Dead Ever After (Sookie Stackhouse #13)
The Final Sookie Stackhouse Novel
by Charlaine Harris
Summary: There are secrets in the town of Bon Temps, ones that threaten those closest to Sookie—and could destroy her heart...Sookie Stackhouse finds it easy to turn down the request of former barmaid Arlene when she wants her job back at Merlotte’s. After all, Arlene tried to have Sookie killed. But her relationship with Eric Northman is not so clearcut. He and his vampires are keeping their distance…and a cold silence. And when Sookie learns the reason why, she is devastated.
Then a shocking murder rocks Bon Temps, and Sookie is arrested for the crime.
But the evidence against Sookie is weak, and she makes bail. Investigating the killing, she’ll learn that what passes for truth in Bon Temps is only a convenient lie. What passes for justice is more spilled blood. And what passes for love is never enough...
Source: I purchased a hardcover copy of this book.
Review:
I really enjoyed Dead Ever After and I was happy to see the series end. The last few books have been underwhelming, so my expectations for the final installment were quite low. However, I found Dead Ever After to be a wonderful conclusion that ended the series on a good note.
I’m not quite sure why I’ve seen such negative reviews, although I’m sure it has something to do with who Sookie ended up with or who she didn’t end up with. I won’t spoil the book or the conclusion, but I was happy with the result. I have always thought there were 3 characters I would have been happy to see Sookie end up with and I would have also liked to see Sookie alone. Either way, it doesn’t matter because I wouldn’t rate a series or a book lower because I’m bitter about the heroine’s choices. It’s not like Sookie ended up with some new guy that showed up on page 200, which is probably the only instance where I’d be a little upset. After all, 13 books is a long time to get to know the various people in Sookie’s life and get to know Sookie herself. Sometimes she’s alone, sometimes she isn’t. And sometimes people surprise her.
The adventure in Dead Ever After was crazy, as always, and involved mostly all characters from earlier novels. I’ve always loved how Sookie ends up in the middle of a crazy plot and has to figure out why she’s involved, who is behind everything, and who to trust. Somehow, it hasn’t gotten old in 13 books. But perhaps it helped to know this was the last one. I really enjoyed how Dead Ever After jumped from scene to scene in certain areas so that the reader was aware of a plot, but not necessarily who the people were behind it. It made for an interesting read as far as the mystery was concerned.
I loved the overall feeling I got from the book, which was that Sookie always had friends, no matter what happened. Whenever she found herself in a bind and people started to suspect her of terrible things, she had the support of some amazing people and creatures who were willing to help her. I couldn’t believe Sookie would get arrested when I read the synopsis, but I actually loved that part because of how many people stood by her. As the last book in the series, I thought that really showed me what Sookie has achieved in her previous adventures in the last 12 books.
Sookie is such a wonderful character and the other supporting characters in the novels have been wonderful, too, even when the plot was lacking in some of the previous books. At the end of the day, I thought Dead Ever After was a great conclusion to an amazing series. It’s lighthearted, entertaining, and full of awesome characters and the last book fit the rest of the series perfectly. I have no complaints. I’m not sad to see the series end, even though I’ll miss Sookie and her crazy adventures.
I highly recommend the series to fans of paranormal books. For an adult paranormal series, it’s a lot less raunchy than other popular series and it’s quite humorous and entertaining. It’s a great paranormal series for fans of YA because it doesn’t get quite as “mature” as many adult paranormal romances, despite the impression the HBO show True Blood gives. At the same time, it’s definitely adult and deals with mature themes. Sookie Stackhouse is a pretty memorable character who stands out in fiction and I’m definitely a fan.
