So I'm currently in the middle of a rather large non-fiction book and needed a break about half-way through. Naturally, I decided Sookie would be just what I needed.
Of course, I was right. It was the light, mindless read I needed. This is the fifth in Harris's series and, while I thoroughly enjoyed the first four, this one (although fun) was certainly not my favorite. The thing that frustrated me the most is I'm pretty sure Harris has started to lose track of (or just outright ignore) certain previously established aspects of her main character. I've already given away the first four books (as much as I enjoy them I'm sure I'll never re-read them) so I had no way to go back and look it up, but I'm pretty sure Sookie had already learned to block other people's thoughts from her own mind before she met Bill. In this book she states that the best part about dating Bill was that she had learned to do just that. Wrong! The best part of dating Bill was that, because she couldn't read his thoughts, she could let her guard down. The other bit that annoyed me was that Harris had established that Sookie cannot read the minds of shifters: she can pick up general feelings and moods from them but no specific thoughts. Ok, I can buy that. Yet, in this book, she gets a rather detailed fashion tip by picking it up from a shifter's brain. I understand that Sookie's telepathy comes in handy in solving her supernatural crimes and just generally picking up information from the people around her. It's a tool and I'm all for using it to it's fullest advantage but I also believe that a writer needs to stay consistent with the world she's building.
That being said, there were some things I definitely enjoyed. Harris is great at character-building and that skill once again makes itself apparent, particularly in the new vampire, Charles. I loved him and I loved reading about him. I also enjoyed the development of the relationship between Sookie and Eric and, of course, I was glad to see Bubba again, however briefly (the biggist downfall of the show is that there's no Bubba! I can understand that they probably couldn't get permission, but I'm just sayin'!) Harris also excels at the suspenseful scenes. There are several in this book that I just couldn't tear myself away from and they were, without doubt, the strongest and most interesting parts of this book.
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