I loved this book immediately because it’s aimed at a more mature audience rather than other books I had read in the same genre, like Twilight by Stephanie Mayer. I find the vampires in this universe to be better developed, with hidden agendas and more well-rounded characters than their counterparts aimed at teenagers.

What I liked most is the way this book was plotted like a mystery. You throw in a couple of murders, set out an investigation combined with character development and the beginning of a love story, mix in plenty of tension, setbacks, and adventures, solve the murders in the end and you get a great book! I’m sure this was due to Mrs. Harris previous experience with writing mystery books.

This being said, it is a fast-paced, action-packed novel that keeps you on your toes. There were very few dull moments if any. If there was something I didn’t like I’d say it was the murderer. At the end of the book when the killer is revealed, although it’s no one you anticipate, it feels a bit meh. But to be honest I didn’t read the book to find who the murderer is, that’s just a subplot.

The action is set in a fictional small town called Bon Temps, somewhere close to Shreveport, Louisiana. The story is written in the first person and follows Sookie Stackhouse, a 25-year-old barmaid at Merlotte’s, the local bar and grill. Sookie lives with her grandma and has a unique ability (telepathy) that she considers more of a curse. Here’s a nice quote on how she makes fun of it:

“My brother, Jason, came into the bar, then, and sauntered over to give me a hug. He knows that women like a man who’s good to his family and also kind to the disabled, so hugging me is a double whammy of recommendation.”

Long story short, she’s a telepath and can hear what everybody around her is thinking without the option of turning it off. That impairs her social life and leaves no room for a love life at all. When she meets Bill Compton, the first vampire who comes to Bon Temps she’s instantly attracted to him because she can’t hear his thoughts and she finds this soothing. Sookie’s thoughts on that:

“Not one man in a million would have allowed me the time without speaking. I opened my mind, let my guard down completely, relaxed. His silence washed over me. I stood, closed my eyes, breathed out the relief that was too profound for words.”

Trying to put her ability to good use she enlists his help to investigate a couple of murders. That gets them both in a lot of trouble and its fun to see how they get through these misadventures.

Sookie has some of the best lines and her snarky side shines through:

“Eric appeared to be counting my eyelashes. I tried to keep my gaze on my hands, to indicate modesty. I felt power tweaks kind of flow over me and had an uneasy feeling Eric was trying to influence me. I risked a quick peek, and sure enough, he was looking at me expectantly. Was I supposed to pull off my dress? Bark like a dog? Kick Bill in the shins? Shit.”

Very good

Not your normal vampire book. I really enjoyed this book, it had a lot of action and mystery and suspense in it. A true page turner. I recommend this to all of you who love this genre.

Sookie was a waitress and a mutant who could read minds. 

 

Because of that, she find it hard to have sex with a man. She is also heterosexual. 

 

Anyway, she could not read the minds of vampire and so make vampire very desirable to her. 

So she have sex with a vampire and allows this vampire Bill to suck her blood.

 

They have sex. And that's the main part of the book. 

 

Someone got killed, some are killed by vampire and some are by human. 

 

And Sookie is in danger for very little reason. The damsel in distress played too many times. It got boring. 

And somehow she taste good to vampire. And Eric wants to have her too. 

 

It is really boring. So glad it is over.  

 

Reading this for Southern Gothic square. 

 

 

The second time around, I still really liked this book. There are some problematic things in here, like Bill's behavior, though. The one scene with him that always stands out and doesn't sit well with me is when Sookie is worried he was killed with the Monroe vamps and she goes out to the cemetery to--hopefully--find him alive, and then tells him what happened with the fire and he's all enraged and shit and screws her into the ground. I mean, she went along with it and instigated it, but it still makes me really uncomfortable. There's other stuff, but that one even stood out in True Blood, even though I think they changed things in the show a bit so it was very obviously her seeking him out and being all "do me now, baby." I'm pretty sure I picked up on a lot of that stuff last time, and I acknowledge that these books are no great works of literature and they're not without fault. That said, if I were the type to have guilty pleasures, these books would make that list.

 

"The monsters we kill think we're the monsters. Villains never see themselves as villains. I think it just makes you feel better to think of the things we kill as monsters. As things different than us."

 

 

Dark Dreams and Dead Things was a fitting title, for multiple reasons. I felt like there was a little bit darker of a tone to this one than the first, in a really great way. The character development was well done and I really liked the inclusion of some fresh, interesting faces too. I continue to be impressed with how big of a world that McAtee created and how well she puppeteers each of the many inhabitants and the story lines! There was a lot going on in this one, a few new mysteries to solve, along with the progression of the main plot. The ending was especially good and I can't wait to see what happens next!