. Seriously, it was awesome that all the mains from the previous books were seen again but some of these scenes were just awkward. Alcide comes in once to sniff around her room and mention how in love he is with this new woman about to be made pack. Quinn comes out of nowhere to sniff her woods for a day and say he heard she needed help on the Supernatural help board. Um, what on earth is that?
The relationship with Sam was forced feeling and there was no romance or passion to me. It was predictable who she would end up with, I think, and the author felt invested in it, but she shouldn't have it happen suddenly the last few chapters without any romantic buildup. And that sex scene? It lasted one paragraph and was painfully non-erotic. It was the opposite of erotic. Rubbed together like seals because of sweat? Gross.
The villains made little sense. The likelihood of those three getting together for revenge makes no sense to me. Those three would not pair. The ringleader is supposed to be powerful and a loner so why would he ever get the other two together? Steve never mattered in the books, was he chosen as a nod to the show? The way the ringleader got out was silly too and made little sense to me.
Also, what is with the ending? I almost forgot they had to resolve the main plot since it was saved for the last ten pages and resolved so quickly and easily. It's like a bad B movie how Sookie made them turn on each other in the car. The dialogue was horrible and it was completely unrealistic. They grabbed her from a line dancing bar, really? In front of everyone and were chased down? I can't see these people acting like that.
Copley Carmichael and Cluvial Dor also makes no sense to me. If he makes a deal with a demon to have any wish he wants, why would he wish for the item that would grant him one wish? Why not just wish for it directly? I guess for a reason for him to hate Sookie? Yeah, Copley was never a good character and he was greedy, but I didn't anticipate the evilness they would have in this book for him.
How Eric ends up is just sad and it doesn't seem like it would make him that happy. Amelia comes in and says of course he'd be happy to move out and not be the sheriff of a backwater town. Um, previously he was happy and Shreveport was considered a big deal to manage right? He was in charge of it and his group. Now he's been sold by his maker for 200 years as a consort/sex slave/arm candy to a cold queen vampire, forced to leave his children behind.
The vampires have been cut off by a massive wall. Sookie is not even ever allowed to go into Fangtasia again. Seriously. She is even cut off from ever visiting the state Eric moved to. The vampires are so barely there it's like they don't exist.
Pam and the invented Karin finally show up. Was Karin thrown in as another woman similar to Sookie and Pam to show Eric made another child as he intended with Sookie? They both sit at the end and say they love Eric but he couldn't care for Sookie and wasn't the one for her in their minds. Hint, hint, wink, wink, nudge, NUDGE.
As with previous books lately, Eric is a robot without emotion. Gone is the flirty, fun, sexy, dynamic personality. He is barely there and speaks maybe five lines in the entire book. He never has emotion and it's like Harris wants the readers to dislike him. Pam is there for two scenes and one she is completely unlike herself. Bill is there but even he seems emptier than normal. Even Jason, I think, isn't the same as he used to be. Could it be the show has ruined it? Since it aired Harris has started draining the spark from some of the personalities.
Even though this book is far from perfect, I still do and always will love Sookie and the Sookieverse. I prefer remembering some of the characters as they once were instead of how they are now. I still respect the author and will keep reading her stuff. She has provided years of laughter, joy, sadness and excitement for me as a reader.
Book Quotes:
“Life should imitate romance literature far more often.”
“It's always possible for human beings to spoil their own peace of mind”
“Experience had taught me it's better to be wary and feel ridiculous than to get conked on the head, or abducted, or whatever the enemy plan of the day might be.”
Inside Book Cover:
Other Reviews from the Series:
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
