Dead Until Dark (Sookie Stackhouse , #1)

 
Author: Charlaine Harris
Series: Sookie Stackhouse Series
Pages: 291
Challenge: Goodreads Challenge 2014, 2014 Book Bingo Challenge
Genre: Paranormal
Acquired: Library
Rating: ★★★★

*****

Goodreads Summary:

Sookie Stackhouse is a small-time cocktail waitress in small-town Louisiana. She's quiet, keeps to herself, and doesn't get out much. Not because she's not pretty. She is. It's just that, well, Sookie has this sort of "disability." She can read minds. And that doesn't make her too dateable. And then along comes Bill. He's tall, dark, handsome--and Sookie can't hear a word he's thinking. He's exactly the type of guy she's been waiting for all her life....

But Bill has a disability of his own: He's a vampire with a bad reputation. He hangs with a seriously creepy crowd, all suspected of--big surprise--murder. And when one of Sookie's coworkers is killed, she fears she's next...

  *****

 My Thoughts:

First off...why did I not pick up this series sooner! I really enjoyed it from start to finish!
Dead Until Dark follows the young Sookie Stackhouse and her quirky talent of having the ability to read minds as well as her interesting life with the mysterious Bill the vampire now in it.

At first I saw Sookie as a very weak female with many insecurities and an interesting "gift", but as the story went on she grew into herself and became a stronger individual that was more confident and not handicapped by her ability to read minds. I slowly warmed up to her character and connected more with her as the story continued. I really liked that the issues she faced were more "realistic" in a sense and not as otherworldly or huge as in the event of having to save the world and all of humanity by herself. Her issues were believable and suited the story nicely which made me like her character and personality even more.

I also really liked Bill the vampire and his paranomal- vampire-like- nature... meaning that I really liked that he was unlike the newer versions of vampires. He didn't sparkle in the sunlight, nor could he walk in the day time, and he also was not the "all powerful vampire" that had zero weaknesses or vulnerabilities. I liked that he had weaknesses and I felt that made him interesting and all the more mysterious. Another interesting character was a more minor character named Sam, Sookie's boss from work. I have a feeling that he will become more important to the storyline in the later books especially due to the special circumstances that happened later in the book with his own secrets.

The story was told in Sookie's point of view and I think that it suited the book not being aware of every character's exact emotions and feelings. And to the problems faced in the book, again, I liked that they were believable and specific to Sookie and her small town.

Sookie grew into herself throught the book and that helped me connect with her character more as she grew more of a backbone. Also with this being only the first book in the series I look forward to more growth and transformation from her in the rest of the books in the series.

With Dead Until Dark, was the storyline and events different that what I expected? Yes.. and no.. I say yes because the author didn't allow Bill the vampire to be the one calling all the shots and running the story with his capabilities and powerfullness. The story was still about Sookie and not her falling head over hills for a "beautiful" vampire. He gave Bill limitations and made him vulnerable in some aspects. She didn't give him some sort of crazy paranormal ability so that he could control all the minds of humans and that I really liked. And I also say no.. because I was not expecting Sookie to go from weak human to defiant and a more confident individual especially in this book. It was a pleasant surprise that made me like her character even more. She had self control and was in control of her life.

One of my favorite scenes was a scene with Eric, the old vampire, when they were trying to figure out who stole from him. I feel like the events that happened in that scene are important in a way and will make a slight difference in her at least for a little while. But I could also just be reading too much into it. One of the things I liked most was the ending scene with Sam, one that I liked least was the scene with Sookie's Grams.

All in all the ending was pretty good. I think it set up the storyline for the next books pretty well and I am definitely excited to continue with the series. I would rate the cover a ★★½ it is not as eye-catching and beautiful as other books but it describes the setting of the book to me in a way. I would recommend this book to vampire and also just paranormal lovers in general. I really liked it! ★★★★

*****