Definitely Dead (Sookie Stackhouse, #6)

by Charlaine Harris

book data

8,213 ratings, 4.02 average rating, 509 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		31%
4		42%
3		22%
2		2%
1		0%

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published

March 27th 2007 (first published 2006) by Ace

binding

Mass Market Paperback, 342 pages

characters

Sookie Stackhouse

setting

The United States

isbn

0441014917 (isbn13: 9780441014910)

description

Sixth in the Anthony Award-winning Southern Vampire series.

Spiked with a frothy fusion of romance, mystery, and fantasy, this bestselling...more

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12/23/08

Beth(MN) rated it:

bookshelves: 2009, fairies, tnbbc-winter-challenge, urban-fantasy, vampires, werewolves, witches

Read in January, 2009

This series is one of the most mind-numbingly stupid things I’ve ever read. And believe it or not, I mean that to be a highly complimentary statement. Weird, I know.

Before starting book number six, track down a copy of the short story titled “One Word Answer” that appears in the anthology Bite. Randomly, (and I say randomly because it’s been sitting in my house for about two years now and since I really don’t like anthologies, had very little desire to even crack the c...more

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16 comments

12/07/08

Amberly Fox rated it:

Read in December, 2008

The 5th and 6th books were my least favorite so far, and maybe this one was my least. I felt totally thrown off by cousin Hadley. I kept having to look the books up to make sure I hadn't missed one and was reading them in the right order. So Hadley became a vampire lover of the queen and then ended up dead and the queen came to Sookie's house to tell her this? When did all of this happen? Did I skip 30 pages in book 5? I wasn't so much confused because Harris always OVER explains what has happen...more

Like this review? yes (9 people liked it)

12 comments

03/19/09

Jessica rated it:

Ack...these books are so terrible, yet so entertaining. I can't stop reading them, even though I'm mortified to admit that I like them. I was also terribly confused when I started reading this book, and even had to check to make sure that I didn't miss a book in the series somehow. Somehow Sookie's cousin, who has been turned into a vampire by her lover, the Queen of Louisiana, is murdered, but all this happens before the book starts, leaving me a bit confused. Some random thoughts on my par...more

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04/04/08

Wendy rated it:

Read in July, 2006

I did not enjoy this book quite as much as the others in the series. I don't like the path that Sookie and Bill's relationship has taken, I don't think she should be so angry. I like Quinn some but even he does not seem to be the guy for Sookie and I hate the habit he has of calling her 'Babe'. The storyline was okay although it just barely touched upon some unanswered questions from previous books. It did leave us with some interesting new people for future books. I still look forward to more i...more

Like this review? yes (2 people liked it)

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01/17/09

Nymphsin rated it:

Read in February, 2008

recommended to Nymphsin by: Hunter's Haven
recommends it for: Everyone

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

There is alot going on in this book!

Jason (Sookie's bother) is experiencing a trying time, Sookie has to help in a missing persons' case with the local police, and, well, lots more...

Sookies' cousin Hadley, has passed away and Sookie is named her beneficiary.
Sookie is summoned to sort through and collect what she wants of Hadley's personal and financial assets.
She goes to New Orleans and meets some very interesting new character's while she's in town to sort t...more

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01/24/09

Tracy rated it:

bookshelves: mo-reading-project

Read in February, 2009

I am so pleased to see Harris getting back on track! I particularly liked Eric socially assassinating Bill at the hospital! Say goodbye to your dating life, Bill...

Yes, I am firmly in the Eric camp.

Like this review? yes (4 people liked it)

4 comments

11/23/08

Stephanie rated it:

Read in December, 2008

While I did find this book interesting, I just wasn't as into it as the last few. I did like that Sookie finally tossed Bill to the curb, but I was hoping that she would finally be with Eric or Alcide, not find a new beau in Quinn. I kind of saw it coming in the last one, but I was hoping that she would delay things like she did with Alcide and not actually get something going with him.

The action in this book was almost non-stop again, which I liked. The way Ms. Harris wrote it kept ...more

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11/04/08

Martina rated it:

Read in November, 2008

Definitely Dead is the 6th book in the Sookie Stackhouse series, also known as the Southern Vampire Mystery series, by Charlaine Harris.

Here's the synopsis from the back of the book:

Since Louisiana cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse has so few living relatives, she hates to lose one - even her cousin Hadley, undead consort of the vampire Queen of New Orleans. Hadley's left everything she had to Sookie, but claiming that inheritance has a high risk factor. Some peo...more

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10/31/08

Becky rated it:

bookshelves: 3-star, fantasy, fiction, mystery-and-thrillers, owned, owned-read, recommended-to-me, reviewed, romance, series-and-sequels, vampires, _author-harris-c, _series-sookie

Read in November, 2008

Let me just say, right off the bat, that I had a love/hate relationship with this installment of Sookie's life.

This one was another good read, story-wise, but it frustrated the hell out of me. We're steadily learning more and more about Sookie, and her life and love(s), and not all of those things are good.

This book completely engrossed me, even while I was getting more and more upset with it. At times I felt myself winding up the old throwin' arm to chuck the damn thin...more Let me just say, right off the bat, that I had a love/hate relationship with this installment of Sookie's life.

This one was another good read, story-wise, but it frustrated the hell out of me. We're steadily learning more and more about Sookie, and her life and love(s), and not all of those things are good.

This book completely engrossed me, even while I was getting more and more upset with it. At times I felt myself winding up the old throwin' arm to chuck the damn thing at the wall, but that wouldn't have made the outcome any different, and it probably would dented the wall just to spite me, even though I'm reading a paperback.

**Possible spoilers**

After a heartbreaking revelation about Bill and the origin of their relationship, Sookie now feels completely betrayed and duped. She is also being ridiculously unreasonable and irrational, in my opinion. To be honest, Sookie has an annoying habit of running away from anything that upsets her. She would be much better off if she would stop making assumptions about people and their motives and just let them actually TALK to her.

It is insanely frustrating to me that this story is told in first person, so we only get Sookie's lopsided and biased view of everyone around her. This is true of all books told in 1st person, of course, but this book really seems to have taken that to another level, since Sookie is being so stubbornly stupid and spiteful, even.

I really think that her ability to hear other people's thoughts has made her more than a bit jaded, and so she is more than ready to see the bad in people, which leads her to just shut them down, utterly and completely.

Perhaps there are people out there who will disagree with my saying these things about Sookie, and I can understand that. She is generally good, and tries to do the right thing, and I do like her, most of the time. She's gutsy and fun, smart but naive. But, when it comes to her heart, she's all-or-nothing.

Bill is no saint, but I truly believe that he loves Sookie and would do anything for her. I feel for him the most, even though Sookie was hurt so badly. Bill really had no choice in any of the things that Sookie is angry with him about, and he is possibly losing her because of his role in Vampire society.

Eric cares for Sookie, but in a self-serving, hey-look-at-the-cute-puppy-can-I-keep-it? kind of way. I'm not a big fan of a Sookie/Eric relationship. That's just personal preference though. I see nothing wrong with either Alcide or Quinn (yet...) so I am still rather baffled by Sookie's anger at Alcide, but I'm glad that she is being more cautious with Quinn.

Maybe the next book will resolve some of these issues for me. I sure hope so. (less)

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08/14/08

Ashley rated it:

bookshelves: not-my-copy, urban-fantasy, vampires

Read in October, 2008

I knew it would only be a matter of time before Sookie began to annoy me a little, and this book marked the beginning of it. To be fair, though, I'm not sure it if was her so much as her interaction with Quinn that didn't sit that well with me. After the previous book, it was kind of a no-brainer that Quinn would become the next addition to Sookie's growing parade of suitors. I didn't really care for him or his relationship with Sookie. The whole "I shall compliment you at any given moment,...more

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07/15/07

Laura rated it:

bookshelves: darkurbanfantasy

Book 6, and I have to say this is my least favorite of the series. IMO the plot is full of starts and stops, and seems to go nowhere. The book swayed from boring to silly. The only interesting part was the developing relationship with Quinn, which was great fun, and such a bright star in this novel. Unfortunately, the Quinn introduction was just that, an introduction, and a minor subplot. So I guess we will have to wait until the next few novels to see how this relationship plays out. Too ...more

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02/04/09

Kath rated it:

Read in October, 2008

3.5 Stars - My least favorite in my favorite series, October 10, 2008
I was a little disappointed in this installment of the Southern Vampire series, a very unusal occurance for me. I didn't seem to have the flair, humor and excitement that the others did.

Lots of vampire politics in this book, which is very intersting, but not as many intesting plot twists as in the previous books. Also, I really missed Bill and Eric. They really took a back seat in this one and I found I miss...more

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12/31/08

Donna rated it:

(review of isbn 0441014003)

bookshelves: own, read-in-2008, urban-fantasy

Read in December, 2008

Sookie travels to New Orleans to settle the affairs of her estranged cousin, Hadley. She recently learned that Hadley became a vampire and a favorite of Louisiana's Queen before her second death at the hands of a jealous rival.

If none of this sounds familiar, that's because it was revealed as part of that obnoxious trend of short stories that include plots important to a series. Harris recaps the necessary info, but it's obviously much less satisfying than reading about the situatio...more

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06/14/09

earthy rated it:

bookshelves: fantasy, mystery

Read in June, 2009

By far the weakest of the Sookie novels so far. The reader is immediately confused by the ridiculous number of plots and subplots, especially the one regarding Sookie's cousin Hadley, which we seem to be missing part of (apparently there was a short story which covered the beginning of that plot, but there'd be no way to know anything about that if you just picked up the book).

The reveal about Bill's intentions regarding Sookie is a good twist (particularly with Eric being a delight...more

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05/25/09

JBradford rated it:

Read in May, 2009

A Book Page review claimed "it's impossible not to love the wry, sexy Sookie …" and I guess that's true, and the series does continue to get funnier. I guess I turned some pages too fast last week, as I missed (or forgot) the announcement that Cousin Hadley had died down in New Orleans, but now comes another new creature to tell Sookie that it's time to go down and collect her inheritance. Vampire Bill wants to go with her, despite the fact that Sookie has not forgiven him for his ...more A Book Page review claimed "it's impossible not to love the wry, sexy Sookie …" and I guess that's true, and the series does continue to get funnier. I guess I turned some pages too fast last week, as I missed (or forgot) the announcement that Cousin Hadley had died down in New Orleans, but now comes another new creature to tell Sookie that it's time to go down and collect her inheritance. Vampire Bill wants to go with her, despite the fact that Sookie has not forgiven him for his unfaithfulness, but it turns out both Eric the Viking and the Queen of Louisiana also want to horn in on the act--with the Queen winning out of course, as she has gotten married to the King of Mississippi and wants Sookie to come listen in to the brainwaves of her husband's human employees. On top of that Quinn, the weretiger, wants to move his acquaintanceship with Sookie to a new level, and Sookie has to reveal her mind-reading ability in order to help a friend. At the same time, some unknown agency starts sending young werewolves to kidnap Sookie for unknown purposes. Just to complicate things even more, Sookie meets her cousin's landlady who turns out to be a somewhat accomplished young witch, whose spells usually work, and who suggests that they hire a few of her witch friends to conduct an ectoplasmic reconstruction to find out what really happened to Cousin Hadley. It all adds up to another mad romp through the south, with some ups and downs on all sides, as Sookie meets both very old vampires and a very new one, as well as demons--or part-demons, anyway--as well as discovering a terrible truth about Bill's past.

My youngest daughter tells me that I missed the whole point of Eric's forcing Sookie to bite the bullet a few novels back, and I suspect she's right. I did notice a few more copyreader's blunders, however, but they certainly only caused a momentary interruption in the enjoyment of the adventure. A bigger concern, I think, is that Sookie is compelled to tell Eric the Viking what really happened while Eric was staying with her during his period of amnesia, including the fact that they did the deed outdoors as well as in … in northwestern Louisiana during the first week of January?
(less)

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11/06/08

Jim rated it:

bookshelves: fantasy, paranormal

Read in February, 2009

I enjoyed this as much as the rest of the series. It hasn't grown old at all. Again, no deep philosophy or anything. Just an enjoyable, fast & light read.

I've read other comments about disliking Bill more & more. Without a spoiler, I'll just say that I personally like the guy. No, he hasn't always made the right decisions, but he's had some rotten options & isn't used to dumping to anyone. I think Sookie is too hard on him. He's tried to do the best he could by her.

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03/17/09

Carmaletta rated it:

(review of isbn 0441014003)

Read in March, 2009

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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02/25/09

Amanda rated it:

Read in February, 2009

1. Sookie, honey, please chill out with using the cliche "to the nth degree" every other page, that's getting old. Really. Old.

2. I agree with another reader that the cousin Hadley thing really threw me off. Did I MISS something? I had to go back and check in book 5. I thought I'd lost my mind or had amnesia. I mean, Harris writes in so much detail that we always know when Sookie changes into her clothes for work or changes her tampon, and yet we hear about the queen's visi...more

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11/23/08

Jen rated it:

Read in December, 2008

Charlaine Harris wrote a short story that tells the story of Hadley which isn't included in any of the books in the series. It's helpful to read it before starting this book.

http://www.wattpad.com/99256-Charlaine-H...

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06/10/09

Alana rated it:

bookshelves: 2009june, reviewed

Read in June, 2009

Before you read book #6, I recommend you pause and do some sleuthing to save yourself the "wtf?" moment that happens when you realize that you're missing some information. What you're looking for is a short story called "One Word Answer" that was published in a collection called Bite, and in this story, you learn about Sookie's cousin Hadley. Hadley became a vampire and then met her final death, and Sookie has been named the sole heir. In addition, during her short time as...more Before you read book #6, I recommend you pause and do some sleuthing to save yourself the "wtf?" moment that happens when you realize that you're missing some information. What you're looking for is a short story called "One Word Answer" that was published in a collection called Bite, and in this story, you learn about Sookie's cousin Hadley. Hadley became a vampire and then met her final death, and Sookie has been named the sole heir. In addition, during her short time as a vampire, Hadley became a favorite of the queen of Louisiana. I say all this because I was pretty miffed when I was reading book 6, as this information is summarized as though it has happened in the series and it was most definitely not in one of the novels. If you google the title and author, you can find a pdf somewhere.

In any case, the plot of book six rests on this information. Sookie goes to New Orleans to pack up Hadley's apartment and finds a bit more than she bargained for. Quinn (the were-tiger) is back and even manages to have a semi-normal date with Sookie (before it's interrupted by a werewolf attack). The Pelt family continues to persist in trying to discover what happened to their daughter. The Queen of Louisiana has just married the King of Arkansas, but things aren't exactly going smoothly. And while Eric has all the information about what happened while his memory was lost, he still can't quite figure out what Sookie means to him now, which pushes him into making Bill reveal some rather major information.
We're definitely seeing a shift away from Sookie's absorption with her relationships (not like she was ever only boy-crazy, but she's become a bit older and wiser), and while we certainly aren't discounting the fellas, Sookie is becoming more and more involved in the supernatural world in her own right as the Queen calls upon her for her assistance.
Trivia: evidently Charlaine Harris had finished this manuscript just prior to Katrina, and considered changing it as a result of the hurricane, but because of the season in which it takes place, she left this novel as it was and, instead, worked Katrina's destruction into the next.(less)

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