Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris

Sookie Stackhouse #2

I'm officially addicted to this series.  I'm slowing myself down by reading other books in between but could easily if I let myself read the whole series in one go over the Christmas break.

Synopsis: When the vampires save her life after an attack, Sookie is in their debt.  She gets sent to Dallas to investigate a missing vampire, whose disappearance may be linked with a fundamentalist anti-vampire church (think Westboro but for vampires).

Score: 3 out of 5

I enjoyed this book a bit more than the first one, probably because I haven't seen True Blood season 2 yet, making the whole plot new to me.  I approved of Eric having a more central role, and like the first, it was a quick, lively and engaging read.  Sookie as a narrator keeps the pace fast and light, and the more I read her narration the more she grows on me.

That said, there were downsides to moving all of the action to Dallas.  I missed some of the regular Bon  Temps characters, and the new Dallas ones didn't seem as well rounded or developed.  There were lots more supernatural creatures involved, and I do hope the series doesn't start to get a bit silly over the next few books.

A perfect relaxation read.

Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

Confession: I can be a terrible book snob.  I worked in a bookshop at the time when the tragic lives genre was massive and I became judgemental against it.  I thought it was faddy, largely poorly written and I would sometimes totally judge people for buying it.  My feelings are the same for the paranormal romance genre (it never used to have a section in my book shop!) and any other faddish/trendy genres.

And then I watched True Blood with my fiance and loved it.  After making some noises about how much I enjoyed it, I came home one day to a complete boxed set of Sookie Stackhouse novels.  So I decided to get over myself and give it a go!

Synopsis: In this first book of the series, telepathic waitress Sookie meets the vampire community.  Whilst vampires have "come out" and are known of publicly, some vampires are more mainstream and conventional than others.  Sookie's romantic interest, Bill, drinks synthetic blood and only wants to be accepted, but others are more sinister.  And someone is going round brutally murdering all of the women that associate with vampires.

Score: 3 out of 5

I found the beginning of this book to be quite tacky.  At first Sookie came across as shallow and cliche, but as the book progressed I found myself enjoying her narrative more and more.  Her voice was very distinctive and as she developed throughout the book she became more mature and relatable.  In fact, all of the characters were very memorable and well rounded.

I could not help but compare it to the TV show.  True Blood was deeper, darker and more about other characters, therefore being more rounded.  The book was purely Sookie and seemed to be a bit lighter, although maybe because in general I'm much less likely to be creeped out by a book.

Overall, I'm all in favour of judging a book by what it actually is, not comparing them all against the same standard.  Dead Until Dark is an easy, light read that I just whizzed through and enjoyed immensely.  It may not be classical literature or even have the best writing style, but it took me into another world and I could not wait to pick it up again after putting it down.

I'll definitely be reading the rest of the series, just with breaks in between for other kinds of books as well.

Lesson learned: don't be such a snob!