Darkly Dreaming Dexter

I really wanted to like this book, and everything about the premise should have been a win for me. I find well-developed unreliable and unlikable characters extremely interesting. Reading from the POV of a killer or stalker (e.g., You by Caroline Kepnes) can be wonderfully disturbing and morbid. I like reading crime novels and true crime, and I find the psychology of serial killers fascinating. Unfortunately, I was severely disappointed in this whole book.

First let's talk about characters. Dexter is wildly inconsistent. He doesn't have emotions, but he has emotions. He doesn't have human desires, but he does. He's a sociopath, but he's not. He “isn't human” and doesn't care, yet somehow he cares about kids and has a moral code. It felt like the author didn't really know who the character was, or what serial killers and sociopaths are like. It may have been an attempt to create dimension to the character, but I don't think it worked and just left me confused.

That being said, I found Dexter's stress about his lost time compelling. It ultimately added to him feeling inconsistent, but the emotion itself was better described than in other books. Where it falls flat is on the follow-through. I wish his emotions had been more explored instead of him just thinking, “Woah I am feeling an emotion. That's weird. I don't have emotions.” Then he'd do something that was extremely emotionless. I'm pretty sure I have whiplash from all the back and forth.

Moving on, the female characters were awful, and it was apparent from the second chapter how bad it was going to be throughout the whole book. Dexter's sister was worthless, argumentative, and wanted him to do her job for her yet never believed him. Somehow she felt she deserved a promotion, though it was clear she'd make a terrible detective and couldn't do her own job without Dexter spoonfeeding her. His boss was a useless detective who was described as “outwardly feminine” but definitely couldn't have slept her way to her position, oh no, because she has a “masculine” personality. Somehow she's a stupid person who falls for a lot of bullshit, yet she's the only one to think about tailing Dexter. They were all useless characters and were so one-dimensional that they became caricatures. Across the board, the character development was lacking.

I started highlighting every instance that women were described as stupid, irrational, or in that ridiculous way male writers tend to describe female appearance, but I stopped after 41 highlights (many of which included whole paragraphs). I don't know why male writers can't write real women. I'm not saying every woman has to be smart and likeable, but write them in a realistic way. Maybe we were only seeing women as Dexter sees them, but if that's true then he also isn't consistent in that. He both thought sex workers didn't deserve to die but also thought they were “just prostitutes” so it didn't matter if they died. In the end, I don't believe these were simply Dexter's views of women because of how characteristic the descriptions were of male writers in general.

As for the plot, I always find dreams to be a weak plot-moving device. I also don't find lost time very interesting at all, in any book. It always feels like a cheap way to create suspense. I wasn't aware this book had that, otherwise I would've skipped it altogether (definitely my bad, given the title). It was obvious Dexter wasn't actually the murderer, and we had to go through most of the book waiting to find out who it really was, but not in a suspenseful way. It was more boring and dragged out than anything. The reveal was nothing short of lackluster.

I can't get on board with one traumatic event making two brothers (who were raised separately) serial killers. Nature vs nurture is incredibly complex, and they not only have different genetics but majorly different upbringings outside of one awful event. We're supposed to believe they're basically the same and the only difference between the two of them is that one kills with a moral code. It's a stretch.

The humor was okay sometimes, occasionally making me chuckle, but severely tone deaf other times. I don't personally find sex worker or race jokes funny, but they may hit the mark more with other people.

The alliterations and Dexter's inner voice grated my nerves. It was okay at first, kind of like personality quirks you find endearing in a new partner that you start to hate after the honeymoon phase is over. It became cheesy and annoying very quickly. It's definitely a personal preference, so your miles may vary.

I think because I read so much true crime, this book never stood a chance. It was so interesting at the start and had a ton of potential. The author could have delved so much deeper into the mind of a serial killer, but ultimately it felt really surface level and boring.

Egy évembe telt, mire végigverekedtem magam ezen a rövid kis regényen. Kb. a háromnegyedétől ráfanyalodtam a hangoskönyv verzióra, ami mellesleg szörnyű minőségű volt, ráadásul nem is Michael C. Hall mesél, amit lényegében ostobaságnak tartok, legalábbis én simán fölvettem volna vele újra, miután megkapta a szerepet a sorozatban.
Ja, igen, a könyv. Egyáltalán nem fekszik nekem Lindsay stílusa, bár nem tudnám konkrétan megfogalmazni, mi bajom van vele. Untam nagyjából elejétől a végéig. Közben többször elgondolkodtam, vajon akkor sem tetszene-e, ha előbb olvastam volna, s csak aztán látom a sorozatot. Végül arra jutottam, hogy Juci értékelésével kell egyetértenem, Lindsay közel sem olyan érdekfeszítően alakította a történetet és a karaktereket, mint a forgatókönyvírók.
Azért a folytatásoknak is adok esélyt, hátha jobban sikerültek. Mindenesetre az első rész lelombozó élmény volt.

As a big fan of the TV show I was slightly disappointed. The story seemed a bit lacking in depth as did the characters. I guess it's unfair to compare a relatively short novel to that of a television show which had a lot more scope to create a deeper narrative. Hopefully the next book improves where this one left off.

It'd be easy, as with Dead Until Dark/True Blood, just to say, well, it turns out that the pay cable adaptation is better than the original. Admittedly, this has that problem where all of supporting characters are really bland and one-dimensional but were given something like depth (or at least the illusion of depth).

The main problem was that Dexter himself really wasn't that funny or interesting. There were a few moments of a sort of dark lyricism, but much of his narration was just pedestrian, with a sort of marginal cleverness. There were a few moments where Dexter broke into alliteration, which only recalled Humbert Humbert from Lolita, a character who is genuinely funny, disturbing and strangely seductive. (All things Dexter attempted to be, yet fell short of.)

Overall, I wouldn't say it was terrible, but I'm not really tempted to continue on with the rest of the series.

I have watched the show based on this book so long ago and then rewatched it because it's one of my all-time favorites that I almost forgot that it's based on a book. I accidentally spotted the first in the series at the Half-Priced Books store and decided to finally pick it up. Even though I knew it would be hard to compete with the show because it was just amazingly done and I loved every second of it, I still had high hopes going into it. And I can say, I definitely felt good about it. Even though it didn't “wow” me or blow me away, I still thoroughly enjoyed my time reading it and will be continuing with the rest of the series for sure.

To begin with, Darkly Dreaming Dexter, which is the first book in a series about a serial killer with a weird twist to him, introduces us to Dexter Morgan, a model citizen by day and serial killer by night. However, there's one major difference that makes his stand out from all the other killers out there, he only kills people who deserve to die. I think that this unique take on something that's been done so many times before is absolutely genius. This book probably has one of my all-time favorite premises, which is why I just can't get enough. The novel moved at just the right pace and I lived for those short chapters, all of them ending with a cliffhanger. I almost wish I would have read the books first because I know I would have given this one five stars instead of four. The show just really hit a note for me and the plot differences that made it into the show, in my opinion, made the story even more intriguing and memorable.

Secondly, the characterization I would say is even better than the plot, although it definitely stems from it and the author masterfully brought this complex, albeit ordinary character to life. I love how we really get to see the inner depths of Dexter's very soul and we get to experience life through him. Even though he is far from perfect and has many faults considering who he is, there is just something so human about a being trying to blend in and not stand out as the black sheep of society. He is so relatable and lovable and one of those main characters that you can't help but root for, regardless of what's right. And let's just say that I am beyond happy that they are bringing the show back too, I can't wait to watch it!

Finally, I don't really have anything bad to say about the writing style either. It was precise and to the point and not one bit choppy. Even though it was a little on the simplistic side, it really talks to the way Dexter is, logical and extremely rational in the way that he approaches life and things that come his way. Also, the writer did a good job of diving into his psyche and the writing definitely gets his complex mind across and paints him as a living, breathing human being, which obviously he is not.

In conclusion, I really liked this first book in the Dexter series and will be reading the rest of them as well. Even though it wasn't as good as the show, I think that fans of serial killer thrillers will really enjoy this one. It's definitely great and did not disappoint!

I'm a fan of the show. It's the driving reason behind why I picked up the book in the first place and in my opinion it didn't disappoint. If you don't know the premise by now: Dexter is a polite, likable blood splatter analyst by day and a calm, collected serial killer by night only preying on those who fit the code his foster father taught him. Unlike the show the books goes a little bit more indepth into why Dexter does what he does. The “Dark Passenger” only fleetingly introduced in season 1 of the show and the subsequent likening the dark passenger to a heroin addiction in season 2 is not what drives Dexter. Instead, the book makes it seem as if it's almost a separate entity of Dexter controlling him and telling him what to do.

There are obviously some differences between the show and the book but overall I enjoyed it independently from the direction the show decided to go in. The only gripe I have with the book is that Dexter is this genius while everyone around him can barely tie their own shoelaces. The only reason it seems that Dexter is not getting caught is because he surrounded himself with the stupidest cops in the history of the police force. Though this is even comically mentioned in the book that the cops are somewhat not on the bright side.

Overall I definitely enjoyed this book and I'm looking forward to picking up the next in the series.

After catching up on the tv series I didn't know what to do with myself so I thought I would check out the book.. after reading it I think the tv series turned out a bit better than the book (at least the first one so far) but it's mostly because the other characters don't have nearly as much depth as Dexter does. But over all I still thought it was a pretty great read and plan to read the next one soon.