WARNING: Spoilers
The Plot Points:
- Bill disappears while working for the Queen of Louisiana Vampires
Sookie’s boyfriend, Bill (the vampire), goes missing while he’s working on a secret project for the Queen. Sookie heads to Jackson, Mississippi to find him.
- While on this mission she is paired with a werewolf who helps guide her.
Alcide Herveaux, a werewolf, is indebted to the vampire community in Louisiana, and in return is aiding Sookie in Mississippi.
The Tolerable:
- The author does a good job of refreshing the reader’s memory.
For those who were reading the books as they were being released, the quick refreshers at the start of each book are super nice. However, if you’re reading them back to back it can be a little repetitive. The very beginning of the book the author, Charlaine Harris, reminds the reader that Sookie has telepathic powers, except for on the undead (14). This is a major point to the story as a whole, so it’s important for the reader to remember this.
There are also points where characters will talk about/reference scenes from the previous books and Harris will have Sookie state for the reader a brief summary of what happened. There’s an example of this on page 45 where Sookie reminds the reader of the kiss her and Eric (Bill’s boss) shared while on the “line of duty”.
So although it might seem annoying to those reading the books right away, during the first release of the books the memory refreshers came in handy.
- The few lines that are a saving grace.
The book as a whole is entertaining… to say the least, but with the characters (Sookie) being hard to deal with as a reader (more in the rage fuel section) it’s nice to have those moments where she gets called out on her “crap”.
While Sookie is looking for Bill, she ends up in a bed with Eric and they get a little… frisky. Bubba, a sweet and innocent vampire whose transformation didn’t go all that smoothly, calls out Sookie by asking her what she’s “doing in bed with Mr. Eric if Bill is [her] boyfriend” (186). Finally someone, although he doesn’t realize it, is able to humble Sookie (the more humbling the better).
There’s also a part where Sookie remembers what her grandmother used to tell her growing up. Although this isn’t calling Sookie out, it is a line that stands out, especially in this book where there’s a lot of “traditional” thinking (also more in the rage section).
Sookie’s grandmother used to tell her that “women could do whatever they had to do” (205). This short line is a nice break from the usual focus of men lusting over Sookie. Her grandmother was the only sane and good character but of course Harris had to kill her off in the first book.
The Rage Fuel:
- Men. Again.
Like stated above the book has more traditional ways of thinking how men should look and act, which is not to say that’s necessarily a bad thing but a lot of it is stereotypical.
While Alcide, the werewolf helping with the search, and Sookie are getting ready to go to Club Dead he explains to her the correct attire to wear. This seems normal for someone to make sure that people are matching the dress code, especially for fancier and high-class places, that way neither one is embarrassed. However, Sookie’s comments “what a man” simply because he doesn’t want to be humiliated by her (62). Since when is this a bad thing or even a typical man thing?
Another ‘typical man thing’, about Alcide, is that he continues to take “sideways glances at [Sookie’s] boobs” (90). He’s only a man after all. What else would be expected of a man, especially in this book series?
It always comes back to Eric. While he and Sookie are sharing a bed (for whatever reason) he states that he doesn’t care why Sookie has sex with him “as long as [she] do[es] it” (184). Eric still does a lot of gross things throughout the series and becomes more touchy with Sookie, which she seems to be okay with even though, like Bubba pointed out, she still has a boyfriend.
It’s also just a reoccuring theme that men like to recognize Sookie by her chest. The thieves who go looking for Sookie only know to look for “a blond woman, real young, with nice tits” (257). It’s not like that could be one of the thousands of women who live in America. It’s totally a super helpful description that will narrow down their search.
- Sookie: her cheating and her “pick-me-I’m-not-like-other-girls” energy.
There will always be examples of Sookie and her annoying personality, no matter what book it is in the series.
After Sookie gets herself pampered to go to the club, she shows her curled hair to Alcide and calls herself (in her head) “Sookie the sex kitten” (99). There are no words to describe how gross this is to read. It also doesn’t even fit in its context.
She also has to remind herself that she has a boyfriend… the whole reason she’s even in Mississippi with Alcide (124). Apparently, the temptation of a werewolf she just met is stronger than for her vampire boyfriend.
The cheating is bad and cringy enough, but Sookie also likes to think she’s funny… she’s not. The “joke” she made was that when she called the Vampire King of Mississippi she was surprised that his contact was listed under his name rather than “Mansion of Doom” or “Vampires R Us” (230). It wasn’t funny to read and it was just confusing, because it was such an odd thing for her to think given the context.
This doesn’t quite go with the cheating and her gross energy, but the author clearly doesn’t have siblings (or maybe she does and she’s just weird), but she has Sookie call her brother “Big Bro” (277). No person who has siblings says this, because it’s disgusting.
Overall, Sookie is a bad protagonist and the author does nothing to save her. Each book there’s another annoying thing Sookie does.
The Review:
- Questionability: 6 out of 5 miss girl?s
- Satisfaction: 1 out of 5 finally!s
- Expectation (all these books are the same): 5 out of 5 subtle head nods
- Overall: 2.5 out of 5 stars
