Oh my, oh my! Where do I start with this one. First I suppose I should warn that there will be spoilers in this reviews. There is no way around it if I want to wail and bemoan everything that upsets me in this book. Now on to the actual review.
Well....I didn't hate it. That's a good thing I suppose. I didn't like it either. I was very disappointed in Dead and Gone as a matter of fact. I'm not sure what happened to Ms. Harris with this one but something did. First, where was the editor or copy editor on this one? Where was the author herself? Does she not remember what her previous characters were named and what they were doing? Hell, it's been a long time since the previous book and 100's of books between and I still remember. Family connections forgotten, names changed, characters just being thrust willy nilly into the mix so that they can be mentioned. Really? Was it necessary for Sookie to feel the desire to go see Tara, a visit that in no way advanced the plot. Oh wait-was there a plot? hmmm....no not really. It was one big mish mash of Sookie running circles in her mind and the obligatory murder mystery in the midst. Lets not forget poor Sookie being damaged to the point that she almost loses her mind. She even says that she doesn't know how she will come back from the damage done to her psychological well being. Yet, in less than 10 pages she has completely come back from that edge of insanity. WTF? Has Ms. Harris decided that she doesn't like Sookie any longer? Is she trying to make readers not like her as well? Because I have to say that I certainly didn't like Sookie in this book. I found her to be cold, callous, and very un-Sookielike. Sure, I understand that after the horrors she has seen she might become a little harder. That's to be expected. No one can endure such sights and remain the sweet innocent. But this was abrupt departure from even the Sookie of the last book. And what is up with the maligning of Eric? Is Bill supposed to be suddenly coming back into the picture? Sookie is unsure of her feelings? Why? She loved Eric when he was the Eric with no memory. It isn't too far of a stretch to imagine that she would still love him even with the blood bond. No, she probably isn't completely over Bill. She never will be, he was her first- everything, it's to be expected that she will always harbor feelings for him. But, she has moved on, had several boyfriends in between. Now on to Quinn. Gee, thanks for popping him in for a totally unnecessary visit and ensuring that all doubts about that relationship being over are settled. I also didn't like how there was almost no story except for the circling, repeating thoughts of woulda, coulda, shoulda coming from Sookie. I felt horrible that something so horrendous happened to Sookie. Not because it was so bad but because I was ready for something, anything to happen by that point that I felt bad for being excited that at least now something was happening.
Okay, now on to what I liked. I liked that Jason was finally coming to realize that Sookie was important to him and that he was growing up a bit. I liked hearing a bit about Eric's back story (even though he was telling her about it in the middle of his bar and in a succinct manner that left no doubt that it was just to appease the fans a bit). I liked that Calvin was finally getting a little love even if I didn't like the woman. Hmmm...what else. I liked visiting with the characters again, being in Merlotte's and Bon Temps. Will I read the next one? Yes, I will. I may not preorder it, i may wait for it to be marked down, but I will buy it and I will read it. I'm not eagerly looking forward to it like I was this one but I'm not ready to give up on the series yet. Everyone deserves a day of phoning it in and that's what this one feels like. I'm chalking it up to having a full plate dealing with all the things stemming from the HBO series. Which totally rocks, bad acting accents aside.
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