Opinions of a Wolf

Summary:
With the Fae war at an end, Sookie tries to return to some semblance of normal, working on both physical and emotional rehab.  Although she has feelings for Eric, she is uncomfortable with his insistence that she is his wife, even if she technically is by vampire law.  Plus, his maker and his new vampire-brother show up, putting a strain on the relationship.  Meanwhile, the ramifications of the shifters coming out are beginning to be felt, and Sookie’s fae cousin, Claude, moves in with her, missing the presence of other fairies.

Review:
I just need to take a moment to point out two things.  1) The last time I read/reviewed a Sookie Stackhouse book was in October of 2010.  This is why I started the Bottom of TBR Pile Challenge for myself.  Books (even series books!) were getting lost in the pile!  2) Every time I look at that cover I think for a brief moment that Eric is bald.  Something is just off in that painting.  Now, on to the book.

Even though I read it almost three years ago (seriously, holy shit), I still clearly remember really enjoying the ninth book of the series.  It was action-packed with lots of development of both plot and character.  It reinvigorated the series for me so much so that even this much later, I was excited to pick up the next book.  I should have known it would fizzle some after the action of the last book.  It’s not easy to keep that much tension and action going, and it’s not like there weren’t any lulls earlier in the series.  What I can mostly say about this book is that nothing much happens.  Seriously.  It’s longer than some of the books but less happens.  I suppose technically things do happen.  Eric’s maker shows up with a new vampire-brother for Eric, the hemophiliac Romanov brother, who is just not quite right in the head.  This leads to some interesting development of Eric’s background, but not a ton.  And it just isn’t all that intriguing.  Similarly, even though logically it should be very interesting that Claude shows up at Sookie’s and the weres sniff out two fairies around, but it just isn’t.  They sound interesting on the surface, but when you’re reading the book it mostly feels like you’re hanging out at Sookie’s house eating a cookie and wondering if the calories are worth it to listen to her yammer on.

I think the crux of the problem might be that neither Sookie nor Harris is comfortable with Sookie being with Eric, in spite of the reader liking Sookie being with Eric.  If it’s not within the character for her to be with Eric, then a break-up needs to happen, regardless of what the readers like seeing.  It’s important to keep characters acting within character.  Interestingly, Sookie has started to notice that she is aging and thinking about what it will be like to slowly grow old and die.  She seems to be seriously considering her vampire options.  But we all know Sookie doesn’t want to be a vampire.  Sookie wants children. If she gives that up to be a vampire, it will make the series take an incredibly dark turn.  The next book will be an important one.  It’s basically a shit or get off the pot moment for character development, and in spite of the ho hum nature of this entry in the series, I am interested to see if things pick up in the next book in this regard.  They tend not to slump for long in Sookie Stackhouse-land.

There’s not too terribly much else to say about the book.  Weaknesses that are there earlier in the series are still there.  Sookie isn’t very smart and is kind of annoying.  The sex scenes continue to be cringe-inducing.  But the world is complex and fun to visit, even when not much is happening there.  Sookie does need to start taking some agency soon though, or being stuck with her first person narration may become a bit too much to handle.  Readers of the series will be disappointed by this dull entry, although it won’t come as a surprise since lulls happen earlier in the series.  Enough happens to keep some interest up to keep going with it though.

3 out of 5 stars

Source: PaperBackSwap

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Previous Books in Series:
Dead Until Dark, review
Living Dead in Dallas, review
Club Dead, review
Dead To The World, review
Dead as a Doornail, review
Definitely Dead, review
All Together Dead, review
From Dead to Worse, review
Dead And Gone, review