Charlaine Harris' Southern Vampire Series

I know a ton of people are going to be mad at me for this review, but it must be done!


Over the last few weeks, I have stuck my Sookie Stackhouse books into my purse and read them in between other books. After hearing all of the rave reviews and getting hooked on HBO's True Blood, I thought that this sounded right up my alley. And then I read them...

I am a horror fanatic, a sci fi fanatic, and just genuinely love the strange.  So upon reading this series, I was not disappointed in that aspect in the least.  The story plot is fantastic, and the characters the author chose to embellish were just as pleasing.  The general overview however, is that this lady had a GREAT idea for a book, but had no knowledge what so ever on how to tell her story. she continuously repeats herself, each sequel taking what seems to be chapters explaining the previous books.  Each story also has this massive build up for the majority of the book, only to be resolved in a few short pages.  What is worse, in my opinion, is that each story ends with everything being neatly tied up.  In a series of this length, she should have allowed herself more room to set some anticipation for the next book. 

Overall, I am left feeling like the author is too much like her main character, an undereducated woman who is luckily swept along by no ambition of her own. Each book could have been twice as long, filled in many gaps, and saved this reader from the headache of redundancy.  If you are going to write novels, make them novels, not short stories with fluff on the ends.

On the flip side, HBO took  the poorly written and developed it into a fantastic piece of artwork.  Normally, I would say "the book is so much better"  But honestly, HBO hit the nail on the head when they decided to expand some story plots, cut others, and not kill off all of the favorite characters. Bravo HBO!