Title: Dead Until Dark
(Sookie Stackhouse #1)
Author: Charlaine Harris
Genre: Fantasy, Horror, Romance
First published: May 1st 2001
Finished reading: March 24th 2016
Pages: 326
“The world seemed a bad and terrible place, all its denizens suspect, and I the lamb wandering through the valley of death with a bell around my neck.”
After a few disappointing reads, I was looking for something to bring me back on track. I decided to play it safe and pick up one of the titles on my guilty pleasure list: Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris. Although I normally don’t really care for vampire stories, this series has turned out to be an exception. I loved the True Blood TV series and this first book is definitely just as entertaining! I normally don’t like watching the movie or series before reading the book, because I want to create my own version of the characters as described in the story. In the case of the Sookie Stackhouse series, I’m finding that the actors chosen for the different characters fit their roles perfectly, so I don’t really mind. Sookie, Bill, Sam, Jason, Eric… While I was reading this book I actually had a lot of True Blood flashbacks. Dead Until Dark is fast-paced, entertaining and just what I needed to fight my beginning reading slump. It might not be the perfect read and the sexy romance scenes aren’t really my thing, but as it normally goes with guilty pleasure reads, I don’t really care. On to the second book it is!
Sookie Stackhouse works as a waitress in Bon Temps, Lousiana. Nothing really exciting seems to be going on in the small town, up until the day a vampire shows up at the bar. Suddenly Sookie isn’t the only person that doesn’t fit in… Sookie isn’t quiet and keeps to herself because she is shy or doesn’t feel pretty; somehow she can read the minds of everyone around her. And being able to read someones darkest and dirtiest thoughts doesn’t really help starting many friendships or dating guys… But somehow, Bill seems different. Not only is he a vampire, but Sookie can’t hear a word he’s thinking. And even though she knows she isn’t supposed to date a vampire, the thought of being able to be close to him without hearing disturbing thoughts sounds too good to be true. But Bill might be more dangerous than Sookie thinks…
I think I already read another book of the Sookie Stackhouse series a few years ago (way before starting this blog), but I don’t remember which one. I’m glad I finally decided to pick up this first book though, because it made me remember how much I loved the TV series. Dead Until Dark belongs to a genre I normally don’t enjoy much, especially when it comes to sexy romance and vampires. Still, somehow this book is an exception. I like the characters, the pace is fast and the overall story is entertaining. I will be looking forward to read more of this series soon!
It's All About Books 
The Sookie Stackhouse series isn’t really my normal reading either and I’ve never watched True Blood. I forget now why I even started the series, possibly because I’ve enjoyed other books by Harris. Maybe it was even on a dare, lol.
Anyway, as I read through the first book, it was interesting enough, but didn’t really engage me enough to read the entire series. However at the end of the first book was something that peaked my curiosity. It’s been a while, but I think it was probably a reference to what Sookie’s boss was. Ditto on the second book – something at the end got me curious. Eventually I was totally hooked on the characters and the series and raced through the rest of the books.
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I can definitely see why you would want to learn more about Sam’s character; the TV series spoiled the mystery around his character for me, but I liked that the book doesn’t give out too many details in the beginning. I’ll be looking forward to read more of the series soon!
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I really enjoyed most of this series. The last few books really went downhill for me, but the first several were so fun!
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I’m still not sure if I’m going to read the whole series, because you are not the first to complain about the last few books. But I have a copy of the next three waiting on my shelves and I will definitely try those!
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