Dead Until Dark

I read this way too young *ahem(blame the cover-art)* but I couldn't stop myself from being swept away by harris' brilliant storytelling. It will capture you into a world choke-full of vampires, wolves, fairies, shape-shifters, demons and god knows what else. This is a start of a great adventure with our kickass Sookie. The conclusion to this series is a bit... well.. I don't really know what to say (but with all the death threats towards the author, you can guess what the majority opinion is). But there's a long road ahead, since this is but the first book and there are 13 books in total (plus some extras) in this series. Beware though, it is completely not alike the tv show (much like the vampire diaries books versus the show), I read this before the show so there weren't any issues. The first few books might remind you of the show but the similarities end quite early on. There a LOT more characters in the book than on tv, plus more people die (that's not really a spoiler because if you should expect plenty of death in harris' books). So give it a try. You shouldn't expect a philosophical analysis of vampirism or paranormality in this book, just enjoy the ride, and get sucked into these blood-thirsty books!show more

The first time I fell in love with the characters of the Sookie Stackhouse series was the moment HBO aired the first episode of True Blood. After watching it for years, I decided that it's time for me to pick up the books that started it all. If I could describe the book in one word it would be - different. 30% different than the TV show's first season, different than many books out there, the book was just different. Yeah, sure it did have a vampire or two but that's not all it had. It had shifters, werewolves, mind readers and, well, us. And if I read Dead Until Dark when it first released back in 2001, I would have been a lot more amazed and excited about the book. I wouldn't say that the book was mind blowing but that I simply enjoyed it and was captivated by the small town of Bon Temps and the great narration the book had. And thanks to the TV Show, I couldn't help but compare the book and the show throughout the entire book. I even had to re-watch the first season to see if they included my favorite parts from the book and unfortunately, they didn't. Big change between the book and the show is the fact that Tara (the protagonist's best friend) was a main part of the show while in Dead Until Dark she hasn't even been introduced yet. Another difference is that the books portrayed Sookie as an innocent woman who always follows the morals her grandmother taught her while in the TV Shows she isn't (much). Aside from these two things everything else is almost the same. I loved Sookie (the protagonist) and her narration. It was sweet, humorous and simple; nothing too over the top and annoying. And the best part is that I didn't find her irritating at all. For that, I give Harris a mental applause. Bill (the male lead) on the other hand was actually the hopeless romantic vampire you expect from a vampire back in the 2001. But thanks to the image HBO gave me of Bill, I still dislike him. Other characters like Sam, Eric, Pam, Jason, Arlene, Lafayette, and Renee are all the same as we see them on screen. I'm actually very happy that they stayed true to the books with most of the characters. In short, the TV Shows have added in a lot of new content to make the episodes longer and more interesting to the public while the books are spot on and original in its own way. With characters and a plot that will always stay Harris' own. I am surprised that I actually loved this book enough to consider reading the other eleven books Charlaine Harris wrote. Eleven books will be quite a journey. Wish me luck!show more