Dead Ever After (Sookie Stackhouse #13) By Charlaine Harris

I finally got my hands on a copy of the (sort of) last Sookie Stackhouse book.  I was on the waiting list at our local library for two months to get it because I wasn't sure if I wanted to buy it due to mixed reviews.  That move seems to have paid off.  Here is the cover and Goodreads blurb:

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...

I am going to try my best to keep this as spoiler free as I can but if I slip up- I apologize in advance.  That being said, I am going to agree with many of my reader friends on this one: the ending left me... unhappy.  I loved that we got to revisit so many of the characters that we met over the course of the series.  Tara and Sookie rekindling their friendship was great.  But I felt like the entire book was rushed as if Ms. Harris said "I am so sick of writing this.  I want it tied up and over with as soon as possible".  I also was thrown for a loop with the way Sookie's love life panned out.  We knew she would not become a vampire (Ms. Harris has said so in about every interview ever) but I just spent 12 books thinking it was a choice between Eric and Bill,  Eric and Alcide, Eric and Quinn.  I felt like the rug had been pulled out from under me and Ms. Harris said "Ha! The answer is D- None of the Above!"  I felt unsettled over that part.  Sure, the guy she ends up with fits with the idea of her not turning but it felt forced.  This book, the entire book, felt like the last chapters of Mockingjay- like the author gave up and just wanted to be done.  I'm glad that I did not buy my copy yet- I will get it at the resale shop or online for cheap to finish my collection but I probably won't re-read this one.

You can find out more about Charlaine Harris and her books on her official website.  You can click here to find this book on Goodreads.  This book earns 3 Fairies for

Deadlocked (Sookie Stackhouse #12) by Charlaine Harris

I was so excited to FINALLY get ahold of this book at our local library!  I'd been on the wait list for nearly a month before I finally got it.  It's kinda sad to think that we're nearly to the end of the Sookie Stackhouse Series.  Here's the Goodreads blurb:

With Felipe de Castro, the Vampire King of Louisiana (and Arkansas and Nevada), in town, it’s the worst possible time for a body to show up in Eric Northman’s front yard—especially the body of a woman whose blood he just drank. Now, it’s up to Sookie and Bill, the official Area Five investigator, to solve the murder. Sookie thinks that, at least this time, the dead girl’s fate has nothing to do with her. But she is wrong. She has an enemy, one far more devious than she would ever suspect, who’s out to make Sookie’s world come crashing down.

This book broke my heart.  Poor Sookie is being drug through the ringer.  She finds out a lot of interesting things but she also learns some things that she regrets knowing.  I really loved how you can really see how much Sookie has grown into her own woman since the start of the series.  I love her character so much and I'm going to miss her after the series ends with the last book next May.  This book saw lots of little cameos from past characters: Quinn the weretiger, Amelia the Witch, Barry the Bellboy, Bubba, and Alcide was pretty present in the story.  I was so let down by Eric's behavior in this book.  (Sookie was too.)  He's always been my favorite but he really dropped the ball in this book.  He did and it has me worried for the last book.  All in all, this was an emotional read and I will be waiting with baited breath for the next one.

You can find out more about Charlaine Harris and her books on her official website.  You can click here to find this book on Goodreads.  This book earns 3 Fairies for being a heart breaking book in one of my favorite series.

Dead Reckoning (Sookie Stackhouse # 11) by Charlaine Harris

I know, I know.  I dropped the ball with the new Sookie Stackhouse book.  It's been out for months and I JUST got around to reading it.  For anyone else who hasn't read it yet, here's the Goodreads blurb:

With her knack for being in trouble's way, Sookie witnesses the firebombing of Merlotte's, the bar where she works. Since Sam Merlotte is now known to be two-natured, suspicion falls immediately on the anti-shifters in the area. Sookie suspects otherwise, but her attention is divided when she realizes that her lover Eric Northman and his "child" Pam are plotting to kill the vampire who is now their master. Gradually, Sookie is drawn into the plot-which is much more complicated than she knows...

This book had a lot of Sookie on her own, narrating along.  It's always interesting to be in her head.  I would have liked more Eric but then, I don't think you ever truly have enough Eric.  There is a fair amount of fairy family drama, which is pretty interesting.  We get to see a lot more from Claude and Dermot.  Sookie is also really trying to figure out everyone's angle, so it's a pretty suspenseful plot and we get to see Sookie really trying to find her place in the world of humans and supernaturals.  I really enjoyed this book.  This series is definitely an adult series due to language, violence and sexual shenanigans but older teens might be able to handle it.  The next Sookie Stackhouse book, Deadlocked, will be out on May 1, 2012.  But if you can't wait that long, Charlaine Harris just put out her Sookie Stackhouse companion!  You can check out Charlaine Harris' website to learn more about her Sookie Stackhouse series and her other works.  You can also go here to add any of the book to your Goodreads.

Dead Reckoning earns 4 Fairies from me for the love of Eric, the strange fae relations and the snarky Sookie-ness!

W...W...W... Wednesdays!

W... W... W... Wednesdays is a weekly feature at Should Be Reading. To play along you just have to answer three simple questions:
What Are You Currently Reading?
What Did You Recently Finish?
What Do You Think You'll Read Next?

1. What Am I Currently Reading? Ten Things We Did (and probably shouldn't have) By Sarah Mlynowski

2. What Did I Recently Finish?  Dead Reckoning By Charlaine Harris

3.  What Do I Think I'll Read Next?  The Absolutely True Story of a Part Time Indian By Sherman Alexie

So, What Are YOU Reading?!