Goodreads: Dead to the World

Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Last year I started reading the Southern Vampire series on eBook, but I only finished three and a half of them before stopping. I thought they were good, but I have this weird reader’s ADD which keeps me from reading two books in the same series in a row. I’d actually tried to get through this series all at once, and by book 4, I needed something new.

Revisiting these, I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel. I remembered liking them, but at the time I’d just finished watching Season 1 of True Blood and was having a hard time making the series mesh with the books. I know you’re probably thinking “duh,” since rarely is a book series like its television counterpart, but there were things I really wanted to jive that just weren’t jiving.

Then I watched season 2 of True Blood and decided to give the books another try, because after the annoying Maenad storyline, I needed something different. Even though I really liked the books the first time I started reading them, this go round was even better.

In “Dead to the World,” Sookie has broken up with Bill Compton who spends most of the story in Peru on business of the Queen (of Louisiana). Things seem to be settling down for Sookie when she comes across Eric Northman running down the road near her house. Eric has lost his memory, and the other vampires of Fangtasia recruit Sookie to keep him hidden from a coven of dangerous witches, who also happen to be weres and vampire blood drinkers. Meanwhile, Sookie’s brother Jason goes missing after being seen with a shifter at the New Year’s party.

There was definitely a contrast between this book and the Anita Blake book I’d read prior. Though still violent, Sookie’s world is lighter and quicker to read. It helps to have visuals from the show for the characters, though they’re not all spot on with the descriptions in the book. Harris doesn’t skimp on the eroticism when the time comes, but she doesn’t make it the focus of the story.

Sookie as the main character in the book is preferable to Sookie on TV (as are most of the characters) and at this point, not only am I planning on finishing the series, but if I was told I had to choose between the two, I’d definitely take the books.

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