Search - Dead Until Dark (Sookie Stackhouse, Bk 1)

I thought that this was a pretty good story. I had actually started watching the series first (even though I've had the first 6 of these books on my shelf for well over a year now--what can I say, lots of books to read! ;P) but figured I'd better get in gear because I HAD to know what was going to happen (generally) in the show and I have little to no patience sometimes. :) I actually like that I had seen a few episodes first because it made it a lot easier to visualize what the characters looked like and such since the author does a mediocre job of describing everyone and I just feel the characters are a little under-developed. (I guess I love those authors who tell you the littlest twitch someone has so you can see what they're doing in your head.)

It's a light read but will probably disappoint those into the darker vamp books, especially since parts of it remind me of series by other authors that have been out longer. The story does get better as it goes on, which could be a result of the author becoming more comfortable with her characters and such, but it did start out a bit slow.

Cheesy dialogue, moronic female lead (and I despise the name Sookie), juvenile writing, the list goes on and on about why I should hate this book...having said all that, I really liked it. I couldn't put it down. I have high hopes that the writing will get better as the books progress, although I fear "Sookie" will remain my least favorite character EVER! If a reader can get past the negatives, the story itself is interesting and does draw you in. We'll see how the next one reads. I'm also going to watch the HBO series - very curious to see how that coincides with the book?

I felt this was a sophomoric attempt to write a novel. The situations were many times corny and character development was lacking due to the author's insistence on writing first person. I think she was trying out too many different styles for one book. The worst part for me was trivialities. I don't care that the main character was trying a new shampoo and she does a poor job of describing "routine" rituals such as showering, getting dressed, etc. I understand what she was trying do with that style but it was done poorly and just didn't fit in this type of book.

I started reading this after I saw HBO's "True Blood" and I was surprised at the major differences between the book and the show. I honestly think the show is much better, but that being said I think it is an interesting premise.

I felt the writing was bad enough that I almost didn't finish it, but I am glad I did because I read the second book and it was better than this one. Book #2 is still kind of all over the place story-wise but still interesting.

My girlfriend is a huge fan of this series, I have been working on getting them all for her, she loves them!

Fun, light reading. Like a harlequin romance but with interesting characters and scenarios. The details are different than the tv series and that is interesting too.

I am officially HOOKED