Dead Ever After

No spoilers. I knew how this finale would end long before starting this book. Sookie's life really ends up the way it should have, but the series doesn't. I felt disappointed after reading twelve prior books, and the whole thing going out with a fizzle, not a bang. Not that the ever present threat to Sookie's life isn't there - of course it is - but there was no genuine resolution to the most important romantic relationships that readers have been so long invested in. I still really enjoyed the murder plot and the coming together of the pro-Sookie team (Amelia, Cataliades, Diana, Tara etc.). I just wished that the final relationship/life decisions had come together with a lot more force and drama. I think it's clear that True Blood won't have the same ending since they've become two completely different stories, and at least we got an exciting final episode of season 6 that promises a new storyline for next season. It's super rare to say I'm happier with the tv version of a story.

I'm thoroughly annoyed at myself for listening to this entire series while packing, moving to a new state, unpacking, and decorating my new house. Sure, it was mindless noise that required zero mental space to consume. My mind could wander and I wouldn't miss a single thing because everything gets repeated eventually anyway. But I regretfully didn't read anything else in between and was pretty sure I hated all books by the end. But that means I can tell you exactly how much of this series is comprised of repeated information Harris has already told the reader: 7 entire books. I'm serious. This entire 13 book series could be condensed into 6 books, easily, just by deleting every time Harris tells the same backstory or uses the same joke or descriptor. You could fill an entire book with references to Sookie's word-of-the-day calendar and another one with all the repeats of Bubba's backstory. I truly hoped Sookie would die at the end of this final book, but that was clearly wishful thinking on my part.

I'd give every book in this series two stars if the only problem was the horrible repetitiveness, but all of the characters are the worst, the writing is clunky and juvenile, there is no logic or consistency within the world (or with the characters' personalities and even names!), and there is serious misogyny and racism that is never challenged or called out. Sookie doesn't seem to like other women and is a classic religious hypocrite. With a series that has a fair amount of sex scenes, the main character sure isn't very sex positive when it comes to anyone but herself, and she seems to like slut-shaming. It was gross.

This book (and series) was bad, but hey, it got me through my move. And now I know who Sookie ends up with, which is apparently the only point of the series I guess.

I'm not sure how I feel about this book. I have to say I feel quite underwhelmed regarding the ending... I was expecting some closure that I didn't fully get. I have binge-read the last three books in the series, so I guess I have enjoyed them quite a bit, but as I said, I do feel somewhat underwhelmed. I will read more books by Charlaine Harris (I own the Harper Connelly series), and I have pretty high expectations :) All in all, Sookie Stackhouse was a 4-5 stars read.