From Dead to Worse by Charlaine Harris
>> Tuesday, June 15, 2010
From Dead to Worse by Charlaine Harris
Genre: Mystery / Vampire / Romance
Series: #8 in the Sookie Stackhouse series
Publication Date: 2008
Pages: 303
Challenges: Sookie Stackhouse Reading Challenge #8
Source: Purchased New
The Short Version:
Sookie once again gets caught up in conflicts among both werewolves and vampires and also redefines her family before it’s all over with.
Why I Read It:
It’s the next in a series that I’m having fun with and trying to finish through book 9 by the end of June for the challenge.
The Book
With any series it’s difficult to discuss plot without giving spoilers to the earlier books so if you haven’t read the others yet, skip down to My Thoughts.
The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina is still a huge part of life in Louisiana. Among the vampires it’s compounded by the aftermath of the disaster at the Vampire Summit. With so many of their leaders dead or injured the political maneuvering is starting even as the wounds are healing.
The Werewolves are also in for some major political maneuvering as they decide whether to reveal their existence to the human population as the Vampires have done. Again, the disaster in New Orleans leads to an attempt at a coup among the local Werewolf packs and of course Sookie gets stuck in the middle of it as does her shapeshifer boss, Sam.
On the home front, her brother Jason’s marriage to a werepanther is in trouble, she hasn’t heard from her boyfriend Quinn, she goes from bartender to instant stand-in bridesmaid at a wedding, meets a relative she never knew she had and gets yet another housemate as her friend Amelia gets help from her mentor because she still hasn’t figured out how to turn Bob the cat back into a human.
My Thoughts:
While I’m still enjoying this series, the one was a letdown from All Together Dead. I liked the political intrigue and thriller pace and this one didn’t have that flow. To me, this felt like there were several storylines that Harris wanted to get on the table, but none of them were enough for the main storyline of a full book and she mashed them all together in one.
I felt like I was reading 3 or 4 shorter stories that got shuffled together without creating any smooth flow between or among them and as a result it just felt a little choppy.
Nevertheless, it was still a ton of fun. I feel like there was some plots tied off a bit if even temporarily and others put into more of a set up for the next book or two. So even though it felt like a less than cohesive installment in the series, it was still a fun read. It clearly set up some plots for future books and kept me interested in continuing the series
Rating 3/5
No stars – I couldn’t even finish it
1 star – I didn’t like it but I managed to finish it.
2 stars – It was OK. Not good, but seriously just OK.
3 stars - I liked it. I didn’t think it was great, but I thought it was good entertainment.
4 stars – I really liked it. I really think you might like it too.
5 stars – It was amazing. I’d recommend this to just about anyone.
5 comments:
Yeah, I didn't like this one as much either. But that's, as I think you were getting at, just comparatively. The series is still very appealing!
I really need to at least try this series, someday, but I don't feel like it's as urgent since we ditched the name Sookie and called our girl Fiona, instead. Now, I just have to convince people that I didn't name my kitty after a trigger-happy ex-girlfriend or an ogre princess. :)
Sorry this one wasn't as good. I wonder if I would ever make it as far as you have. Probably not, since I'm not really much of a series person.
RhapsodyinBooks: Exactly - it's comparative. I'm still finding the series a ton of fun.
Bookfool: the series is not without it's flaws, but I've still just enjoyed the heck out of it. I'm glad you named her Fiona - it suits her better than Sookie.
I was a little disappointed with this one too - being a HUGE fan of the sookie stackhouse series. I remember that some of her books' main plots were less interesting than others (the one with Quinn performing the supe-wedding?!?!)
Anyway, I love your blog and have posted it on my book review blog, http://ljsreviewstew.blogspot.com/ and I'm hoping you can return the favour - if you like my site :)
LJ: While I still enjoy and recommend the series, I just feel that this was the weakest one.
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