Tuesday 29 May 2012

Book Review - Dead To The World

Dead To The World
Author: Charlaine Harris
Series: Sookie Stackhouse #4
Genres: Paranormal, Fantasy | Adult
Release Date: 3rd May 2005
Publishers: Ace
No. Pages: 291
Source: Borrowed
Rating: 
Buy From: Amazon | Book Depository | Barnes and Noble | Waterstones
Sookie Stackhouse is a cocktail waitress in Bon Temps, Louisiana. She has only a few close friends, because not everyone appreciates Sookie's gift: she can read minds. That’s not exactly every man's idea of date bait – unless they’re undead; vampires and the like can be tough to read. And that’s just the kind of guy Sookie's been looking for.

Maybe that’s why, when she comes across a naked vampire, she doesn't just drive on by. He hasn't got a clue who he is, but Sookie has: Eric looks just as scary and sexy – and dead – as ever. But now he has amnesia, he’s sweet, vulnerable, and in need of Sookie's help – because whoever took his memory now wants his life.
The following review may contain spoilers concerning earlier books in the series.
If you have not read the previous installments, please proceed with caution.

It took me about a week and a bit to read this book. Firstly because I was dealing with family problems, had my partners little brother over for a half the week and because for the first time in what seems like forever, the sun is shinning, I've been out playing with my little girl. Another reason (probably the real reason) is I just got so frustrated with this book. I'm sick of the love triangle between Sookie, Eric and Bill. Bill goes to Peru at the start of the book to work on his research into vampire history, I thought that it would be a really good time for Sookie to be alone and maybe finally develop her character a bit more. Instead she was faced with the task of looking after Eric, who had lost his memory, and within days she had fallen in love with him.

Friday 18 May 2012

Book Review - Club Dead

Club Dead
Author: Charlaine Harris
Series: Sookie Stackhouse #3
Genres: Paranormal, Fantasy | Adult
Release Date: 1st January 2001
Publishers: Orbit
No. Pages: 274
Source: Purchased
Rating:
Buy From: Amazon | Book Depository | Barnes and Noble | Waterstones
Things between cocktail waitress Sookie and her vampire boyfriend Bill seem to be going excellently (apart from the small matter of him being undead) until he leaves town for a while. A long while. Bill's sinister boss Eric has an idea of where to find him, whisking her off to Jackson, Mississippi to mingle with the under-underworld at Club Dead. When she finally catches up with the errant vampire, he is in big trouble and caught in an act of serious betrayal. This raises serious doubts as to whether she should save him or start sharpening a few stakes of her own
The following review may contain spoilers concerning earlier books in the series.
If you have not read the previous installments, please proceed with caution.

Finally I'm liking the series. I had heard that it had picked up in this book but after the last 2 books I can honestly say I wasn't optimistic. From start to finish I loved the book, I felt like Harris had settled and was comfortable with where she wanted the story to go, and it showed. It didn't feel like it was all thrown together, the character development was spot on and I was hooked. I love Alcide. Like really love him. I did in the show and as most of my favourite characters have taken the back seat in the books I thought he would too. I'm glad to say I was more than pleasantly surprised. He was described just enough and for the first time I really felt like I knew one of the characters.

Wednesday 16 May 2012

Book Review - Living Dead In Dallas

Living Dead In Dallas
Author: Charlaine Harris
Series: Sookie Stackhouse #2
Genres: Paranormal, Fantasy | Adult
Release Date: 26th March 2001
No. Pages: 288
Source: Purchased
Rating:
Sookie Stackhouse likes living in Bon Temps, Louisiana, and she likes working as a cocktail waitress at Merlotte's. But she is having a streak of bad luck. First her co-worker is killed, and no one seems to care. Then she comes face-to-face with a beastly creature which gives her a painful and poisonous lashing. Enter the vampires, who graciously suck the poison from her veins (like they didn't enjoy it).

The point is: the vampires saved her life. So when one of her bloodsuckers asks for a favour, she obliges and soon Sookie's in Dallas, using her telepathic skills to search for a missing vampire. She's supposed to interview certain humans involved, but she makes one condition: the vampires must promise to behave, and let the humans go unharmed. But that's easier than done, and all it takes is one delicious blonde and one small mistake for things to turn deadly..
The following review may contain spoilers concerning earlier books in the series.
If you have not read the previous installments, please proceed with caution.

Sadly yet again I'm still waiting to be wowed. I think my biggest problem with the books so far is Charlaine Harris is trying to fit so much in such a small book. And due to that I feel like there are things just being brushed over when I (not sure if everyone else) would have loved to read more about it. In the book there's a group of people called The Fellowship of the Sun. They are stated to being like what the KKK are to African Americans but obviously to vampires, but there was hardly any back story to them and considering they were such a big part of the book (and still to be in the series according to Bill) I was left wishing for more.

Tuesday 15 May 2012

Book Review - Dead Until Dark

Dead Until Dark
Author: Charlaine Harris
Series: Sookie Stackhouse #1
Genres: Paranormal, Fantasy | Adult
Release Date: 1st January 2001
No. Pages: 292
Source: Purchased
Rating:
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..

The book is about a girl called Sookie Stackhouse from Louisiana. She works in a bar called Merlottes as a waitress, lives with her grandma and has a brother called Jason. And she can read minds. One night at work (after waiting forever) Merlottes finally gets its first vampire called Bill, and when Sookie reads a couple of vampire drainers mind, hearing what they planned for poor old bill, she has to save his life. Nearly getting herself killed in the process. After having to save her from death not long after Bill and Sookie start to date. After more than one waitress Sookie works for turns up dead its time to round up suspects. Jason, her brother and also someone who has spent the night with each of them. Sam Merlotte, the owner of the bar, the boss and landlord to one of them or Bill. The murders happened after he came into town and they all had old vampire bites on their body. Or is someone just trying to frame them?

Friday 11 May 2012

Book Review - Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

Hush Hush
Author: Becca Fitzpatrick
Series: Hush Hush #1
Genres: Paranormal, Urban Fantasy | Young Adult
Release Date: 1st January 2009
No. Pages: 391
Source: Borrowed
Rating:
Nora's never been particularly attracted to the boys at her school. Not until Patch came along. With his easy smile and eyes that seem to see inside her, she is drawn to him against her better judgement.

But after a series of terrifying encounters, Nora's not sure who to trust. Patch seems to be everywhere she is and knows more about her than her closest friends. And when she tries to seek some answers, she finds herself near a truth that is way more unsettling than anything Patch makes her feel.

For Nora is right in the middle of a centuries-old battle between the immortal and those that have fallen - and sooner or later, she's going to have to pick sides..

The book was is about a young girl called Nora Grey, who met a guy called Patch as a result of being forced to switch lab partners. Nora doesn't like him at first but Patch seems to mysteriously be everywhere she is, sometimes at the wrong time, and she starts to have feelings for him against her better judgement. She’s never sure if she should trust him so when bad things start happening and it seems someone is out to get her, Vee her best friend is adamant its Patch and leads Nora to question what she really knows about him . When Nora seeks some answers she finds herself near a truth that’s far more unsettling than the uneasy feeling Patch tends to give her and in the middle of an ancient battle between the immortal and the fallen.