'I don't have to be anyone's girlfriend.  I do okay by myself' -- Sookie Stackhouse
924404
Hmm, is Charlaine Harris hinting at something here?

The 12th entry in the series opens with a young woman (who Eric has just taken blood from) being found dead outside of Eric's house.  Eric is, of course, a prime suspect and Sookie actively tries to find out who (or what?) is behind the murder.

Meanwhile, back in Bon Temps the humans in Sookie's life are busy with break-ups, make-ups, weddings and babies.  Sookie seems to experience a wave of `Baby Envy' as she admires Tara's newborn twins.  Perhaps she is just wistful at the normalcy of it all.

I enjoyed this book far more than I did the last several.  It renewed my interest in the series and the character of Sookie herself.  After treading water for some time the series finally seems to be moving forward.  I've never been a fan of the Fae storyline but I liked the way it was handled in this book.  I just hope the little buggers stay put!  And Sookie seems to have come full circle.  She's on her own for much of the book, just as she was in the beginning of the series.  But there's one big difference.  Sookie has carved out a place for herself in the human world.  She's helping to run a business and she earns a decent living.  She has friends; real friends who like her for who she is, not what she can do for them.

Team Eric?  Team Bill?  I don't have a horse in that race, I'm solidly Team Sookie and I like that she's finally hitting her stride.

If you enjoy the books solely because of the Eric/Sookie relationship then you'll probably be disappointed.  Eric is conspicuously absent from this story for the most part.  In fact, there isn't much in the way of `romance' in this one, although the relationship does move forward...in a sense.

Was there "filler" in this book?  Oh, absolutely!  I suppose it doesn't annoy me because I've always liked the way Sookie has one foot firmly planted in the "real" world and the other in the supernatural one.  It's part of the series' quirky appeal that she can  have a near fatal encounter with some supe or another then drive thru Taco Bell for a quick bite!

This is the first time in a few years that I've come to the end of a Sookie book and wondered how on Earth I'm going to last a full year until the next one comes out.  I also realized something else...I'm going to miss Sookie when we part company in the last book.
4801728
I liked how Charlaine Harris ended the series with this book.  The whole series was a fun and easy read.  Sookie is such a little slut, and she doesn't even realize it, it's comical!  The characters are great and the stories are great.  I wouldn't recommend this series for anyone under 18 though.
606505
Favorite Quotes:

As usual, my voice is last.  I could claim slow reflexes, but the truth is, putting what other people want before what I want, even unconsciously, has become habit.  A therapist told me it was transference.  That its easier for me to put other people first because theres no risk involved.  No chance of losing out on all those dreams I keep dreaming about.  But his appointments coincided with my nephews Little League games, so I never learned how to reverse the cycle.

So he remembers the kiss.  Does he also remember the gangly, dorky, unblossomed girl attached to those lips?  No doubt I left him in a state of lustful frenzy tonight with the way I fought to pull open the door marked Push.

Its so unfair to grow up and still be the same person.  We spend years trying to remake ourselves.  College, marriage, Roth IRAs, organic produce.  Deep inside, were all just playing at being adults.  Because well never be better than the people we were at six, or worse than the ones we were at sixteen.

You cant trust musicians, you know.  They move from town to town, picking up a new girl at every stop.  My great-aunt Goldie dated one a jazz player.  Found out he had six children in six different states.  She only listened to classical after that.

I rub my lips against him so he can feel my smile.  Its one of those things that makes you want to cry for no good reason.  A happy thing that makes you sad at the same time.

Tears slide down her cheeks, and she wipes them away.  It feels wrong to see my mother cry.  Parents are meant to be strong, the ones who make everything better.  Who makes things better for them after their parents are gone?

Poor Stanley.  Poor bald, sweaty, manic Stanley.  Between Frannys abrasiveness and Tabbys low-cut blouse, hes having a hell of an afternoon.

My Review:

This book repeatedly squeezed my heart and stole the breath from my lungs.  I also felt a strange sting in my eyes and a burn in my throat.  Ms. Hemmer did an excellent job of capturing those all too familiar feelings of inadequacy and the wheel spinning of a stagnant life going nowhere, as well as the pervasive sense of dissatisfaction from unfulfilled dreams.  Not to mention the guilt of squandered time and missed chances.  She essentially wrote 3 stories in one with three different timelines.  Each were equally enthralling and exquisitely crafted.  Her writing is highly insightful, intelligent, witty, and clever.  I loved her characters, even when the grown sisters continued to spat and bicker like the spoiled children they were and continued to be.  I wanted more of each of the storylines  but then a good tale always makes me greedy.
550957
Regina Rowley has challenged me to  believe within myself that I am beautiful...not because of who I know or how much money I put into my appearance, but because I am important in this life. I alone have something to offer others & it is up to me to believe & live that message. It was Regina Rowley's message that gave me the courage to offer encouragement to an abused woman to seek help out of her diseased environment. I AM beautiful and I AM worth protecting!
2251924
Sookie Stackhouse is just your normal, small town, girl...well kind of.  She is a small town girl, living in a small town in the south, but that is about as far as it really goes.  Sookie has a vampire for a boyfriend, can read peoples thoughts, and works for a shape shifter who owns a bar in town.  Sookie has made a deal with a vampire clan that she will help them anytime they need her in reading humans thoughts, but only if they promise not to kill the human in question.  Eric is the head vampire who also would love it if Sookie would dump Bill and become his instead.  Eric gets word form the Dallas vampire clan that they are in need of help finding a vampire of theirs that has been vampire-napped.  Sookie has to help them find their vampire when Eric "loans her out" to them for help.  Along the way Sookie ends up in a bit of trouble herself and the only one able to help her is a vampire who wishes to die by the sun's light.  Sookie has found not only this vampire, but also the one she is supposed to be looking for too.  First though she has to figure out how to get herself free again before she can try to either rescue the other vampire or go tell the Dallas clan where he is being held.  Will a vampire known for killing anyone he has interacted with save her?

I must admit that I made a bit of an oops and read this book after the third book.  I found it to sound a lot like the third book as far as the plot about finding and saving a vampire who has been taken and locked up.  I did like how there seemed to be multiple plots (the vampire being taken, the dead person found in the sheriff's car, the maenad's appearance), but I was a bit lost by the maenad's appearance.  It made some sense, but seemed to be written, more or less, to add more drama between Eric and Sookie.  The book was for the most part easy to follow and was full of adventures.  It also was a book that did keep plugging along, so there were no lulls in the story.  I just thought it sounded way too much like book three (seeing I read that one before this one).  Due to that I will have to push myself a bit more to move on to the fourth book I think, because I will be wondering if Harris is an author who slips into the; write the same thing with different circumstances; writing.  I do like how Harris writes (as I have read a couple other of her books too) so I am willing to give book four a shot.  I have to see if Sookie really ends up still with Bill or not after all.

3/5 stars (mostly because of it sounding a lot like book three)
437496
I just now finished reading this book, and it was a great read. I'm a big fan of the show, and I noticed quite a few differences. Jason is not addicted to V, Tara isn't in the book, and some of the main characters from the series aren't mentioned that much, but I still enjoyed it. Sookie Stackhouse is a waitress in the small town of Bon Temps, Louisana. She soon starts a relationship with a vampire named Bill Compton. A series of murders begins in town, and the police suspect that vampires are behind it. Who is killing the women in town? I highly recommend DEAD UNTIL DARK!!!
4321327
I read the reviews and thought that Dead in the Family would dissappoint me, whihc kinda made me sad because I have been anticipating a new Stackhouse novel for what feels like forever. I was PLEASANTLY suprised to find myself just as wrapped up in SookieVerse as always! The book, as many reivewers complained is "tame" in comparison to most of the novels, but I loved that it was a little tame- sookie needed some "normal" well normal for her anyway, life for a bit. I like that this book lets us concentrate on Sookie the perosn and her wants and needs and personal evolution. I like that her love life was stable for this book, just like a good relationship should be; up's and downs sure- but stable. I think this book was the perfect development book for the next novel or possibly next several novels. Excitement does happen- just not to the extremes, this is a subtle book- like the calm before a very big SUPES storm. I was slightly dissapointed baout the novel not being availabel on my Kindle- as I have purchased all the pervious ones there- but I understand the reasons why and can only hope they are resolved before the next book. I personally Cannot wait for the next installment!
1706070
I am a big fan of the Sookie Stackhouse series and this collection of short stories is a great addition. It gives readers just a little more background on some of the supporting characters plus it was just a fun read.
2943489
Was team Sam from the beginning! So happy Sookie can grow old with someone and maybe have babies! Loved the book Mrs. Harris! Thank you!
699550
Welcome to Bon Temps, a small town in northern Louisiana. Here you'll meet the adorable Sookie Stackhouse, a local barmaid with a "disability," and her boyfriend Bill. Bill the Vampire, that is. Yes, vampires are a part of society in Dead Until Dark, the first book in the Southern Vampire Series written by Charlaine Harris. In fact, vampires have come out of the coffin, so to speak, and live openly - if not fully accepted - in society.

But a series of young women have been found dead in Bon Temps recently and suspicion naturally falls on Bill the Vampire. Worse, it looks as if Sookie might be next on the killer's agenda. Sookie and Bill must find the killer themselves if they want to live happily ever after, if indeed one can live happily ever after with a vampire.

When an author creates a paranormal world like the one in Dead Until Dark, they must also create so-called rules for their paranormal creatures. Fiction about human beings, by and large, need not state their rules because as humans, you and I know those rules quite well. What the paranormal rules are specifically doesn't really matter. What is important is that the author stick to their rules to give the story legitimacy. Harris, I'm happy to report, excels at this (unlike another well-known vampire author who has been all the rage recently), which brings a cohesiveness to the story and keeps you comfortably ensconced in her world.

Harris also creates an amusing vocabulary all her own when it comes to vampires.

Vampire groupies?
They're called 'fang-bangers.'

A vampire's ability to hypnotize?
They're simply 'glamoring' you.

And assimilation, or 'mainstreaming,' into society eerily parallels the difficulties experienced by other minority groups in the American south. As light-hearted as this mystery is, there is a dark undercurrent of small-town American prejudice there for any who care to look for it.

The Recommendation
For a reader who professes not to care for westerns or the paranormal, I sure seem to be picking up an awful lot of them recently. But in the case of Dead Until Dark, I'm glad I did. The book is much more light-hearted than HBO's adaptation and the characters are far more sympathetic when you meet them on the pages instead of the screen.

Dead Until Dark could be considered what is often referred to as a light read, but I just consider it plain fun. Enjoyable for a plane ride or a fun interlude between more serious novels, I highly recommend it.

There are currently eight available books in the series. If you suffer from series OCD like I do, you might want to collect them all.
3355433
I always love spending time with Sookie, and this book was no exception. It wasn't my favorite book but it wasn't the worst in my opinion. There were parts that I felt like Sookie was not acting herself. Also, I felt this book was more violent then I wished and I felt bad for some characters like Bill. But, being with Sookie makes me happy so I still enyoed this read. If you've read Sookie books before, then this book is a must.
3344325
While not the best of the Sookie Stackhouse series, the book kept me reading and entertained.  Lots of visits from favourites from earlier in the series added to the fun.  If you haven't read it, it's worth reading just to round off the series with some hope and stability in the future for Sookie (unless she goes to Oklahoma!)
235707
Anyone who feels like they are the only one not invited to the party will find a kindred spirit in Audrey.  A shy, plain-ish school librarian teetering on the cusp of thirty, Audrey sets out to finally lose her virginity with the help of her quirky group of friends.  I laughed out loud at some of her adventures in the bars and on the dance floors of Boston nightclubs.  Even while enduring all the various indignities the singles scene has to offer, Audrey never gives up hope that there must be a decent guy out there who will want to get with her.  Could it be that she is looking for more than just a physical relationship after all? I thoroughly enjoyed this book!
3961706
with the Anita Blake Vampire books I fine my-self not only feeling as if I am in this with her but that I would love to be Anita even when she is fighting for her life and others.
Oh yes I tell everyone I know they need to get these books of Laurell K. Hamilton's
I have often wondered if her life has at lest some of the high lights in it as her writings.
I fine my-self geting lost in her books and I fine I enjoy it very much to just let my-self go to this place and be with Anita Blake, the men in her books are enough for me to fine my-self with them even when helping to fine the killers, I have read them out of order then I found my-self needing to buy them so I can read them in order and I fine my-self going back and reading them over and over again.
1731895
The saying just floors me and speaks for itself so I don't have to.  Love it. :)
3928696
I'm not a feminist or anti-feminist. I'm just a person, who loves being myself in my own terms and don't feel in anyway victimized because I'm female nor do I feel like I am prevented from being my full potential here in America. I came across this book because it was recommended in a book group. I immediately liked what these two women had to say because I am often surrounded by women with only liberal views, which is fine, but I also recognize that not all women think alike. It's refreshing to finally hear from two women who I may not be on board with 100%, but I agree with most of what they have to say. Thanks for writing this book!! I now know there are women who are on the same page as me!
1259961
Enjoyed experiencing the growth of the characters in this book. In society today, where everyone feels free to anonymously bite off everyone's head via Facebook, it was uplifting to feel the thoughtfulness of Faith and Holly come through the pages as I read. And the author is correct, you really don't need all that toothpaste and detergent .