Dead Until Dark

Ich war auf der Suche nach einem Buch, "in dem viel passiert, aber nicht lauter blödes Zeug", wie ich das Problem kurz vorher jemandem beschrieb. Wie ich dann hier gelandet bin, weiß ich nicht mehr, es hatte aber damit zu tun, dass ich vor Jahren ungefähr eine Staffel der Serie gesehen hatte und nicht so schlecht fand. Der Anfang ist auch gut, mir gefällt, wie beiläufig die Spezialfähigkeit der Erzählerin eingeführt wird. Danach, ach. Ich weiß offenbar viel zu wenig über das Genre "konservative Südstaatenromane für Frauen", sonst wäre ich gewarnt gewesen. Die vielen Kleiderbeschreibungen, alles unschuldig, aber sexy. Die vielen Beschreibungen geblümter Tapeten und geblümter Möbel. Die weißen Bettlaken und die weichen weißen Kissen und der Sex, der WEGEN DES INSTINKTS einfach immer super ist, ohne dass man drüber reden oder üben muss. Die guten Kleinstadtmenschen und ihre gesunde Abneigung gegen alles, was nicht aus ihrer gesunden Kleinstadt kommt, sondern aus einer depravierten Großstadt (= Vampire und ihre ganze Kleidungs- und Lebensweise, Menschen gleichen Geschlechts küssen sich AUF DEN MUND etc.). Die Aufgabe des Vampirs scheint vor allem darin zu bestehen, die Erzählerin hochzuheben und irgendwo hinzusetzen und dann von dort wieder herunterzuheben wie ein Kleinkind. Naja, immerhin war es schnell wieder vorbei.

I had this book for quite awhile on my TBR. When my husband said he wanted to watch True Blood, the tv series based on these books, I figured I'd better get in gear and get a couple read. This is a review from 2010.

This was completely enjoyable. A fast and easy read that is helpful because even though it is summer, things are high stress right now and I need books that are easy reads to pick up at odd moments. I only have the first 3 books in this series and I will probably have them done by the end of this week!

Sookie is a completely likable character. There are aspects of the novel that remind me of Anita Blake, but these are better written, less graphic and gory. I'm not much of a mystery fan, which is probably why these stayed on my TBR shelf for so long. I had the murderer pinned pretty quick, which I'm never sure if that is the intention in mysteries or not. I prefer the few mysteries that keep me guessing until the end. However, the mystery portion aside, I loved the rest of the story. Going to go get Living Dead in Dallas off my bookshelf to read right now.

I'd been dying to read this book (excuse the pun) for awhile now, because I thoroughly enjoyed True Blood, the TV series on which it is based.

I wasn't exactly disappointed, but I was hardly blown away. The story started out very strong. We are introduced to Sookie, then Bill, then Sookie's grandmother. Sookie saves Bill, then Bill saves Sookie, then Sookie and Bill have lots of sex. LOTS! It's pretty erotic, but nothing I haven't read before, and not nearly as graphic as the television show. I was thinking that this is shaping up to be a really good read.

Then at around 70% or so, things start to take a turn for the worse. The typos, which had up to that point been barely noticeable, because to get more numerous. Sookie hears things and either takes them completely in her stride (the story is written in first-person, by the way, from Sookie's perspective), or acts as though she already knows, when she obviously doesn't and there is no explanation given for why she would. It's almost as if the author was rushing to get the story finished.

Towards the end (from 90% or so onwards), things start to get better again. The ending was quite satisying, although the fight scene at the end is a little unrealistic.

I don't think it was worth the hype, but I will most definitely be picking up the next in the series, nonetheless!

Had I not already watched much of season 1 of HBO's Alan Ball-produced series True Blood, which is based upon this book, I might have enjoyed this even more. Charlaine Harris is a saucy funny writer, and writes with economy and wit. I got about 2/3 through the book before I started getting perilously close to spoiling the remainder of the TV version's first season, then couldn't help myself and charged ahead anyway. I must say I find a few of the choices the TV producers made to be an improvement upon the novel: Sookie's brother, for example, has far more color on the show than in the book, as does her grandmother, the cook at Merlotte's, and one major TV character doesn't even exist in the book. I found the book's final chapters to be somewhat more sloppily thrown together than the first half of the book That said, this was a fun fast read and I'm sure I will devour the rest in the series in short order. (Do check out the TV show though...it's wonderful).