Dead Until Dark is the first of the Sookie Stackhouse novels, or as others might know it as the books to the True Blood TV series. Dead Until Dark is what they based the events of Season 1 of the TV show on. Being a huge fan of the TV show, I was curious to read the books and see how they differ. I was also curious to see what sort of an author Charlaine Harris is. I am happy to report that both the book and author are fabulous! I really enjoyed reading Dead Until Dark, it does differ quite a lot from the TV show, and I can understand the changes they made for the TV show. Characters like Tara aren’t even in the book, and other characters not introduced into the TV show are in the book. I quite enjoyed those differences, the premise was the same though and knowing the outcome didn’t affect my enjoyment of the book.
The character of Sookie is well written, we see everything from her perspective, she is telling the story. Sookie is a very likable character, we get hooked into her story right away, and the strange group of characters around her. Sookie is a telepath, she can read the thoughts of everyone around her, except those of vampires. In this world vampires are known to the public, they have ‘come out of the coffin’. Sookie meets her first vampire at the bar that she works out, Bill Compton. Of course as you’d expect they fall in love, but like every couple they have their ups and downs. However in the small town that they live in, a killer lurks. This mystery is the center of the story, having a great affect on all the characters, from Sookie’s brother and her gran to her co-workers and of course Bill.
Much like I did with the TV show, I fell in love with so many of the characters. Sookie, Bill and Sam mostly, we meet Eric but he isn’t featured as much. Charlaine has a great writing style and she really makes you like these characters and get completely wrapped up in their world. None of the characters feel bland at all, they all have their quirks. Sookie especially is quirkly, but the kind of girl you’d love to be friends with. A credit to those who cast the TV series, Anna Paquin is just perfect. Reading the book I pictured her all the way and it felt so right. I really would highly recommend this book, even if you don’t watch the TV series it is a great read.
4.5/5
The Super Network 