Review #16: Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

Hello my literary comrades! How have ya been? Good? Great! Lets get started. :)

Dead Until Dark is the first book in the Sookie Stackhouse/Southern Vampire Mysteries series, which is the basis for True Blood (which everyone I know who watches it loves, but I just haven't gotten to see.). It centers on Sookie Stackhouse, a telepathic barmaid from the small town of Bon Temps, Louisiana. Sookie lives in an alternate US where Vampires have just "come out of the coffin" and now have the legal right to exist. She meets a vampire named Bill Compton, and her world changes.

Now, this isn't my first time reading the book, but I haven't read it in a long time so it was nice to be refreshed. The plot is reminiscent of Anita Blake only in that both take place in an alternate universe where everyone is aware of the supernatural, and there is a good bit of sex, though both authors have different takes. I liked the mystery that Ms. Harris set up, and the world any mythology were fantastic to read about. Her vampires are fascinating, and sexy [cough cough Stephen Moyer, Alexander Skarsgard, cough. ;)] I also liked following the town of Bon Temps, with its issues and interactions between the people who lived there.

I do like Sookie, I love following her journey as she grows and gains knowledge and isn't as simple as she was in the beginning of the novel. I felt her pain when the townsfolk treated her as a second class citizen, and rooted for her when she proved them wrong. She's not the best main character, but she is pretty awesome. I like Bill, even though he is a bit creepy at times. I can't explain it, he just exudes this creepiness, almost the the level of Edward Cullen. I did love Sam Merlotte, and wish he had a semblance of a chance with Sookie. 

Harris's writing is alright, it's not the greatest. While I do feel the weight of the world she has created, I did not feel completely immersed. I feel like that's all I can say.

I know this book, and series for that matter, is not everyone's cup of tea, and that's ok. If you like vampires and werewolves and the whole of the supernatural, with some romance, you'll like this.

Until next time comrades.

Viva la literature!