Dead Ever After

Dead Ever After

Okay, so I wasn't the crying, deplorable mess that I predicted I would be after reading Sookie's last book. But I was saddened that the chapter on so many of my favorite beloved characters has come to a close. I'm glad to hear, though, that there is going to be a follow-up book coming out this fall that might give additional insight into the future of some of my favorites (keeping fingers crossed about one in particular), and it just might be somewhat redeeming for Mrs. Harris's fans who are feeling, well, less than sated right about now.

What can I say about Dead Ever After without giving way too much away? Well, it was fairly predictable; if you read book twelve, you could potentially see where the story was going. Mrs. Harris herself even addresses in the opening that she could have gone one way with the story, but that she chose to stay true to her original ending (I paraphrased). I'm not surprised; I, for one, predicted that was going to be the outcome a couple of books back. Additionally, if you take everything into thoughtful consideration (i.e., Sookie's beliefs, her religious stance, the values she places on family), it is a plausible conclusion to the series. And one, objectively, where I don't feel compelled to deduct any review rating points for. Will it make all her fans happy? No, definitely not, and if the early reviews on Amazon are any indicator...YIKES! (One could even ponder the legit question if pack mentality might be at work). Playing devil's advocate, though, there was absolutely no way for her to please all of the fans of the Sookie series because everyone had a favorite hero that they were rooting for to end up with Sookie. At one lengthy time myself, I was ALL about Alcide (I might have even had a dream or two about me being Sookie and Alcide being my werewolf paramour. It was probably more like ten, eleven or twenty, but shh...let's just keep that to ourselves.) Am I upset that she didn't up with Alcide (okay, I spoiled that one)? No. It wasn't my HEA to write. Personally, what she should have done differently was plotted her ending better. The pacing was extremely off with this book; too slow in the beginning and too rushed at the end. More buildup was needed, as well. There was too much focus on mundane things such as shopping and whatnot (the part where Sookie meets the young werewolf at the consignment shop was a blatant example of useless filler) and not enough buildup of the actual storyline and the HEA. That is where she went wrong. 

Having said all that, I'm okay with the ending, and I'm okay with how the majority of it panned out. Did everybody wind up with their own pretty little bow at the conclusion of the story? Most did...but not everybody-I am happy for Alcide, though. There was definitely one storyline that could have been resolved better. In fact, it deserved a better conclusion than the one it got, and no doubt, most fans will agree. Moreover, I'm deducting one full point off my review rating for a neglected opportunity to give a beloved character a better send-off than what they got. Indeed, if I ponder on it too much, thoughts that this character was shafted big-time swirl through my mind. Furthermore, if I was a conspiracy theorist, I might be asking if it was a deliberate character assassination left for the final act. But then I think back on Bill's character and how his character's initial likability was randomly shot to hell, and I realized with this series, no character is safe, regardless of their fan base. 

If I had to hazard a guess-bottom line-I think that Mrs. Harris just wanted to be over and done with this series. And she probably would have stopped a few books back but was under contract to continue (or green might be her favorite color-what do I know?). I probably would feel the same way, too, because thinking of new and fresh storylines and trying to please a fan base of epic size proportions would be quite daunting tasks, in and of themselves. And then there's maintaining continuity, which would prove to be tricky and especially after so many books. That was one huge complaint that I had with the Sookie series; the continuity wasn't there in her later books. I would have loved to have had that job because the person who was designated with that particular task gets a D in my grading book (Sookie can read Sam and Alcide's minds, but then it's mentioned in this book that she can't read the minds of supes. What? Another full point deducted for glaringly obvious mistakes such as that. Or was that a blatant example of playing a deus ex machina trump card?). So, Mrs. Harris, if you're reading this, shoot me an e-mail and I'll be glad to step in that role for your next series-Continuity Editor. Moreover, I'll even give you a discount. Hey, I might can win you back a fan or two, too. 

Dead Ever After - 3 out of 5 stars!

Dead Ever After playlist - 
Turning Tables by Adele (Sookie and Eric)
Little Things by One Direction (Sookie and ????)
Coming Home by Gwyneth Paltrow
A Little Bit Stronger by Sara Evans
Over You By Now by Jana Kramer
Can't Shake You by Gloriana (my new favorite song!)
Give In To Me by Garrett Hedlund and Leighton Meester (Sookie and ????)

Reviewed by Susannah;)

Commence the tomato throwing...