iffer's review against another edition
2.0
I picked up this book because I recently heard an interview on the radio with one of the new additions to the cast of HBO's True Blood, and it piqued my curiosity about the show. I don't have ready access to True Blood since I don't have HBO, and HBO doesn't give Netflix licensing rights to any of their series, I figured that I could borrow the first book on which the TV series is based, because, generally, the book is better than a screen adaptation, right?
Wrong. Or, at least I hope that that sentiment is wrong in this case. I can envision Charlaine Harris's ideas and setting being transformed into a suspenseful television show, driven by complex characters, that explores interesting issues including predjudice, small-town life, loneliness and emotional trauma, among others. However, I can only envision this accomplished by a writer much more mature and nuanced than Harris, and I'm hoping that this is the case with HBO's True Blood.
To be fair, creating what I assume to be the dark, sumptuous story of HBO's True Blood is likely not what was intended by Harris, and it might be more fair to evaluate it in reference to what is was created to be: Harlequin-quality paranormal romance. In that sense, Harris succeeds better than the average in some respects, and worse in others.
The main character, Sookie Stackhouse isn't as passive or deluded as the protagonists of many female romance novels. Sookie is a nice, small-town girl who has the telltale romance novel self-consciousness that is (literally in this case) dispelled by the taste of her first love/lust. Yet, Sookie isn't as bland or pathetic as many of the placeholder female protagonists in wish-fulfillment romance novels. For example, at least she manages some spunk and indignation at the opinion that she must not be particularly intelligent merely because she is a waitress. That said, however, as mentioned by other reviewers, it's annoying that Harris uses Sookie's telepathic powers as scapegoat for all of Sookie's shortcomings: lack of college education, inability to date, reason for missing clues to the murders, decision for dating a vampire in the first place even though dating a predator of humans seems like a bad call...Not only does that list go on, but Harris also uses Sookie's telepathic powers as a convenient way to tell the reader what other characters are feeling as well as about events that happened in the past that Sookie couldn't possibly know about. To me, it seems like lazy characterization and storytelling; it's an extreme of an author telling rather than showing, since the fact that Sookie has telepathic powers makes the main character an intermittently omniscent narrator.
Another positive note about the novel as that Harris succeeds with the humor. The book made me laugh, sometimes when I was meant to (e.g. Bill the vampire is partial to Kenny G music, which makes sense since he is pretty old), and sometimes when I wasn't (descriptions of male characters' attractiveness).
With respect to satisfying the Harlequin crowd, I can say that I don't think that Harris would've scored well with her sex scenes. They were more cringe-worthy than titillating, but blessedly short. I actually found Sookie and Bill's relationship exponentially more annoying after they shacked up because from the events, it seemed like their relationship became all about sex (with undertones of domination/transgression/possessiveness), but then Harris would throw in yet another conversation in which Bill and Sookie said "I love you." It was as though Harris was *showing* Sookie as passive in a relationship that revolved around sex, but then *telling* readers that Sookie is strong and independent woman in a serious relationship. It was done this way to appeal to escapist and fantasy reading, but it made the story and characters seem contradictory. It's as if two stories were cobbled together: a Law and Order: SVU episode with vampire fan fiction.
P.S. The writing is mediocre at best with a few large/obscure words thrown in as if to attest to the author's as well as Sookie's intelligence. There is an episode in the book during which a police officer is surprised that Sookie knows the meaning of the word "euphemism." While I'm not surprised that Harris knows those large/obscure words in her book, and she did, indeed, use them correctly, I hope that she learns to use her vocabulary effectively as well. The mediocre writing isn't helped by the fact that ACE fantasy did a horrendous job proofreading, and there are numerous misspellings (e.g. character names), missing words (articles or prepositions) and misuses ("then" instead of "than"). It was amusing because the library paperback I was reading had some, but not all of the errors circled or corrected.
Wrong. Or, at least I hope that that sentiment is wrong in this case. I can envision Charlaine Harris's ideas and setting being transformed into a suspenseful television show, driven by complex characters, that explores interesting issues including predjudice, small-town life, loneliness and emotional trauma, among others. However, I can only envision this accomplished by a writer much more mature and nuanced than Harris, and I'm hoping that this is the case with HBO's True Blood.
To be fair, creating what I assume to be the dark, sumptuous story of HBO's True Blood is likely not what was intended by Harris, and it might be more fair to evaluate it in reference to what is was created to be: Harlequin-quality paranormal romance. In that sense, Harris succeeds better than the average in some respects, and worse in others.
The main character, Sookie Stackhouse isn't as passive or deluded as the protagonists of many female romance novels. Sookie is a nice, small-town girl who has the telltale romance novel self-consciousness that is (literally in this case) dispelled by the taste of her first love/lust. Yet, Sookie isn't as bland or pathetic as many of the placeholder female protagonists in wish-fulfillment romance novels. For example, at least she manages some spunk and indignation at the opinion that she must not be particularly intelligent merely because she is a waitress. That said, however, as mentioned by other reviewers, it's annoying that Harris uses Sookie's telepathic powers as scapegoat for all of Sookie's shortcomings: lack of college education, inability to date, reason for missing clues to the murders, decision for dating a vampire in the first place even though dating a predator of humans seems like a bad call...Not only does that list go on, but Harris also uses Sookie's telepathic powers as a convenient way to tell the reader what other characters are feeling as well as about events that happened in the past that Sookie couldn't possibly know about. To me, it seems like lazy characterization and storytelling; it's an extreme of an author telling rather than showing, since the fact that Sookie has telepathic powers makes the main character an intermittently omniscent narrator.
Another positive note about the novel as that Harris succeeds with the humor. The book made me laugh, sometimes when I was meant to (e.g. Bill the vampire is partial to Kenny G music, which makes sense since he is pretty old), and sometimes when I wasn't (descriptions of male characters' attractiveness).
With respect to satisfying the Harlequin crowd, I can say that I don't think that Harris would've scored well with her sex scenes. They were more cringe-worthy than titillating, but blessedly short. I actually found Sookie and Bill's relationship exponentially more annoying after they shacked up because from the events, it seemed like their relationship became all about sex (with undertones of domination/transgression/possessiveness), but then Harris would throw in yet another conversation in which Bill and Sookie said "I love you." It was as though Harris was *showing* Sookie as passive in a relationship that revolved around sex, but then *telling* readers that Sookie is strong and independent woman in a serious relationship. It was done this way to appeal to escapist and fantasy reading, but it made the story and characters seem contradictory. It's as if two stories were cobbled together: a Law and Order: SVU episode with vampire fan fiction.
P.S. The writing is mediocre at best with a few large/obscure words thrown in as if to attest to the author's as well as Sookie's intelligence. There is an episode in the book during which a police officer is surprised that Sookie knows the meaning of the word "euphemism." While I'm not surprised that Harris knows those large/obscure words in her book, and she did, indeed, use them correctly, I hope that she learns to use her vocabulary effectively as well. The mediocre writing isn't helped by the fact that ACE fantasy did a horrendous job proofreading, and there are numerous misspellings (e.g. character names), missing words (articles or prepositions) and misuses ("then" instead of "than"). It was amusing because the library paperback I was reading had some, but not all of the errors circled or corrected.
lindsay_g's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
A decent cozy read. Sookie was a little frustrating sometimes, she was just soooo naïve and clueless. I felt like I had no idea why she was making the decisions she was making. Her characterization was strong and consistent, but damn it got annoying to be inside her head. Also, I really hate Bill. It felt like he was taking advantage of how inexperienced Sookie was, and the sex scenes made me uncomfortable. They always seemed at least a little coerced, and I did not like how violently he insisted on drinking her blood. Not to mention that half of the sex scenes immediately followed someone's murder while Sookie was upset, or when Bill should have been upset. The romance was honestly the least interesting part.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Violence, and Sexual content
Moderate: Racism and Sexual violence
danithezombie's review against another edition
4.0
this was mindless vampire trash, but it's EXACTLY what I needed.
(also fuck Bill, Sookie should be with Sam)
(also fuck Bill, Sookie should be with Sam)
erinbirnel's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.5
thehistoriette's review against another edition
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
jbpenn21's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
megan_laffey's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
emmarj's review against another edition
4.0
I feel like my opinion doesn't really count here.
1. I watched the show first. The show is pretty sweet, obviously.
2. Southern accents and southern culture doesn't irritate me or strike me as being uneducated or stupid or whatever it is that people assume. I'm from the south myself.
3. I listened to this via audiobook and the narration was amazing.
This story is short and light, something fun to read on the beach. I'm a childhood Anne Rice fan but still I appreciated Harris's attempts at explanation and justification of the existence and culture of vampires. It was new and refreshing to me.
So Sookie is a little vapid, a lot naive. I found it believable, however, and it didn't bother me. I don't know where people get this idea that disliking the main character of a story makes that story bad. Some of my favorite books feature main characters that I despise. That's a rant for a different day, though.
Overall, a good time. I look forward to the next book.
1. I watched the show first. The show is pretty sweet, obviously.
2. Southern accents and southern culture doesn't irritate me or strike me as being uneducated or stupid or whatever it is that people assume. I'm from the south myself.
3. I listened to this via audiobook and the narration was amazing.
This story is short and light, something fun to read on the beach. I'm a childhood Anne Rice fan but still I appreciated Harris's attempts at explanation and justification of the existence and culture of vampires. It was new and refreshing to me.
So Sookie is a little vapid, a lot naive. I found it believable, however, and it didn't bother me. I don't know where people get this idea that disliking the main character of a story makes that story bad. Some of my favorite books feature main characters that I despise. That's a rant for a different day, though.
Overall, a good time. I look forward to the next book.