Realms of an Open Mind

There are secrets in the town of Bon Temps, ones that threaten those closest to Sookie—and could destroy her heart...

Sookie Stackhouse finds it easy to turn down the request of former barmaid Arlene when she wants her job back at Merlotte’s. After all, Arlene tried to have Sookie killed. But her relationship with Eric Northman is not so clearcut. He and his vampires are keeping their distance…and a cold silence. And when Sookie learns the reason why, she is devastated.

Then a shocking murder rocks Bon Temps, and Sookie is arrested for the crime.

But the evidence against Sookie is weak, and she makes bail. Investigating the killing, she’ll learn that what passes for truth in Bon Temps is only a convenient lie. What passes for justice is more spilled blood. And what passes for love is never enough...

Charlaine Harris's last Sookie Stackhouse novel, Dead Ever After, has caused an uproar, receiving hateful reviews and even stimulating death threats toward the author. Just goes to show how involved readers become with their favorite characters, but to become threatening because a book didn't turn out the way you thought it should? Shame.

I honestly didn't think it was that bad. It wasn't great for a finale novel, but I enjoyed it mostly because I love the characters and I've followed Sookie's story for years, both with the books and with True Blood. I'm a huge fan, and not much is going to change that.

I did feel like Harris got bored with her story toward the end. The last few novels didn't live up to the hype and excitement that came with the first, oh, five or so... and the boredom not only showed in the author's writing style, but in the way she announced huge events and changes in the span of a few anticlimactic sentences that had an aura of "no big deal, let's just get this over with."

Harris has always given us a play by play of Sookie's life, down to the mundane moments, but when it came to the big stuff, the stuff that would get us excited and basically freaking out, she let it fall flat. Like I said, it's like Harris was ready a long time ago for Sookie's story to end, and it felt like she was trying to just get it over with as quickly as possible.

What I did love was the way she ended the novel. I've hidden my thoughts below, but I admired how Harris didn't do what everyone expected or hoped for. It was a pleasant surprise...

As for that ending that inspired temporary insanity in readers.... Well, I've removed the spoiler because the "hide" option isn't working for me here. You can go to Realms of an Open Mind to see what I thought :).

I'm a little sad that Sookie's story is over, but honestly, it was long overdue. I'll always love Harris's characters and southern supernatural world. While her novels started reaching past their peak, I still read and enjoyed every single one if only because it gave me a little more time with Sookie, Eric, Bill, Sam, and all the others.