Review | Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

Title: Dead Until Dark
Series: Sookie Stackhouse #1
Author: Charlaine Harris
Genre: Adult Fiction - Paranormal
Publication: 05.01.01 by Ace
Pages: 292
Source: Library

Summary: Sookie Stackhouse is just a small-time cocktail waitress in small-town Louisiana. Until the vampire of her dreams walks into her life-and one of her coworkers checks out....

Maybe having a vampire for a boyfriend isn't such a bright idea.

Cover: I know this isn't the original cover, but I like this one better. It was because I saw this for the series True Blood that I wanted to pick up the books.

Thoughts: I planned on reading this series way sooner, but yet I hadn't. Last year I even joined in on a challenge to read all the books, and I didn't pick up a single one. The only reason I even really considered reading it at all is because I want to watch the show "True Blood." I like to wait to read books first, and then watch the movies/shows based on them. So I have yet to watch a single episode of this show. Anyways, onto the book...

Sookie Stackhouse, narrator and main protagonist, is a...well, interesting character. Not only is she a small town waitress living with her grandmother, but she also has what she calls a "disability." Sookie can read minds and that has become a problem in her relationships and social life. She tends to stay away from men and has to concentrate to keep the voices out of her head. Then she meets Bill, a vampire who plans to move to Bon Temps as a permanent resident and to Sookie's surprise, she can't hear his mind. What a perfect coincidence? From there their strange, but very interesting relationship begins to develop, but when women start turning up dead and the killer seems to be a vampire, they must face several obstacles if they want to stay together.

Sookie is a pretty likable character, and although I found her relationship with Bill a little odd, I found I liked Bill too. He is a quiet and mysterious character that we don't learn too much about, and that intrigued me. There are also plenty more characters to get to know, such as Sookie's family, co-workers, and several vampires I wasn't too fond of. Definitely a great cast characters that I thoroughly enjoyed.
I must admit I didn't think the writing was all too great and there is too much of an introduction feeling throughout the book for my liking, but I thought the plot was good. Sookie runs into plenty of interesting things and people (...erm, vampires) and that kept me turning the pages waiting to see what she would run into next. There's plenty of mystery, suspense, romance, and humor mixed in to make it an enjoyable first novel and I definitely want to read the next one in the series.

I definitely recommend this book, but due to sex scenes, violence and some language, this book is recommended for older teens and adults. Dead Until Dark is a fun, quirky and mysterious book that I really liked and was very different from other vampire books I've read. And I can't wait to read what happens next!

Quote: I snuck a look to see how Eric was taking this, and he was staring at me the same way the Monroe vampires had. Thoughtful. Hungry.

"That's interesting," he said. "I had a psychic once. It was incredible."

"Did the psychic think so?"