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Sookie Stackhouse #7
All Together Dead
Louisiana cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse has her hands full dealing with every sort of undead and paranormal creature imaginable. And after being betrayed by her longtime vampire love, Sookie must not only deal with a new man in her life—the shapeshifter Quinn—but also contend with the long-planned vampire summit.
The summit is a tense situation. The vampire queen of Louisiana is in a precarious position, her power base weakened by hurricane damage to New Orleans. And there are some vamps who would like to finish what nature started. Soon, Sookie must decide what side she'll stand with. And her choice may mean the difference between survival and all-out catastrophe.
And with HBO's launching of an all-new show, True Blood, based on the Southern Vampire novels, the demand for Charlaine Harris and Sookie Stackhouse is bigger than ever.
The summit is a tense situation. The vampire queen of Louisiana is in a precarious position, her power base weakened by hurricane damage to New Orleans. And there are some vamps who would like to finish what nature started. Soon, Sookie must decide what side she'll stand with. And her choice may mean the difference between survival and all-out catastrophe.
And with HBO's launching of an all-new show, True Blood, based on the Southern Vampire novels, the demand for Charlaine Harris and Sookie Stackhouse is bigger than ever.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published May 1, 2007
About the author
Charlaine Harris
385 books34.9k followersCharlaine Harris has been a published novelist for over thirty-five years. A native of the Mississippi Delta, she grew up in the middle of a cotton field. Charlaine lives in Texas now, and all of her children and grandchildren are within easy driving distance.
Though her early output consisted largely of ghost stories, by the time she hit college (Rhodes, in Memphis) Charlaine was writing poetry and plays. After holding down some low-level jobs, her husband Hal gave her the opportunity to stay home and write. The resulting two stand-alones were published by Houghton Mifflin. After a child-producing sabbatical, Charlaine latched on to the trend of series, and soon had her own traditional mystery books about a Georgia librarian, Aurora Teagarden. Her first Teagarden, Real Murders, garnered an Agatha nomination.
Soon Charlaine was looking for another challenge, and the result was the much darker Lily Bard series. The books, set in Shakespeare, Arkansas, feature a heroine who has survived a terrible attack and is learning to live with its consequences.
When Charlaine began to realize that neither of those series was ever going to set the literary world on fire, she regrouped and decided to write the book she’d always wanted to write. Not a traditional mystery, nor yet pure science fiction or romance, Dead Until Dark broke genre boundaries to appeal to a wide audience of people who simply enjoy a good adventure. Each subsequent book about Sookie Stackhouse, telepathic Louisiana barmaid and friend to vampires, werewolves, and various other odd creatures, was very successful in many languages.
The Harper Connelly books were written concurrently with the Sookie novels.
Following the end of Sookie's recorded adventures, Charlaine wrote the "Midnight, Texas" books, which have become a television series, also. The Aurora Teagarden books have been adapted by Hallmark Movie & Mystery.
Charlaine is a member of many professional organizations, an Episcopalian, and currently the lucky houseparent to two rescue dogs. She lives on a cliff overlooking the Brazos River.
Though her early output consisted largely of ghost stories, by the time she hit college (Rhodes, in Memphis) Charlaine was writing poetry and plays. After holding down some low-level jobs, her husband Hal gave her the opportunity to stay home and write. The resulting two stand-alones were published by Houghton Mifflin. After a child-producing sabbatical, Charlaine latched on to the trend of series, and soon had her own traditional mystery books about a Georgia librarian, Aurora Teagarden. Her first Teagarden, Real Murders, garnered an Agatha nomination.
Soon Charlaine was looking for another challenge, and the result was the much darker Lily Bard series. The books, set in Shakespeare, Arkansas, feature a heroine who has survived a terrible attack and is learning to live with its consequences.
When Charlaine began to realize that neither of those series was ever going to set the literary world on fire, she regrouped and decided to write the book she’d always wanted to write. Not a traditional mystery, nor yet pure science fiction or romance, Dead Until Dark broke genre boundaries to appeal to a wide audience of people who simply enjoy a good adventure. Each subsequent book about Sookie Stackhouse, telepathic Louisiana barmaid and friend to vampires, werewolves, and various other odd creatures, was very successful in many languages.
The Harper Connelly books were written concurrently with the Sookie novels.
Following the end of Sookie's recorded adventures, Charlaine wrote the "Midnight, Texas" books, which have become a television series, also. The Aurora Teagarden books have been adapted by Hallmark Movie & Mystery.
Charlaine is a member of many professional organizations, an Episcopalian, and currently the lucky houseparent to two rescue dogs. She lives on a cliff overlooking the Brazos River.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 3,855 reviews
June 21, 2021
(B+) 76% | Good
Notes: With more scope and exposition, it's a sort of locked-room mystery (not really) solved by speculation and conjecture.
Notes: With more scope and exposition, it's a sort of locked-room mystery (not really) solved by speculation and conjecture.
November 9, 2008
You know the worst thing about these books? They're like cotton candy. On face they look incredibly filling and satisfying but then you bite into them and the fluffy candy mass turns into so much sugar and you're just as hungry when you're finished as you were when you started. Except now you're out of money and your mom wants you to ride the Ferris wheel with your little sister.
I've devoured all seven of the Sookie books and now I want more, except there aren't any more. Yet. No one should confuse these books for great literature, but they are sure as hell entertaining.
I've devoured all seven of the Sookie books and now I want more, except there aren't any more. Yet. No one should confuse these books for great literature, but they are sure as hell entertaining.
August 15, 2009
OK, so I love the HBO series "True Blood" and wanted to learn more, so, like a fool, I went to Amazon.com and bought a specially priced box set of the first 7 books. What. A. Mistake.
The first two books of the series, "Dead Until Dark" and "Living Dead in Dallas" were passable. The author certainly has a great imagination, which is the foundation of great storytelling.
But the main character, Sookie Stackhouse, telepathic waitress from Bon Temps, LA., is an unbearable, anti-feminist, hypocritical and just downright bitchy female who turned me off so entirely I prayed for her death at the hands of any demon/fairy/vampire/shifter/plain old human.
There are themes in some of these books that set my teeth on edge: Sookie is raped (yes! although even the author calls it "near-rape" later in the books) by her ex-boyfriend, Vampire Bill. But, of course, he'd been starved and...wait for it... he couldn't help himself. Sound familiar? But it gets better--later that night, that very same night that she was viciously bitten, drained of nearly all her blood and raped by this man, she is comforted BY HIM and lies peacefully in his embrace. I wish I were kidding. He's REALLY sorry, ladies. He wasn't himself. Sookie's trauma is minimal. Wow. Maybe she can teach "talent" this to other women.
Granted, vampires really aren't themselves when they're starved--very few can show control, although some can. But it seems to me that, given the history of rape not only in this country but worldwide, to set foot into this territory is dangerous and misogynist. And it baffles the mind to believe, even if she did forgive him, that Sookie could stand to be in the same room, let alone be physically comforted, by her attacker only hours after the attack. GAWD, did that one stick in my craw. It was truly offensive.
Later in the series, Sookie, working for money from vampires, who are clearly dangerous creatures and who have repeatedly put her life in terrible danger (hey, but she needs the money, y'all! She's poor and she won't go beggin'!) is able, with the help of fellow telepath Barry the Bellboy, to find live bodies in the rubble of a bombing which she has escaped. These are the bodies of vampires and their human minions, mostly. Charlaine Harris, the writer of the series, even goes so far as to mention 9/11. When Sookie is approached by "the government" in the form of an aging rescue worker, she and Barry run from him to hide their identities. She doesn't want to use her powers for the government for search and rescue. Yes, she would rather be a waitress who barely subsists, who has to work to make extra money for creatures who nearly kill her and regularly put her life in danger than work for the US government in search and rescue. Cuz hey, ya'll, she loves her life in Bon Temps. It's her life. Well, yes, it sure is. And what a great life it is, Sookie! You're regularly beaten, raped, hospitalized, shot--your life's in danger almost all the time, you've been horribly betrayed and no one in your hometown likes you much as they think you are "crazy Sookie" for your "curse" (what she calls the gift of telepathy). Yeah, I can see why you'd want to stay there and not help at bombing sites for good money doing good for actual regular humans. Yup. Sure.
There are so many staggering leaps (or lacks) of logic in these books I can't even enumerate them. The bombs set to kill them al in this book were left in UNCLAIMED BAGGAGE--yes, in a post-9/11 America. Like the bomb squad wouldn't have come in within hours of a hotel employee seeing unclaimed baggage with nebulous, almost unreadable tags. Sure, Charlaine.
Harris has a great imagination, but the sad fact is, the woman cannot write. Her prose is boring, much of it is filler and she stuffs so many plots and sub-plots into her books that it's tantamount to watching a Jerry Bruckheimer movie on steroids. You want to scream, "enough already!" after a certain number of ridiculous and unnecessary plot points. (Well, you just want to scream). Also, the writing is somewhat hard to follow due to just plain bad writing and editing. I had to re-read simple sentences several times because I had no idea to what Harris was referring. And the "previously on Sookie" plot synopses that pepper every novel after "Dead Until Dark" are clumsy and omnipresent. In a numbered series, why is this even necessary?
Harris should've given her ideas to Alan Ball, or a writer who could do them justice without the seemingly requisite dose of Harris misogyny, plot overload, skimpy character development and crap writing. It could've been a great fantasy world and Sookie could've been a great character/heroine. But she is awful and the books are awful. I take extreme exception to Sookie's character and its casual hypocrisy, false moralizing, general poor-mouthing and above all, her willingness (or compulsion?) to be a victim time after time after time, having learned nothing.
But hey, she's so beautiful and all the supernatural men adore her, so isn't that enough?
These are romance novels with a lot of violence and some fantasy thrown in. And they're not written as well as most romance novels, so that ought to scare you. Hell, I've seen better writing in fanfiction and that is downright scary.
According to HBO threads, there's already "Sookie hate" and the "True Blood" Sookie is miles and miles better than the book "Sookie", so there you have it.
Perhaps the most maddening thing was that I really couldn't stop reading this series of awful. I wanted simply to see what happened next. Harris' imagination is really great, but her characters, her tone, her abysmal writing and everything else, made me really dislike this entire series. It was the strangest disconnect between great imagination and writing I've ever encountered.
Oh yeah and if Quinn said "Babe" one more time, I was going to light the book on fire.
The first two books of the series, "Dead Until Dark" and "Living Dead in Dallas" were passable. The author certainly has a great imagination, which is the foundation of great storytelling.
But the main character, Sookie Stackhouse, telepathic waitress from Bon Temps, LA., is an unbearable, anti-feminist, hypocritical and just downright bitchy female who turned me off so entirely I prayed for her death at the hands of any demon/fairy/vampire/shifter/plain old human.
There are themes in some of these books that set my teeth on edge: Sookie is raped (yes! although even the author calls it "near-rape" later in the books) by her ex-boyfriend, Vampire Bill. But, of course, he'd been starved and...wait for it... he couldn't help himself. Sound familiar? But it gets better--later that night, that very same night that she was viciously bitten, drained of nearly all her blood and raped by this man, she is comforted BY HIM and lies peacefully in his embrace. I wish I were kidding. He's REALLY sorry, ladies. He wasn't himself. Sookie's trauma is minimal. Wow. Maybe she can teach "talent" this to other women.
Granted, vampires really aren't themselves when they're starved--very few can show control, although some can. But it seems to me that, given the history of rape not only in this country but worldwide, to set foot into this territory is dangerous and misogynist. And it baffles the mind to believe, even if she did forgive him, that Sookie could stand to be in the same room, let alone be physically comforted, by her attacker only hours after the attack. GAWD, did that one stick in my craw. It was truly offensive.
Later in the series, Sookie, working for money from vampires, who are clearly dangerous creatures and who have repeatedly put her life in terrible danger (hey, but she needs the money, y'all! She's poor and she won't go beggin'!) is able, with the help of fellow telepath Barry the Bellboy, to find live bodies in the rubble of a bombing which she has escaped. These are the bodies of vampires and their human minions, mostly. Charlaine Harris, the writer of the series, even goes so far as to mention 9/11. When Sookie is approached by "the government" in the form of an aging rescue worker, she and Barry run from him to hide their identities. She doesn't want to use her powers for the government for search and rescue. Yes, she would rather be a waitress who barely subsists, who has to work to make extra money for creatures who nearly kill her and regularly put her life in danger than work for the US government in search and rescue. Cuz hey, ya'll, she loves her life in Bon Temps. It's her life. Well, yes, it sure is. And what a great life it is, Sookie! You're regularly beaten, raped, hospitalized, shot--your life's in danger almost all the time, you've been horribly betrayed and no one in your hometown likes you much as they think you are "crazy Sookie" for your "curse" (what she calls the gift of telepathy). Yeah, I can see why you'd want to stay there and not help at bombing sites for good money doing good for actual regular humans. Yup. Sure.
There are so many staggering leaps (or lacks) of logic in these books I can't even enumerate them. The bombs set to kill them al in this book were left in UNCLAIMED BAGGAGE--yes, in a post-9/11 America. Like the bomb squad wouldn't have come in within hours of a hotel employee seeing unclaimed baggage with nebulous, almost unreadable tags. Sure, Charlaine.
Harris has a great imagination, but the sad fact is, the woman cannot write. Her prose is boring, much of it is filler and she stuffs so many plots and sub-plots into her books that it's tantamount to watching a Jerry Bruckheimer movie on steroids. You want to scream, "enough already!" after a certain number of ridiculous and unnecessary plot points. (Well, you just want to scream). Also, the writing is somewhat hard to follow due to just plain bad writing and editing. I had to re-read simple sentences several times because I had no idea to what Harris was referring. And the "previously on Sookie" plot synopses that pepper every novel after "Dead Until Dark" are clumsy and omnipresent. In a numbered series, why is this even necessary?
Harris should've given her ideas to Alan Ball, or a writer who could do them justice without the seemingly requisite dose of Harris misogyny, plot overload, skimpy character development and crap writing. It could've been a great fantasy world and Sookie could've been a great character/heroine. But she is awful and the books are awful. I take extreme exception to Sookie's character and its casual hypocrisy, false moralizing, general poor-mouthing and above all, her willingness (or compulsion?) to be a victim time after time after time, having learned nothing.
But hey, she's so beautiful and all the supernatural men adore her, so isn't that enough?
These are romance novels with a lot of violence and some fantasy thrown in. And they're not written as well as most romance novels, so that ought to scare you. Hell, I've seen better writing in fanfiction and that is downright scary.
According to HBO threads, there's already "Sookie hate" and the "True Blood" Sookie is miles and miles better than the book "Sookie", so there you have it.
Perhaps the most maddening thing was that I really couldn't stop reading this series of awful. I wanted simply to see what happened next. Harris' imagination is really great, but her characters, her tone, her abysmal writing and everything else, made me really dislike this entire series. It was the strangest disconnect between great imagination and writing I've ever encountered.
Oh yeah and if Quinn said "Babe" one more time, I was going to light the book on fire.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 18, 2022
True Blood #7: One of the darkest tales yet sees Sookie, Eric, Bill and co. go to a vampire conference in Rhodes; this volume also includes the trial of Queen Sophie-Anne. Barry the bell-boy and Texan vampire Stan (from Dallas) are also there among many other characters in the 'True Blood' universe, including Quinn. 6 out of 12, Three Star read for me.
2010 read
2010 read
March 6, 2021
3.5 stars. The summit was interesting and the mystery was intriguing, but the actual climax and ending felt a bit convoluted and abrupt. Anxious to see the aftermath!
May 21, 2020
This is my favorite book in the whole Sookie Stackhouse series. It's so different and I love Eric in this story.
Sookie has to fly to Dallas, I think, for a convention of Vampires where she has to help save the Vampire Queen Sophie-Anne, by listening in to all the humans. She meets the Bellboy, who can also hears voices. There are plots everywhere and it's all tied together thickly.
Sookie is still dating Quinn, the were-tiger. Sookie is always in danger. She uses logic and her gifts to figure out what is going on. The fellowship of the Sun play a huge part in this storyline. I love that Claudine, the fairy godmother is back and I like her.
My favorite is the ending of this story where Sookie and Eric survive the ending. It's epic and unpredictable and this story really is the best of the story in my mind. Everything comes together and makes for an intersting and out of nowhere ending.
I was so disappointed when HBO didn't use this story for the TV series. They stopped before they got here. It's too bad. The series goes on for another 6 books and it's too long. It should have ended sooner.
Sookie has to fly to Dallas, I think, for a convention of Vampires where she has to help save the Vampire Queen Sophie-Anne, by listening in to all the humans. She meets the Bellboy, who can also hears voices. There are plots everywhere and it's all tied together thickly.
Sookie is still dating Quinn, the were-tiger. Sookie is always in danger. She uses logic and her gifts to figure out what is going on. The fellowship of the Sun play a huge part in this storyline. I love that Claudine, the fairy godmother is back and I like her.
My favorite is the ending of this story where Sookie and Eric survive the ending. It's epic and unpredictable and this story really is the best of the story in my mind. Everything comes together and makes for an intersting and out of nowhere ending.
I was so disappointed when HBO didn't use this story for the TV series. They stopped before they got here. It's too bad. The series goes on for another 6 books and it's too long. It should have ended sooner.
November 4, 2008
Snooze fest. The avalanche of characters and the painful descriptions of the wedding just came so ridiculous, and I had to skip many pages. I am not the biggest fan of Quinn -- so that could be my reluctance to this book. I just wish Sookie would go to Eric and stop fighting her feelings.
November 15, 2015
I quite enjoyed this book, although it did remind me a bit of ‘Living Dead in Dallas’ where Sookie is also asked to go with the vampires to use her telepathic abilities, and finds another telepath called Barry, who also shows up in this one.
This book was a bit slow and heavy-going in places, but I still enjoyed it, and I liked the unexpected twist at the end, as I really didn’t see it coming!
7 out of 10
This book was a bit slow and heavy-going in places, but I still enjoyed it, and I liked the unexpected twist at the end, as I really didn’t see it coming!
7 out of 10
October 19, 2011
Yet another of the thrilling adventures of prize bitch Sookie Stackhouse. She is certainly on form. There are half a dozen pointless descriptions of the characters’ outfits and a horrendously awful sex scene in the first 30 pages alone. Sookie continues to bitch about every other woman’s sex life and fashion sense, despite the fact that in both cases her own are questionable at best. Meanwhile what plot there is slowly stutters into life. Sookie travels to Rhodes with various ‘supes’, giving her the opportunity to use an aeroplane toilet for the first time and tell us for what seems like the twelfth time exactly how to pronounce Mr. Cataliades. I have no idea why Harris’ has such a bee in her bonnet about this.
Some characters we don’t know die off screen. Nothing happens for a long time. There’s a brief incident with a bomb, which comes to nothing. Then Sookie gets to try on a pretty dress, a situation which fills her with excitement and is described, along with all her accessories and underwear, at great length. After some talking, the dress is briefly endangered by the bleeding of her boyfriend when he is seriously injured, but luckily it survives without stains. We are then treated to another example of how incredibly sexually provocative vampires find Sookie’s dancing, followed by a bit of sulking from Sookie’s jealous boyfriend due to someone else touching his woman. Finally the plot creeps to a peak with the bombs that have been hanging around for most of the book finally exploding. None of the important characters are killed, but as a by-product of the events Sookie gets to hail a cab for the first time, which is pretty thrilling for her. She also strips a sleeping man naked without his permission and gets into bed with him whilst similarly unclad, but this passes without comment. Until the following morning, when it belatedly occurs to her that it was a bit of a weird thing to do.
Most Laughable Statement
This being the same Sookie who is sickened by the sight of a woman without a tan, and considers having satin sheets or more than one piercing per ear a sign of depravity and social dysfunction.
Worst Named New Characters
Elmer Claire Vaudry – A female, apparently.
Johan Glassport
Olive Trout
Cindy Lou Suskin
None of which rate a mention from Sookie. She does however find it impossible even during a serious trial not to laugh at a female vampire being called Jodi. Granted not the greatest spelling, but since Sookie is able to regularly serve drinks to someone called Jeff LeBeff without giggling I wouldn’t have thought it would cause her too much trouble to keep a straight face.
Least Appealing Opening to a Sex Scene
Phrases that Should Not be Used During a Sex Scene
A usual, Harris indulges in yet more unrealistic and embarrassing sex scenes featuring yet another massively well-endowed man who can barely control himself at the sight of a woman in bra.
Phrases that Should Not be Used After a Sex Scene
More of Sookie’s Judgemental Bitchery Towards Other Women
Some characters we don’t know die off screen. Nothing happens for a long time. There’s a brief incident with a bomb, which comes to nothing. Then Sookie gets to try on a pretty dress, a situation which fills her with excitement and is described, along with all her accessories and underwear, at great length. After some talking, the dress is briefly endangered by the bleeding of her boyfriend when he is seriously injured, but luckily it survives without stains. We are then treated to another example of how incredibly sexually provocative vampires find Sookie’s dancing, followed by a bit of sulking from Sookie’s jealous boyfriend due to someone else touching his woman. Finally the plot creeps to a peak with the bombs that have been hanging around for most of the book finally exploding. None of the important characters are killed, but as a by-product of the events Sookie gets to hail a cab for the first time, which is pretty thrilling for her. She also strips a sleeping man naked without his permission and gets into bed with him whilst similarly unclad, but this passes without comment. Until the following morning, when it belatedly occurs to her that it was a bit of a weird thing to do.
Most Laughable Statement
“Sookie is good at thinking outside the box.”
This being the same Sookie who is sickened by the sight of a woman without a tan, and considers having satin sheets or more than one piercing per ear a sign of depravity and social dysfunction.
Worst Named New Characters
Elmer Claire Vaudry – A female, apparently.
Johan Glassport
Olive Trout
Cindy Lou Suskin
None of which rate a mention from Sookie. She does however find it impossible even during a serious trial not to laugh at a female vampire being called Jodi. Granted not the greatest spelling, but since Sookie is able to regularly serve drinks to someone called Jeff LeBeff without giggling I wouldn’t have thought it would cause her too much trouble to keep a straight face.
Least Appealing Opening to a Sex Scene
“But in the next moment, his eyes got that focused look men get when they’re thinking about sex very specifically.”
Phrases that Should Not be Used During a Sex Scene
“He tugged my top out of my pants and began exploring territory he’d only visited briefly before”
“Mmmmm”
“little bitty panties”
“Oh, boy”
“This is like standing in front of a buffet,” he said. “I don’t know where to begin.”
I touched my breasts. “First course,” I suggested. "
"“I dreamed of this,” he said, and shoved inside me up to the hilt”
A usual, Harris indulges in yet more unrealistic and embarrassing sex scenes featuring yet another massively well-endowed man who can barely control himself at the sight of a woman in bra.
Phrases that Should Not be Used After a Sex Scene
“I was pleasantly aware of the tenderness I felt south of my belly button”
“His lips were so warm and firm, they reminded me of something else that had been warm and firm.”
“Even through the condom, I’d been able to feel the heat.”
More of Sookie’s Judgemental Bitchery Towards Other Women
“I’d always figured Jason wouldn’t marry a woman I truly adored; he’d always shown a partiality to tough sluts. And that was Crystal, sure enough.”“Carla was getting dressed (thank God) in what I thought of as “classy whore.””
Least Interesting Question to Ask a Vampire
Sookie finally gets around to asking Pam how she became a vampire and Pam reveals that she was turned in the Victorian era. Sookie, given this unprecedented opportunity to ask any question about human or vampire life and experiences in the last century and a half, goes with the following:“Did you wear your hair up every day?”
Apparently, yes, Pam did wear her hair up every day. Sookie’s curiosity about Pam and the entirety of history from the Victorian era onward thus satisfied, the conversation ends.
Most Random Self-Assessment“I wasn’t too pleased with myself for being so judgmental”
Really Sookie? It’s certainly not been summat that bothered you before. Nor, apparently, will you have any further qualms about judging everyone you meet. So, a reformed character for roughly 12 seconds.
Stupidest New Supernatural Beings
Britlingen. Super-bodyguards from another dimension, apparently. Despite these credentials, Sookie’s description of one of them runs to her having ”feathery ash-brown hair that needed a good stylist”. What makes her think they have stylists in this unnamed alternative dimension I’m not sure, but obviously having a good hair-do would be of paramount importance to an enslaved warrior from another world.
Most Blindly Patriotic Outlook“In a moment, I understood that I hadn’t even thought about worrying because I’d grown up a free United States human citizen; I wasn’t used to worrying about my fate being in question”
Because of course in the Good Ol’ USA there is no social injustice and the legal system is swift and flawless.
Least Likely Choice of Artist for a Vampire Band to Cover
Jennifer Lopez
Worst Synonym for Dancing“pretty soon we were shaking our bonbons all over the place”
Most Inappropriate Response to Your Friend Having Been in a Massive Anti-Vampire Terrorist Explosion“Oh, my God! Your new clothes!”
What plot there is being over, and all the usual lines and events trotted out yet again, the book finally concludes with the most hokey ending possible, short of “they lived happily ever after”:“We went inside with the sun bright on our backs and our shadows preceding us into the old house.”
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 27, 2020
Its always more difficult to write a review for a book the deeper you get into a series. All Together Dead is the 7th book in Sookie Stackhouse series(True Blood) so I'm at a loss as to what to say about this book. So I'll just give a few small things I noted in this book.
1) Very little Bill
2) Bill is still the worst
3)Not enough Eric
4)Sookie is still irresistible to all men for some reason
5)Lots of death and violence
If you like the series then I think you'll continue to like this installment.
1) Very little Bill
2) Bill is still the worst
3)Not enough Eric
4)Sookie is still irresistible to all men for some reason
5)Lots of death and violence
If you like the series then I think you'll continue to like this installment.
November 7, 2008
**POSSIBLE SPOILERS**
Again, I have to mention that this series is in desperate need of a decent editor. I mentioned this in my review of Book 5 (Dead as a Doornail):
"Jason's boss is Shirley (Catfish) Hennessey in Book 4, but in Book 5, all of a sudden he's Shirley (Catfish) Hunter. What?!?" In Book 7, we're now back to a version of Hennessey, although it's misspelled as "Hennessy".
This series as a whole, is interesting, mysterious and sexy. I feel the need to find out where this is all going, but this book certainly felt like it was missing something that contributed to the earlier books' "unputdownability."
Maybe it was Sookie and Bill's relationship, which I loved, that kept me wanting more. Even though I knew it couldn't last through the entire 8 book series (so far, anyway), I have held out hope for their relationship. There are hints that a reconciliation may be in the works, but it seems unlikely that will happen at this point.
The more I think about the later books in the series, the more Sookie frustrates me. She burns bridges before she's even crossed them fully, and cuts people entirely out of her life, for the silliest reasons I have ever seen. She holds grudges and makes off-the-cuff life-changing decisions that make no sense to me. Maybe it is her sense of pride that causes her to do this, or maybe she is jaded by being able to know peoples' intimate thoughts, I just don't know.
I still don't understand why she was so upset with Alcide. Please, someone explain it to me. Really. So he knew about Debbie. So? He had abjured her, and its not like he was going to turn Sookie in, or kill her. I think that Sookie was pissed at him for having the audacity to know what happened and still like her.
Or, how about this mystery... Why was Sookie angry with Quinn after finding out he was a fighter? Hmm? These things are lost on me. I don't get what the big deal is.
But anyway, I'm ranting. Nothing was resolved for me in this book like I had hoped at the end of the 6th book. I'll renew that hope for the 8th book, and also up the ante and hope that Sookie learns to relax a little and stop acting so damn high & mighty. She is not perfect herself, so I wish she would stop expecting others to be. *nod*
Again, I have to mention that this series is in desperate need of a decent editor. I mentioned this in my review of Book 5 (Dead as a Doornail):
"Jason's boss is Shirley (Catfish) Hennessey in Book 4, but in Book 5, all of a sudden he's Shirley (Catfish) Hunter. What?!?" In Book 7, we're now back to a version of Hennessey, although it's misspelled as "Hennessy".
This series as a whole, is interesting, mysterious and sexy. I feel the need to find out where this is all going, but this book certainly felt like it was missing something that contributed to the earlier books' "unputdownability."
Maybe it was Sookie and Bill's relationship, which I loved, that kept me wanting more. Even though I knew it couldn't last through the entire 8 book series (so far, anyway), I have held out hope for their relationship. There are hints that a reconciliation may be in the works, but it seems unlikely that will happen at this point.
The more I think about the later books in the series, the more Sookie frustrates me. She burns bridges before she's even crossed them fully, and cuts people entirely out of her life, for the silliest reasons I have ever seen. She holds grudges and makes off-the-cuff life-changing decisions that make no sense to me. Maybe it is her sense of pride that causes her to do this, or maybe she is jaded by being able to know peoples' intimate thoughts, I just don't know.
I still don't understand why she was so upset with Alcide. Please, someone explain it to me. Really. So he knew about Debbie. So? He had abjured her, and its not like he was going to turn Sookie in, or kill her. I think that Sookie was pissed at him for having the audacity to know what happened and still like her.
Or, how about this mystery... Why was Sookie angry with Quinn after finding out he was a fighter? Hmm? These things are lost on me. I don't get what the big deal is.
But anyway, I'm ranting. Nothing was resolved for me in this book like I had hoped at the end of the 6th book. I'll renew that hope for the 8th book, and also up the ante and hope that Sookie learns to relax a little and stop acting so damn high & mighty. She is not perfect herself, so I wish she would stop expecting others to be. *nod*
March 29, 2019
2019 Re-Read
Another evening, another Sookie Stackhouse book. At least I managed to cook some dinner last night, although my kitchen is still a mess. I have to find a way out of this groove I have found myself in—there are other things I need to be reading and other tasks that need my attention. But I may only find the way out by finishing up this series as a re-read.
I’ve always felt that this is the book where Sookie proves that she has good judgment—she seems to understand the plots and conspiracies of the vamp world better than they do, perhaps because she’s an outsider to that world and able to observe it dispassionately. This talent of hers, which Eric calls “thinking outside the box,” attracts unwanted attention from the Queen and her sidekick, Andre. Staying unbound to them is proving difficult. Instead, she ends up bound to Eric the Uncertain.
Eric runs hot and cold towards Sookie, unwilling to admit that he’s unusually attracted to a human woman. It seems kind of like the men who’d like to sleep with a woman but don’t want to be seen with her in public. Good for Sookie, standing up for herself and her right to be acknowledged.
I think just about everyone has been unappreciated at a job at some point in their life. Sookie gets her moment of this as she holds a bomb that she’s scared to set down, waiting for the bomb squad to show up, talking to a bystander about her status in the vamp scene:
Lots of foreshadowing for upcoming installments. On to book 8, From Dead to Worse this evening.
*****
Original review:
Yay, Sookie finally has a woman friend! We are getting into Bechdel test territory, as they are close to having conversations about something besides men and Bob the cat (an unfortunate man turned into a cat by Sookie’s friend Amelia, when trying some magic that she shouldn’t have been messing with).
And if Sookie doesn’t get the vampire-employee-of-the-year award for her performance in this book, I want to know the reason why. The undead had better acknowledge her courage and value in the next installment.
I know that a lot of people see casual racism in the Sookie series, but Harris does tackle the prejudice issue in this novel, albeit the bias of the living against the undead and the vampires and werewolves against each other. Easier to tackle in fictional creatures than in actual populations, perhaps (like the memorable Star Trek episode with the half black/half white aliens who discriminate based on which side of the face is black or white).
Having finished the previous novel, I picked this one up immediately and plunged forward. When I looked up, it was 2 a.m. and I had just set myself up for a draggy Saturday. Despite that, I have no regrets, but I will try to resist the next installment until I’m caught up a bit on my library books.
Another evening, another Sookie Stackhouse book. At least I managed to cook some dinner last night, although my kitchen is still a mess. I have to find a way out of this groove I have found myself in—there are other things I need to be reading and other tasks that need my attention. But I may only find the way out by finishing up this series as a re-read.
I’ve always felt that this is the book where Sookie proves that she has good judgment—she seems to understand the plots and conspiracies of the vamp world better than they do, perhaps because she’s an outsider to that world and able to observe it dispassionately. This talent of hers, which Eric calls “thinking outside the box,” attracts unwanted attention from the Queen and her sidekick, Andre. Staying unbound to them is proving difficult. Instead, she ends up bound to Eric the Uncertain.
Eric runs hot and cold towards Sookie, unwilling to admit that he’s unusually attracted to a human woman. It seems kind of like the men who’d like to sleep with a woman but don’t want to be seen with her in public. Good for Sookie, standing up for herself and her right to be acknowledged.
I think just about everyone has been unappreciated at a job at some point in their life. Sookie gets her moment of this as she holds a bomb that she’s scared to set down, waiting for the bomb squad to show up, talking to a bystander about her status in the vamp scene:
”Ha,” I said. “Oh, ha-ha. Yeah, ‘cause they love me. You see how many vampires are up here? Zero, right?”
“One,” said Eric, stepping out of the stairwell.
Lots of foreshadowing for upcoming installments. On to book 8, From Dead to Worse this evening.
*****
Original review:
Yay, Sookie finally has a woman friend! We are getting into Bechdel test territory, as they are close to having conversations about something besides men and Bob the cat (an unfortunate man turned into a cat by Sookie’s friend Amelia, when trying some magic that she shouldn’t have been messing with).
And if Sookie doesn’t get the vampire-employee-of-the-year award for her performance in this book, I want to know the reason why. The undead had better acknowledge her courage and value in the next installment.
I know that a lot of people see casual racism in the Sookie series, but Harris does tackle the prejudice issue in this novel, albeit the bias of the living against the undead and the vampires and werewolves against each other. Easier to tackle in fictional creatures than in actual populations, perhaps (like the memorable Star Trek episode with the half black/half white aliens who discriminate based on which side of the face is black or white).
Having finished the previous novel, I picked this one up immediately and plunged forward. When I looked up, it was 2 a.m. and I had just set myself up for a draggy Saturday. Despite that, I have no regrets, but I will try to resist the next installment until I’m caught up a bit on my library books.
November 26, 2008
My absolute favorite Sookie stackhouse to date. A lot of stuff happens in this book, but towards the end the action is great and goes somewhere you weren't really sure Ms. Harris would take you. Sookie travels to a Vampire Summit with Queen Sophie-Ann's entourage, which lends to some hilarious moments with different vamps and the fangbangers at their side. Like I said before, there is a lot more action then in previous books which is just exciting. Plus Quinn and Eric play for sookie's interest. When I started reading this series I was afraid it would follow the same old formula every time, but thats not really the case here and i'm glad. Charlaine Harris is building great stories one on top of the other and they are surely going to lead to something great.
June 8, 2017
5 All Together Dead Stars
Well, well Sookie gets herself into some pretty crazy predicaments.
I have to say I really liked the Vampire Summit, and how Sookie helps and gets put into some danger.
Quinn the shifter is yummy and I liked that he seems to really be in lust with her and she with him.
Andddd then poof Erik comes into play and they end up getting closer than they were.
Sookie is starting to hear Vampire brains and that can be verrry dangerous for her if anyone finds out.
Although I love Sookie with Quinn.. I have my heart set that she will end up with Erik.
On to another book :)
*You don't have to like my review but its 100% my opinion, and I am allowed to have it.*
Well, well Sookie gets herself into some pretty crazy predicaments.
I have to say I really liked the Vampire Summit, and how Sookie helps and gets put into some danger.
Quinn the shifter is yummy and I liked that he seems to really be in lust with her and she with him.
Andddd then poof Erik comes into play and they end up getting closer than they were.
Sookie is starting to hear Vampire brains and that can be verrry dangerous for her if anyone finds out.
Although I love Sookie with Quinn.. I have my heart set that she will end up with Erik.
On to another book :)
*You don't have to like my review but its 100% my opinion, and I am allowed to have it.*
June 30, 2015
So, there's a big event that has a lot of protesters who want to kill all of the people at the event. All of the people attending this event are staying at the same hotel which supposedly has great security, because, again, there are crazies who literally would LOVE to kill everyone in attendance. Soon after arrival, each and every party gets a phone call from the management of the hotel saying that there is an extra piece of luggage that belongs to them and they need to come down and pick it up. As they go down to get this unidentified luggage, they notice that there are representatives from each group of attendees also picking up their extra bags. Nobody seems to be missing luggage. Nobody claims these extra pieces and they sit in the rooms of these guests, unclaimed. Are you seriously telling me that nobody would consider this suspicious? Post 9/11? I find that very hard to believe. Basically, this hotel has worse security than your local elementary school. Who is the head of security? Paul Blartt, mall cop?
Did people actually pay money to watch this movie? I have a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that there is a sequel to it...
So, Sookie is going to the Vampire Convention to assist the Queen because you know that all-powerful creatures that are hundreds of years old need the brain trust that is a 27 yr old redneck waitress from a podunk town to keep them safe. And, it pays off, big time. Even though this girl has never even been in an airplane before, and says "gosh" with wide-eyed wonder at the big city lights, she is constantly uncovering plots that the vampires can't seem to figure out even though they are being hit over the head with clues. I guess they are technically brain-dead, right?
Also, Sookie is all fired up about her were-tiger boyfriend, Quinn. And, why shouldn't she be awed by him? He is a giant bald-headed guy whom she is constantly comparing to a genie.
I'd had time to appreciate his outfit while he spoke. He was wearing full trousers that gathered at the waist and the ankle. They were deep scarlet. He had cinched the trousers with a wide gold belt like a prizefighter's, and he was wearing black leather boots with the trouser legs tucked in. He wasn't wearing a shirt. He looked like a genie who'd just popped out of a really big bottle.
Well, hello, sexy!
Really???? She could be with Eric! (Yes, I know I complain about this in every review. Shut up! Have you seen Eric? I know you have - in every other one of my reviews on this series!)
I don't want to break with tradition...
So, the choice is between him and a genie. Hmmmmm....
Some people are clearly better decision-makers than others...
This book was vampire focused, instead of Were focused, which I liked. The vampire politics and their cold-bloodedness is much more entertaining than the shape-shifters. The story was entertaining enough, even though you want to smack Sookie upside the head a lot. But, I want to smack her upside the head pretty often, so that's nothing new.
Did people actually pay money to watch this movie? I have a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that there is a sequel to it...
So, Sookie is going to the Vampire Convention to assist the Queen because you know that all-powerful creatures that are hundreds of years old need the brain trust that is a 27 yr old redneck waitress from a podunk town to keep them safe. And, it pays off, big time. Even though this girl has never even been in an airplane before, and says "gosh" with wide-eyed wonder at the big city lights, she is constantly uncovering plots that the vampires can't seem to figure out even though they are being hit over the head with clues. I guess they are technically brain-dead, right?
Also, Sookie is all fired up about her were-tiger boyfriend, Quinn. And, why shouldn't she be awed by him? He is a giant bald-headed guy whom she is constantly comparing to a genie.
I'd had time to appreciate his outfit while he spoke. He was wearing full trousers that gathered at the waist and the ankle. They were deep scarlet. He had cinched the trousers with a wide gold belt like a prizefighter's, and he was wearing black leather boots with the trouser legs tucked in. He wasn't wearing a shirt. He looked like a genie who'd just popped out of a really big bottle.
Well, hello, sexy!
Really???? She could be with Eric! (Yes, I know I complain about this in every review. Shut up! Have you seen Eric? I know you have - in every other one of my reviews on this series!)
I don't want to break with tradition...
So, the choice is between him and a genie. Hmmmmm....
Some people are clearly better decision-makers than others...
This book was vampire focused, instead of Were focused, which I liked. The vampire politics and their cold-bloodedness is much more entertaining than the shape-shifters. The story was entertaining enough, even though you want to smack Sookie upside the head a lot. But, I want to smack her upside the head pretty often, so that's nothing new.
August 3, 2018
If i pray every night, and hang around with humans, and leave the Weres alone, i'll be okay.
Murder,court,law,lies,bombs,bloood...
It would have been more help to me if he'd come ten minutes earlier... or not at all.
Useless as always. Is Quinn supposed to be interesting and are we supposed to care about his relationship with Sookie? And i thought that her relationship with Bill was boring.
I feel like the start wasn't THAT strong but i was really invested after like 100-150pages. It was a fun read. Honestly if you enjoyed the other 6 books, you will also enjoy this one.
Murder,court,law,lies,bombs,bloood...
It would have been more help to me if he'd come ten minutes earlier... or not at all.
Useless as always. Is Quinn supposed to be interesting and are we supposed to care about his relationship with Sookie? And i thought that her relationship with Bill was boring.
I feel like the start wasn't THAT strong but i was really invested after like 100-150pages. It was a fun read. Honestly if you enjoyed the other 6 books, you will also enjoy this one.
December 14, 2008
Best one in the series! Easy read, Eric comes center stage for sure. A Bill fan no longer am I.
September 20, 2020
This one again culminates in a battlefield of a climax. I suppose Bill will no longer be part of the bizzarro love triangle, as Quinn the were-tiger (lame) debunks Bill. Eric is still a contender though...
Anyway, this one seemed a bit smaller a story than the others... probably because it all takes place in a hotel. The vamp summit is, of course, very eventful and the story continues with alligences being switched left and right and new characters developing while others are mercilessly killed off. It is clear that Sookie's naivete counters her magical gift so that she represents... the Everywoman ? She is sometimes quite materialistic & superficial... but saves the day, or em night, all in good time.
Anyway, this one seemed a bit smaller a story than the others... probably because it all takes place in a hotel. The vamp summit is, of course, very eventful and the story continues with alligences being switched left and right and new characters developing while others are mercilessly killed off. It is clear that Sookie's naivete counters her magical gift so that she represents... the Everywoman ? She is sometimes quite materialistic & superficial... but saves the day, or em night, all in good time.
October 23, 2014
Still very entertaining, but I was disappointed by her adding creatures from another dimension that could become invisible. It was a bit too much for me. The parts could have been handled by other supernatural creatures without going so far afield. It went too far beyond the scope of the world she's created without a good reason.
Also, the setup by the Fellowship was too transparent & unrealistic. The security lapses were just too gross & the scheme was ludicrous.
I did like finding out more about Quinn & the other character development. It wasn't a bad story, but certainly not one of her best. I'm hoping book 8 will be better.
Also, the setup by the Fellowship was too transparent & unrealistic. The security lapses were just too gross & the scheme was ludicrous.
I did like finding out more about Quinn & the other character development. It wasn't a bad story, but certainly not one of her best. I'm hoping book 8 will be better.
December 12, 2022
This was probably one of my favorite installments in this series yet, even though there was one aspect of the mystery that made me want to shake some sense into Sookie for how long it took her to figure out. 😂
April 15, 2020
3 Stars
O.W.L.S - Career Auror
Transfiguration - Includes Shape Shifting
Is it too much to ask to just see a teeny tiny glimpse of Alcide?!
So... some thoughts I have:
- Pam gave me life in this book, you can see how funny she really is and it was fun to see a different side to her
- More Eric, BIG fan!
- The whole vampire hotel was interesting
- I'm sick of people being on their high horse... just STOP
- Quinn is just so meh, like you have all of these very interesting characters who are desperate for Sookies love (when you read the series/if you have you know what I mean) and he's just so lack luster
-WHY do people kiss Sookie knowing she's in a relationship and her response is like okay cool... like the person who did it yes I am a fan but you can't go around doing stuff like this... not cool!
Still going to carry on reading this series, I think I've come to the conclusion that I know it's not the best series but it's one of those things where you know it's kind of bad but you can't look away/stop reading .
Plus now that I'm invested in Eric and Alcide it's one of those things that I just refuse to let go of. BUT if the time comes where I know they're no longer going to be in it I'm going to be very upset aha!
Reviews
Dead Until Dark - 2 Stars
Living Dead In Dallas - 2 Stars
Club Dead - 3 Stars
Dead To The World - 3 Stars
Dead as a Doornail - 3 Stars
Definitely Dead - 2 Stars
All Together Dead - 3 Stars
O.W.L.S - Career Auror
Transfiguration - Includes Shape Shifting
Is it too much to ask to just see a teeny tiny glimpse of Alcide?!
So... some thoughts I have:
- Pam gave me life in this book, you can see how funny she really is and it was fun to see a different side to her
- More Eric, BIG fan!
- The whole vampire hotel was interesting
- I'm sick of people being on their high horse... just STOP
- Quinn is just so meh, like you have all of these very interesting characters who are desperate for Sookies love (when you read the series/if you have you know what I mean) and he's just so lack luster
-WHY do people kiss Sookie knowing she's in a relationship and her response is like okay cool... like the person who did it yes I am a fan but you can't go around doing stuff like this... not cool!
Still going to carry on reading this series, I think I've come to the conclusion that I know it's not the best series but it's one of those things where you know it's kind of bad but you can't look away/stop reading .
Plus now that I'm invested in Eric and Alcide it's one of those things that I just refuse to let go of. BUT if the time comes where I know they're no longer going to be in it I'm going to be very upset aha!
Reviews
Dead Until Dark - 2 Stars
Living Dead In Dallas - 2 Stars
Club Dead - 3 Stars
Dead To The World - 3 Stars
Dead as a Doornail - 3 Stars
Definitely Dead - 2 Stars
All Together Dead - 3 Stars
December 29, 2019
Yet another well done book by Charlaine Harris. It had all the familiar faces and a ton of new characters being developed, and always lots of sexy, ridiculous drama.
December 28, 2008
This book was a hit for me. I love this series, even though it doesn't make me smarter or a better person for having read it. And even though it's totally unbelievable and Sookie is nothing like me, and a little silly.
In All Together Dead, she's heading to the Vampire summit, the Vampire Queen of Louisiana(that's right, Queen of Louisiana, see above paragraph)plans to use Sookie's telepathic abilities. She and Quinn are hot and heavy and Eric and Sookie's relationship also moves to another level. And Bill is around too, so what... I'm over Bill!
I'm still pulling for Sookie and Eric to end up together. Planning on getting the next book ASAP!
In All Together Dead, she's heading to the Vampire summit, the Vampire Queen of Louisiana(that's right, Queen of Louisiana, see above paragraph)plans to use Sookie's telepathic abilities. She and Quinn are hot and heavy and Eric and Sookie's relationship also moves to another level. And Bill is around too, so what... I'm over Bill!
I'm still pulling for Sookie and Eric to end up together. Planning on getting the next book ASAP!
April 28, 2022
"Vampire schlafen fest" ist der 7. Band der "Sookie Stackhouse" Reihe von Autorin Charlaine Harris. Für mich war das ein Reread in Hörbuchform.
Dieser Band bietet viel Action und Intrigen. Es geht hier auch wieder um Vampirpolitik. Mir persönlich gefällt die Geschichte immer noch richtig gut. Ich mag Sookies Welt und ihre Abenteuer unterhalten mich jedes Mal aufs Neue. Viel mehr gibt es da eigentlich auch nicht zu sagen. Ich möchte keinen zum Inhalt spoilern.
Auch wenn hier wieder einige Sachen passieren, die manche Leser/innen vielleicht schade finden könnten, gefällt mir die Entwicklung weiterhin sehr gut. Sookies Charakter entwickelt sich ständig weiter und deswegen finde ich einige Veränderungen teilweise auch nicht so schlecht. Langeweile kommt dadurch auch keine auf!
Von mir gibt es 5 Sterne und eine klare Leseempfehlung an alle Vampirfans. Die Figuren sind hier sehr lebendig und wachsen einem immer mehr ans Herz.
Hier folgen noch einige Infos zum Hörbuch:
10 Stunden und 31 Minuten / Ungekürzte Ausgabe
Sprecherin: Ann Vielhaben
Ich würde der Sprecherin 5 Sterne geben.
Verlag: Audible Studios
Dieser Band bietet viel Action und Intrigen. Es geht hier auch wieder um Vampirpolitik. Mir persönlich gefällt die Geschichte immer noch richtig gut. Ich mag Sookies Welt und ihre Abenteuer unterhalten mich jedes Mal aufs Neue. Viel mehr gibt es da eigentlich auch nicht zu sagen. Ich möchte keinen zum Inhalt spoilern.
Auch wenn hier wieder einige Sachen passieren, die manche Leser/innen vielleicht schade finden könnten, gefällt mir die Entwicklung weiterhin sehr gut. Sookies Charakter entwickelt sich ständig weiter und deswegen finde ich einige Veränderungen teilweise auch nicht so schlecht. Langeweile kommt dadurch auch keine auf!
Von mir gibt es 5 Sterne und eine klare Leseempfehlung an alle Vampirfans. Die Figuren sind hier sehr lebendig und wachsen einem immer mehr ans Herz.
Hier folgen noch einige Infos zum Hörbuch:
10 Stunden und 31 Minuten / Ungekürzte Ausgabe
Sprecherin: Ann Vielhaben
Ich würde der Sprecherin 5 Sterne geben.
Verlag: Audible Studios
December 24, 2016
All Together Dead is the seventh full-length novel in the Sookie Stackhouse series by popular American author, Charlaine Harris. As well as preparing for imminent weddings, Sookie has to get a wardrobe together for the Vampire Summit to be held in Rhodes. The Queen of Louisiana, Sophie-Ann Leclerq has engaged Sookie’s services as a telepath to assist with various negotiations and deals.
And of course, Sookie is the only witness to the murder of the Queen’s late husband, the King of Arkansas, Peter Threadgill. Her testimony will be vital at the Queen’s murder trial. It seems that many at the Summit have their own agenda, and then there is the danger that the gathering of so many eminent vampires presents an irresistible target for that anti-vampire group, the Fellowship of that Sun. As well as taking her first trip north of the Mason Dixon line, Sookie attends two weddings, a wedding shower, several court cases, and a vampire ball.
Sookie talks with her mouth full, discovers a bomb, browses some unusual convention stalls and reconnects with Barry the Bellhop. There are, as always, attempts on her life and she contributes to a search and rescue effort in a very novel way. Sookie does her best to ignore Bill, is forced into a situation with Eric and (finally!) gets up close and personal with Quinn. All Together Dead aptly titled as many are dead by the end of this one! Bring on From Dead to Worse.
And of course, Sookie is the only witness to the murder of the Queen’s late husband, the King of Arkansas, Peter Threadgill. Her testimony will be vital at the Queen’s murder trial. It seems that many at the Summit have their own agenda, and then there is the danger that the gathering of so many eminent vampires presents an irresistible target for that anti-vampire group, the Fellowship of that Sun. As well as taking her first trip north of the Mason Dixon line, Sookie attends two weddings, a wedding shower, several court cases, and a vampire ball.
Sookie talks with her mouth full, discovers a bomb, browses some unusual convention stalls and reconnects with Barry the Bellhop. There are, as always, attempts on her life and she contributes to a search and rescue effort in a very novel way. Sookie does her best to ignore Bill, is forced into a situation with Eric and (finally!) gets up close and personal with Quinn. All Together Dead aptly titled as many are dead by the end of this one! Bring on From Dead to Worse.
July 8, 2013
I love this series. I also love the True Blood series that's based on this series of books. I've always been a believer in not reading the book if you're going to watch the movie, read it afterward but for this series the rule doesn't apply. They've changed the series so much from the book that I can read the books and still enjoy the HBO series. I enjoy both and this book follows right along with the previous Sookie Stackhouse installments. Ms. Harris has a penchant for leaving me hanging on the edge of my chair fixed on the words of her book. The only problem is that I keep blowing through the books at a rapid pace and everything around me is put on hold until I get finished.
Have you watched the HBO series? No? Do it! And read the books right on through without worry because after the first book the storyline between the HBO series and the books take different paths. You'll enjoy both.
Have you watched the HBO series? No? Do it! And read the books right on through without worry because after the first book the storyline between the HBO series and the books take different paths. You'll enjoy both.
February 15, 2023
Ugh, the book that Sookie wastes the greatness that is Quinn and the beginning of the end. Quinn is too good for Sookie... already dreading the next book.
I wish there were more going on than political pettiness at the summit. I get the importance of the hierarchy of the vamps, but it is harder to care about as a re-read.
Barry is the highlight of this one, other than Quinn, of course.
And Jason's shotgun wedding.
3 Stars the 2nd time around.
I wish there were more going on than political pettiness at the summit. I get the importance of the hierarchy of the vamps, but it is harder to care about as a re-read.
Barry is the highlight of this one, other than Quinn, of course.
And Jason's shotgun wedding.
3 Stars the 2nd time around.
October 14, 2019
Review to come!
July 22, 2009
Sookie Stackhouse is becoming quite the popular waitress - for her telepathic gift, mostly. She accompanies the vampiric Queen of Louisiana and her entourage to the vampire summit near Chicago, in order to read the minds of the human hangers-on to the other vampires. In the aftermath of her disastrous wedding and Katrina, the Queen is facing a trial over the murder of her vampire husband, Peter Threadgill, and the dispute of his territory, Arkansas.
Sookie soon finds herself in demand as well as slap-bang in the middle of more than one plot. Her boyfriend, the weretiger Quinn, is on hand but so is Eric and Bill, causing complications. The Fellowship of the Sun, the anti-vampire cult, could be planning something big, and there's definitely something fishy going on inside the pyramid-like vampire hotel they're staying at - something that proves to be deadly.
I must say, I do love these books. When the plot revolves around the vampires I enjoy them more than when they concern weres, but I still always enjoy them. The biggest selling point is Sookie herself, who is a good girl but not in a sickly way, and who leads a very interesting and often exciting life. I enjoy all the little details as well, the descriptions of her homely routines and the like, because it grounds it and gives it a better sense of time and reality.
There are a lot of men in Sookie's life and none of them seem like they could have a future with Sookie - but after this book I really noticed how Eric is slowly and carefully being groomed for the role. After all, Sookie's got to have a happy ever after - she deserves it, and since she narrates I doubt she'll die.
This is solid urban fantasy, with characters who change and grow and subplots that continue to develop, along with the excitement and anticipation of the mystery - though I have to say, I guessed about the suitcases from the moment they were first mentioned. Overall, another great read, lots of fun and a vivid world to explore.
Sookie soon finds herself in demand as well as slap-bang in the middle of more than one plot. Her boyfriend, the weretiger Quinn, is on hand but so is Eric and Bill, causing complications. The Fellowship of the Sun, the anti-vampire cult, could be planning something big, and there's definitely something fishy going on inside the pyramid-like vampire hotel they're staying at - something that proves to be deadly.
I must say, I do love these books. When the plot revolves around the vampires I enjoy them more than when they concern weres, but I still always enjoy them. The biggest selling point is Sookie herself, who is a good girl but not in a sickly way, and who leads a very interesting and often exciting life. I enjoy all the little details as well, the descriptions of her homely routines and the like, because it grounds it and gives it a better sense of time and reality.
There are a lot of men in Sookie's life and none of them seem like they could have a future with Sookie - but after this book I really noticed how Eric is slowly and carefully being groomed for the role. After all, Sookie's got to have a happy ever after - she deserves it, and since she narrates I doubt she'll die.
This is solid urban fantasy, with characters who change and grow and subplots that continue to develop, along with the excitement and anticipation of the mystery - though I have to say, I guessed about the suitcases from the moment they were first mentioned. Overall, another great read, lots of fun and a vivid world to explore.
May 7, 2013
Rating: 3.4* of five
The Publisher Says: Louisiana cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse has her hands full dealing with every sort of undead and paranormal creature imaginable. And after being betrayed by her longtime vampire love, Sookie must not only deal with a new man in her life—the shapeshifter Quinn—but also contend with the long-planned vampire summit.
The summit is a tense situation. The vampire queen of Louisiana is in a precarious position, her power base weakened by hurricane damage to New Orleans. And there are some vamps who would like to finish what nature started. Soon, Sookie must decide what side she'll stand with. And her choice may mean the difference between survival and all-out catastrophe.
My Review: Too many threads with too much happening and the end result is I don't have any idea what it is this entry in the series is about: Sookie and Quinn, after his early trauma is revealed? Sookie and the vamp queen, after Sookie's defense of her succeeds and is repaid with treachery? Sookie and Eric, now that she owes him another round of gratitude? Sookie detecting another of her telepathic kind, and the major events of the nightmare religious cult the Fellowship of the Sun unfold?
I suppose every series has a problem with the transitional tales that need telling. Too many transitions in this one, at least for my little two-volt nervous system.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
The Publisher Says: Louisiana cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse has her hands full dealing with every sort of undead and paranormal creature imaginable. And after being betrayed by her longtime vampire love, Sookie must not only deal with a new man in her life—the shapeshifter Quinn—but also contend with the long-planned vampire summit.
The summit is a tense situation. The vampire queen of Louisiana is in a precarious position, her power base weakened by hurricane damage to New Orleans. And there are some vamps who would like to finish what nature started. Soon, Sookie must decide what side she'll stand with. And her choice may mean the difference between survival and all-out catastrophe.
My Review: Too many threads with too much happening and the end result is I don't have any idea what it is this entry in the series is about: Sookie and Quinn, after his early trauma is revealed? Sookie and the vamp queen, after Sookie's defense of her succeeds and is repaid with treachery? Sookie and Eric, now that she owes him another round of gratitude? Sookie detecting another of her telepathic kind, and the major events of the nightmare religious cult the Fellowship of the Sun unfold?
I suppose every series has a problem with the transitional tales that need telling. Too many transitions in this one, at least for my little two-volt nervous system.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
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