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Allison's Reviews > Deadlocked
Deadlocked (Sookie Stackhouse, #12)
by Charlaine Harris
by Charlaine Harris
There are some spoilers listed below. So word to the wise.
Well ladies my predictions about this book were dead-ass wrong.
I just finished the latest Sookie Stackhouse and it's another steaming pile of poo. Halfway through book 10 this series should've ended. But no, this is going to be like those cartoons, where the character slams on the breaks of its vehicle and the car is ground into the road so severely that car parts fly off until all that's left is the steering wheel still in the character's hand. Scratch that, that's way too exciting a description for this series. Think more dementia. Everything I liked about this series is gone. Romance - gone. Sex - gone. A somewhat polite, considerate female lead - gone. ( Ugh! Sookie has more bitchy comments in this novel than a sixteen year old on the rag. I can go listen to my kids for that. ) Eric - not gone - but largely absent. A coherent mystery - gone. There is no reason of any logical merit why the villains perpetrate their crimes. None. N.O.N.E.
However: Mundane, chapter swallowing, menusha - thick on the ground.
I read on the CH blog that she was shocked to see that Dead Reckoning was listed as one of the worst books last year. Seriously? What did she think was good about it? Zero story? Random strings of events that kind of came together but didn't resolve themselves? Lots of talk about child rape....? Oh wait, I know, it must have been the dissolving of the single relationship that has had the vast majority of her readers coming back for more. And on that score, Deadlock is the last nail in that coffin. Unless, you could vamperize a relationship, Eric and Sookie are over. Like, Over-Over.
But you know what they say: When the sex ends.....so its not like I didn't see it coming. Literally, in one scene Eric was like, Can I stay over and fuck the shit out of you? {I'm paraphrasing} And Sookie was like hell to the no. HELLO? WTF! Does CH think I slog through these for the descriptions of her grandmother's sweet potato casserole recipe? Hotdish for those of you in the upper Midwest...Honestly, I think CH is crushing these books because she's mad at the bloggers who've ripped her a new one over the past two years, one. And two, I think she felt forced to get Sookie and Eric together by public demand; so she destroyed the relationship in a big flipping bird to those pressures. Nobody tells Charlaine what to do! Nobody!
Ugh I'm not wasting any more time on this, until next year when I will feel compelled to read the last one.
Well ladies my predictions about this book were dead-ass wrong.
I just finished the latest Sookie Stackhouse and it's another steaming pile of poo. Halfway through book 10 this series should've ended. But no, this is going to be like those cartoons, where the character slams on the breaks of its vehicle and the car is ground into the road so severely that car parts fly off until all that's left is the steering wheel still in the character's hand. Scratch that, that's way too exciting a description for this series. Think more dementia. Everything I liked about this series is gone. Romance - gone. Sex - gone. A somewhat polite, considerate female lead - gone. ( Ugh! Sookie has more bitchy comments in this novel than a sixteen year old on the rag. I can go listen to my kids for that. ) Eric - not gone - but largely absent. A coherent mystery - gone. There is no reason of any logical merit why the villains perpetrate their crimes. None. N.O.N.E.
However: Mundane, chapter swallowing, menusha - thick on the ground.
I read on the CH blog that she was shocked to see that Dead Reckoning was listed as one of the worst books last year. Seriously? What did she think was good about it? Zero story? Random strings of events that kind of came together but didn't resolve themselves? Lots of talk about child rape....? Oh wait, I know, it must have been the dissolving of the single relationship that has had the vast majority of her readers coming back for more. And on that score, Deadlock is the last nail in that coffin. Unless, you could vamperize a relationship, Eric and Sookie are over. Like, Over-Over.
But you know what they say: When the sex ends.....so its not like I didn't see it coming. Literally, in one scene Eric was like, Can I stay over and fuck the shit out of you? {I'm paraphrasing} And Sookie was like hell to the no. HELLO? WTF! Does CH think I slog through these for the descriptions of her grandmother's sweet potato casserole recipe? Hotdish for those of you in the upper Midwest...Honestly, I think CH is crushing these books because she's mad at the bloggers who've ripped her a new one over the past two years, one. And two, I think she felt forced to get Sookie and Eric together by public demand; so she destroyed the relationship in a big flipping bird to those pressures. Nobody tells Charlaine what to do! Nobody!
Ugh I'm not wasting any more time on this, until next year when I will feel compelled to read the last one.
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Comments (showing 1-50 of 55) (55 new)
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Kelia
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Apr 24, 2012 02:44pm
I will be sooooo sad if you're right. I love Eric too much to see him die
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Make no mistake! This is the last thing I want to see happen but I can feel it. Charlaine has a thing for Bill. She continues to give him humanity while she takes it away from Eric. In the last novel, that last fight scene, Sookie is starting to realize that Eric is a beastly murderer. He revels in bloodlust and whatnot. I think she's trying to begin a break-up. But who knows! I certainly hope I do not, but wince, I'm really starting to prepare myself for disappointment.
I think it is going to end where it all began...Sookie is going to wish that the Great Revelation and all the subsequent "reveals" never happened...Sam will ask her to go out with him and that will be her HEA.
You're absolutely right. Charlaine does like Bill. The synopsis screams Eric and Sookie breakup. The fact that Eric is drinking from another woman says a lot and the fact that she feels the need to work with Bill is foreshadowing of a possible future relationship for them and that just kills me considering what Bill did to her. And all this time Sookie tried to find reasons to break up with Eric, now she finally has a solid enough excuse.Lyn I can see your scenario unfolding. I would again be very angry and upset if she just settled back into her old life. She doesn't like Sam that way and she can still read his thoughts, though they're a little cloudy. Also she she would forget all about her little cousin who she really feels the need to help, because his mother is dead and he is also psychic.
That's so funny, because I've always thought Charlaine didn't like Bill but favored Eric...she has had Sookie and a great many of her readers hate Bill through most of the series, yet I think everyone loves Eric, not necessary Eric and Sookie as a couple, but most readers love Eric in spite of his ego and selfish ways.
Sookie has more bitchy comments in this novel than a sixteen year old on the rag. I can go listen to my kids for that.Hahahaha. Great line. I abandoned the series with book eight or something. Just hearing about the this kind of stuff makes me sad. There was so much potential in these.
Allison wrote: "In the last novel, that last fight scene, Sookie is starting to realize that Eric is a beastly murderer..."And it took Sookie 12 books and all my patience to realize that!!
Don't get me wrong, I'm long past caring who Sookie ends up with, but, Eric is what he is, a thousand year old Vampire that was a warrior in his human life, who married his deceased brother's wife out of obligation. Bill is a young Vampire (abt 140) and was a gentleman and farmer in his human life, who married someone he knew since childhood out of love.
Ms Harris kept Bill and Eric true to who they are, it's Sookie that's confused.
Elizabeth wrote: "Sookie has more bitchy comments in this novel than a sixteen year old on the rag. I can go listen to my kids for that.Hahahaha. Great line. I abandoned the series with book eight or something. Ju..."
Thanks. I should have ejected a couple of novels ago, but I have only recently acquired the ability to leave a book, or series midway through. Thank you Black Dagger Brotherhood.
I think Charlaine should have hired a ghost writer after it became clear that she had become bored with the series. Or ended it. Did you see Young Adult with Charlize Theron? In it she is the ghost writer for a series similar to Gossip Girl I guess. I've never read that stuff, so I'm not familiar with it enough to guess which one is being mocked.
Allison wrote: "Elizabeth wrote: "Sookie has more bitchy comments in this novel than a sixteen year old on the rag. I can go listen to my kids for that.Hahahaha. Great line. I abandoned the series with book eigh..."
Allison, is the Black Dagger Brothers series really that bad? I just checked out the first one and if it sucks I really don't want to start reading it.
Depends. Sometimes in my attempt to be funny I'm overly nasty. But they are pretty bad. Truth is that, the Black Dagger Brotherhood is to paranormal Romance what the Magic Castle at Disney is to actual castles in England. It lacks all the imperfections that would give it a sense of reality. And the dialogue is so out of character of normal men, let alone 315 pound over muscled vampire warriors, that you are wincing as you read. And this is not an understatement. There is a market for this book but I don't think you're it. Have you tried the Fever series? That would be my next series.
I don’t mean to butt in, especially since this is a Deadlocked review, which I’m totally in agreement with Allison. But I would like to point out that contrary to Harris’ work, JR Ward is consistent in the Black Dagger Brotherhood in at least two points, may be three:1.The main character always gets resolve and has his/her HEA
2.The sex scenes aren’t gratuitous and are in my POV pretty steamy
3.The books have a sense a humor (I guess this depends on the reader)
Numero UNO. I need when I'm reading a book like that to go along highlighting the passages that prove my point because, I feel like I could pull out any number of lines that would turn the most ardent fan green. I know those books have some ardent followers. And I'm sensitive to them. I'm not judging anyone for liking them. But.... I just think the conflicts are resolved to quickly. Girl gets kidnapped and is rescued two chapters later. I'm barely invested before it's all recovered. The banter between the brothers, some find humorous, I found it to be, out-of-character for men. All of them on a couch watching Soap Operas at the end. Please. Might as well make it Brokeback Mountain. And the king vampire, is an insensitive louse for two hundred years to his plutonic wife. But falls in love with some half human girl in the span of a night. I think the type of person who is vulnerable enough to fall in Love instantly, could have been a bit more considerate in the previous two hundred years. Just sayin'
Lyn wrote: "I think it is going to end where it all began...Sookie is going to wish that the Great Revelation and all the subsequent "reveals" never happened...Sam will ask her to go out with him and that will..."You starting to look like the closest to the pin.
Well, there you go. Sorry for the through/throw error. Totally valid points. The out-of-character banter is what I found funny because it's so well… hard to imagine. The only point I could argue is the falling in love after a few hours, but I’m a hopeless romantic. Thanks for the quick response. I appreciate your POV.
I'm down with love-at-first-sight too. But....that king vampire, I forget his ridiculous name, was totally emotionally closed off. In one glimmer of real emotion, he feels crippling guilt, two hundred years worth, yet in the course of dinner, gets over it. In one of the most untrainable fights ever, by a man and a woman. And her, ugh, sort her out, JR, doormat that allows a man to be all growlly and nasty or strong female heroine who should have ditched that guy a bunch of times in the beginning. And that first love scene is dangerously close to a rape fantasy for my taste....
Your review is hilarious & dead on. Love, loved it. Esp. the bit about being pissed at the bloggers (hello...one here). She's been stewing at her readers since they slammed her for that death knell, DAG. Coincidentally, the book she released after she sold out & sold out she did. She intended to Kill Bill but got heat from the publishers asking her not to. She finally admitted it on her blog when her readers where too smart to let her off the hook. She's been spiteful ever since & that's the truth. What a joke. What an ego. What a waste.
I really am rubbed the wrong way by Ms. Harris. I've read her blog a couple times. I am never disappointed. She brings the arrogance every time. My favorite was the time she chastised new authors for approaching her to read their manuscripts. She's always complaining. And her books, almost all of them are some AC you can tell she's being paid to read. Her reviews. I don't believe half of them anymore. I think she just throws out canned responses. But back to her arrogance, read this little gem I found lurking in her Goodreads interview. Another reader, who wrote an awesome review of Deadlock mentioned it and I looked it up.GR: Cleverly named Goodreads member "new_user" asks, "What's it like writing in the genre now versus when you first started?"
CH: Well, it's much more crowded, for one thing. I'm not a pioneer anymore, just one of a thundering herd. But it's nice to have so many options about reading material!
I'm sorry, did she answer the question? Or just stroke her ego? Laugh.Out.Loud. "I'm not a pioneer anymore." Anne Rice should bitch slap her. That's the pioneer, dearest Charlaine.
I think I just had a lightbulb moment as to why all the complaining & arrogance. So for a while the ladies on the forum I'm on have been saying all signs point to Sam. I just couldn't see it b'c it was illogical to me. He barely had any page time for one. We were just discussing & it finally hit me. Duh. Huh. I'm a little thick at times. Money. Readership numbers. True Blood. Keep them hooked b'c she knows well & good that they're not trudging through a 13 book series about Sam & Sookie when the overwhelming mass majority love the character of Eric or even Bill. It's that simple.
So....even though she doesn't really like all the hullabaloo, the characters or all the Bill/Eric bullshit, it detracts from where she's really heading so isn't she a clever little mystery writer b'c all her readers are too busy amongst themselves to even see it coming.
I just couldn't see the point behind it all so I just wasn't seeing it as a legitimate possibility from my perspective. I was still interpreting the arc as the required relationship ups & down for Sook & Eric, so I didn't get why it was even on the radar.
I thought... anyone with an ounce of artistic integrity wouldn't just so blatantly jump shark like that after so long but...
...that's the clincher isn't it? In her head she's NOT & she's always said she has never changed from her original intent not realizing that at that stage in the game - her readership was about to quadruple & that it was going to be a helluva' lot more difficult to pull this off legitimately & without backlash.
That's why all the barbed & veiled comments (defense the best offense)....it was a pre-emptive strike for the fact that she knows her audience won't buy it in the end but they should b'c she ..has..been...staying...true as she always said & that really sucks for her. So she's resentful. Resentful that she let this go on, resentful that her readers attached themselves to characters she never saw any future with & resentful that after 13 books, it will be her least salable b'c 1/2 her audience will think she's choked or jumped shark & won't buy it or pick up any of her other books again.
Huh....how do you get out of that one? Sucks for her. She created a monster & hates it that's what all that's about IMO.
Yes, but I once saw Alan Ball look at a camera and say with a knowing glint in his eye, "I don't think we can imagine a world where Sookie and Bill don't end up together." I wondered it that was the reason she had the cleuveil(?) dor invented. I thought her wish was going to make Bill human. Eric human. Turn all vampires human. Anything. But bribing Sam back to life, when vampire blood saved her ass time and time again. Again,WTF! I think all the legs of this story are too much for her to grasp anymore. She once commented on Karen Marie Moning and the Fever series, that Moning must have some giant white board in her house with all of the particulars of the Fever world to keep it all straight. And I found that the most telling of anything vie thought about Harris. I really think this is all to much to keep together in her head, create and resolve. She should hire a ghost novelist to help her finish the series. But then again, have younheard her rant about fan fiction, she's not having it! Gotta love Charlaine!
Lmb wrote: "I think I just had a lightbulb moment as to why all the complaining & arrogance. So for a while the ladies on the forum I'm on have been saying all signs point to Sam. I just couldn't see it b'c i..."Not mention the casting of true blood screwed her too. Have you seen Eric? Who wouldnt pick him over Sam and Bill. With those faces in your brain it makes it even harder.
I remember that comment about Moning. She made a couple of veiled ones too but it was obvious it was about KMM & fever. LOL, She's such a hater it's laughable. She just needs to strap on her big girl pants, stop moaning, be grateful & write a really good fucking sendoff for her characters & her loyal fans who have been manipulated & toyed with. I mean for god sakes she's the one taht started & kept fueling all this!
No one else's did. After all isn't she always telling us she is the Queen of her World? I hate when people don't take personal responsibility for themselves. She needs to get a grip, it's sad. You're right, all the legs did get out of control but more than that, the entire creation. She wasn't prepared & so now...we have all this as a result.
The more I think about your point, the more I'm like, nah...You've made a very compelling argument and I see what you're trying to say. But Eric has been the knight in shinning armor too many times. You're first instinct was right, the story arch is there for Eric and no one else, save maybe Bill. (Bill would really have to have a game changer to make that happen. So would Sam and Eric at this point.) Maybe Alcide is the real winner in the end. As JB is to Tara, Sam is to Sookie. Good for baby batter and nothing else. I just can't believe that she would strap Sookie to Vanilla at the end of THIS series. But who knows? Maybe that's her final commentary. Settle Sookie! I can't see it. We'll see next year I guess.
maybe but I don't know....I would love for it not to be the case, however, CH said to a woman on our forum who worked at one of the book conferences that she doesn't think a lot of her readers will follow her after the end of this series. She said CH said it with sadness. Why would she say something like that unless that means no Eric...or even Bill? I'm thinking Eric has been the big red herring. CH also said a few books back she has a few large bombs yet to drop in the garden & she wasn't fully decided. That was then...seems she's decided. Of course I hope I'm wrong for the sheer sake of the flippin series & my GD time.
Doesn't matter really, b'c at this point the bigger issue for me is she has murdered this series by failing to execute well whatever her end game is. It turns me off b'c she is phoning it in & it's obvious. I'd be able to get with whatever program as long as it made sense & was true to the story & the MC. Sookie is highly unlikeable in this book & the personality traits CH employs via Sookie to work her tactics are beyond tedious. Everyone's tired & bored.
ReadIng that just makes me think she's going to kill Sookie in the end, which makes the least amount of mess and problems. But honestly, why would an author of popular fiction say that? Did she mean that she didn't think people would want to read other works because she feels like a one-hit-wonder? Or because she's going to write a storyline her readers would hate. If that's the case, she's an idiot, this isn't Nobel prize material, it's pulp fiction, it should have a HEA!
I've had several people say they were disappointed the way this book went, so I think I'll skip buying it and just borrow it from the library.
Heather wrote: "I've had several people say they were disappointed the way this book went, so I think I'll skip buying it and just borrow it from the library."Great idea, Heather. I wish I would have saved my $15.
I work at a library and have put my name on the hold list for this book; I am 159 on that list and I intended to just by the book. After reading all of these reviews, I'll wait the months it'll take the book reach my hands. I don't like having my time wasted and from the looks of these post, that's exactly what will happen.
Hello, big fan of this series. Huge disappointment. :-( borrow the book and if u like it get it, but don't buy it just for the read is my honest advice. :-)
I'm so upset. Deadlocked was going to be my sunday night read. But as it's been trashed on by just about everyone, i dont think i will bother. I was surprised by how bad the last book was. But knowing this one is even worse i'm gonna let go of this series. :( Tis all very heartbreaking. Stupid fooking Charlaine Harris. Stupid fooking Alan Ball. Grrrrrrrrr
Oh read this book Elizabeth turned me on to, The Iron Duke by Meljean Brooks, I could kiss Elizabeth in the mouth for recommending it. It's a new series so you'll have many to look forward to...
Allison wrote: "Oh read this book Elizabeth turned me on to, The Iron Duke by Meljean Brooks, I could kiss Elizabeth in the mouth for recommending it."That's what I like to hear!
I was wondering if anyone else noticed bitch Sookie, so annoying. It pinched my nerve when I read the parents don't look like much..... O_o who is she Oprah?!
you are so right throughout your comment it hurts :)) reallythe downhill of this series pisses me off
big time
Sookie cant wind up with Bill OR Sam. She needs to be with Quinn and CH planted the seed for the rekindle of that in this book. Sam is boring, Bill and Sookie are been-there-done-that, Eric is running off with what's her face, and Alcide is too busy (plus a tiger is way cooler than a wolf). Sookie and Quinn had a good run.
"I'm not a pioneer anymore." Anne Rice should bitch slap her. That's the pioneer, dearest Charlaine.I think I love you, Allison. I just finished the book, as an ebook, and I'm totally against them, but I couldn't bring myself to buy this.
All I have to say is....wow. I mean, yes the last one sucked, and the one before that, and I'm questioning why I'm even reading these anymore, but you can't have a Sookie Stackhouse novel without sex. Jeez.
I am completely team-Eric and I hate her for destroying his character (and Sookie's [the book Sookie, and the tv Sookie are totally different, why'd she have to mix them up? Ugh]). I only hope that the tv series, which has also gone to hell, (view spoiler) gives Eric the love he deserves now that Alan is off the show.
Ladies, please read this. All I can say is Bwhaha. Perhaps many authors feel this way, but to write this in a blog to her readers, snicker snicker, poor Charlaine. Sigh. I feel bad for critiquing her, I thought she was a bit more professional, now I feel like I was holding her to too high of a standard. It's like beating up on an overly sensitive grandmother. Bad Ally. http://www.charlaineharris.com/bb/bb2...
stuff that wasn’t available when I was in the market for such information. Ohmygosh. It was so much more difficult being an author back then. Ohmygosh. I'm so good at what I do.
*shakes head*
I actually like the post. She's saying a lot of things that her readers probably don't want to hear but at least she's saying them honestly. I get that she's being a bit grumpy (maybe more than a bit) but she is probably deluged by people bitching at her about this stuff.
I didn't even read it... I knew it was going to be awful when I read the brief! So I waited for the reviews and was proved correct. One of the best days in my entire life was reading 'dead to the world' book 4. WTF Happened?! I think watching True blood also ruined the series for me. Alan ball messed that up BIGTIME!
How awesome was book four? Vampire Eric was the perfect character in that book. He had three books of cock-suredness behind him to make him sexy as hell, and then blamo, he get's hit with amnesia and becomes the sweet side for one book. It was watching a character walk two roads at once. Perfection! And then....it all went south. Trueblood blows too! The first season was awesome then it keeps ruining the storyline. There is no hope for any return to the books at this point, now that Billith lives...
Hey Kimberly did you ever read The Iron Duke? Because it really is pretty good. Also, solely based on your reviews I am reading the Kate Daniels books. They are good...but do they ever get together? I'm at the end of book two and all he gave her was some soup.
Oh god don't get me started on billeth!! I laughed my tits off when that happened. I don't think that was meant to be the desired effect. I completely agree with you... Between Charlene and Alan the series has been turned into a joke!
No I've never read it, but I'm at a crossroads now and have nothing lined up. Il make that my next read. The Kate Daniels series just gets better and better... You HAVE to keep on reading.... Again book 4 in that series is soooooo good! There must be a thing a with number 4....
Kimberly wrote: "Oh god don't get me started on billeth!! I laughed my tits off when that happened. I don't think that was meant to be the desired effect. I completely agree with you... Between Charlene and Alan th..."I have no idea how they can recover from this, honestly. What made the first season work was the intimacy of watching the developing relationship between two compelling characters. But one of those characters is now blood-glowing guy, not even recognizable as a person. Nightmare.
Okay here's my theory on Billith. The problem with Bill in Trublood vs. the books is that Bill was always a cog in the Sookie / Eric romance. One the actor who plays Bill has incredible chemistry with Anna P. They're married for Christ's sake. And two, the love scenes between Alex Skarsgard and Anna were like watching a brother and sister have sex. Awful. Awkward. Terrible. So the only way to push Eric and Sookie together was to make Bill the villan. Because you can't kill him, it makes him a martyr. You can't break them up without removing him from the series totally, otherwise his character's legend still interferes with the chemistry of the growing romance, like a ghost. The only way to force these two together with all the hurdles the actors have created is to make them bond over fleeing/killing/hating Bill. You watch they will make Bill eat an orphanage of babies in the first episode, so we as fans, hate him too and root for Eric and Sookie to kill him... Honestly, I'm hoping that at least some chemistry will spark between eric and Sookie now that Bill is diffinatively out of the picture. I'm also really excited to see how Rutger Hauer fits into the story. Love me some Rutger....
