With the Dead as a Doornail I am now half way through with my 10-book set, and so far it has paid itself off more than well. This fifth book in the series came very close to my personal favorite Dead to the World. I think in every review of mine, I have mentioned how much I adore Harris's way of building the world around these stories, and it still keeps being the main reason for me to continue with this series (and the fact "I" have paid and bought all of them, so it is my duty to do so). It fascinates me how well it reflects real world in such things as rights, equality and race. Even though these issues are dealt with through vampires, werewolves and shapeshifters, you could easily replace some of them with, for example, gay marriage rights. Dead as a Doornail focuses more on the werewolf and shapeshifter community, leaving vampires on the background. I did find this to be a refreshing change as it gave more depth to multiple characters as well as showed me that Harris is not quite yet done with her world building nor her plotting abilities. When I started this series, I was glad to see a female main character that was a good mix of everything. Sookie had so much good qualities in her, making all the annoying ones more tolerable for my brain. It was the good balance, perfect imperfection, that kept me on the positive side. However, with the Dead as a Doornail, I did find myself liking her less than I did in other installments. Sookie came across as a judgemental, butthurt suffering, bitter person even though she still had most of her good qualities hanging around. But considering how this story has grown and continued (and considering all the things Sookie has experienced), that might be one of the most natural and realistic character development you can wish for. This raises a question of what is more important to me; likable or realistic character. Does realistic automatically mean unlikable, no. Is it possible to put a character through rough times and maintain the likable, yes. Is it good when a character goes in a mood swing route, going back and forth with the good and the bad characterization traits. Definitely.Fuck do I know. I don't even know what the fuck I am talking about here. I can't follow my own thoughts, most of the time. Not now, anyways. Dead to the World keeps its first place, not because it had a better story and structure but because Dead as a Doornail had too little of Eric in it, and some reason unknown... I am having hots for that vamp. * Thank you My Husband's Credit Card for providing a copy of this book in a exchange for a honest review with swear words in it.* Review also posted at http://hfk.booklikes.com/
I found the series up until this installment pleasantly entertaining, but Dead as a Doornail is not distracting enough, for it is about lots of people (or more specifically creatures of the night) doing stupid things, without making a progress in the main storyline. This book consists of let’s kiss Sookie or let’s get shot. And all the characters just got inexplicably worse for the wear.Sookie, was shallow to begin with, but had some fight in her, now she’s mostly pessimistic and grumpy, and putting herself at everyone's beck and call without giving it a thought.The vampire guys were practically reduced to just popping in from time to time out of the blue and start whining in a completely bizarre and almost comical way: "I'm jealous and I still want you" or "I worry about you. Danger lurking, I will protect you etc. Oh and I still want you!" Right. Okay. Everyone else still wants Sookie very badly too, but now they are all starting to develop the whiny jerk gene. The men want to bed her and the women to kill her. This is getting a bit old, really. Oh and on a side note the Kindle edition needs better editing. I’m not a member of the grammar police, not by a long shot. I don’t feel entitled to correct spelling or grammar issues, because I‘m not a native speaker and had my last English lesson in highschool almost 20 years ago. However, when I have to stop reading and think for about 15 minutes what aect eect or coe might be, colour me miffed.
What do You think about Dead As A Doornail (2006)?
At this point, the novelty of little Southen Sookie is starting to wear thin. Harris has clearly established that "any woman worth her salt" does sensible things, is tough, doesn't put up with anyone's crap, and can clean a mean house. Thank you, 1952!But I think if one looks deeper into the story (assuming this is even possible), the entire series can be viewed as an allegory for women's liberation. In book 1 Sookie starts out as a piece of eye candy. The Bon Temps natives either want to bed her or are terrified of her. Sometimes both. But as Sookie comes in contact with more and more supernatural beings she no longer views her telepathy as a "disability" but is instead begins to use it. This is similar to women discovering that their sexuality is not a curse and beginning to use it to their advantage (i.e. take control of it instead of letting it control them). Perhaps the supe's themselves, and their effect on Sookie, can be compared to the development of the Birth Control Pill, which is often credited with giving women control over their bodies but also leading to more promiscuity. Sookie certainly had more freedom and pleasure once she was "freed" from inadvertent mind reading by the blank minds of the vampires, but she also faced many difficulties and battles (literally!).All this said, perhaps this reader's taken entirely too many literature and social psychology classes. Perhaps this book is just a bit of literary cotton-candy.
—Anna
The fifth installment of the Sookie Stackhouse series, Dead as a Doornail, was one I didn't care as much for the first time through. On re-reading it, I found I liked it quite a bit better. Someone is taking shots at the local shifters, and Sookie's brother Jason--newly made a werepanther--is under suspicion. The werepanther leader Calvin and the werewolf Alcide have not yet abandoned their interest in her, while her ex-lover Bill seems bent on making her jealous. Meanwhile, someone actively has it in for Sookie, going so far as to burn down her house.This is the book that initially made me crinkle my nose, as it introduces the weretiger Quinn, and that sort of went over a line for me of "one too many supernatural males interested in Sookie". But that one objection doesn't detract from a basically solid and engaging story. It's not too difficult to ID the perpetrators, but I didn't mind that much.Most entertainingly, the vampire Eric spends a good chunk of the book driven to distraction trying to remember the events of Book 4--and when Sookie finally gives in and tells him what he's unable to remember, that only increases his frustration. This for me is the high point of the plot, since it lays down intriguing hints of what's to come as I plow into new territory with books 6 and 7. For this one, three and a half stars.
—Angela
Another good installment in the Sookie Stackhouse series. I enjoyed the story, once again, but I was disappointed by one thing, which has sort of been bothering me since the 1st book in the series. It seems to me that at times Charlaine Harris isn't able to keep her details straight. Granted, she has written A LOT and I can certainly understand confusing the details in that situation, but surely any decent editor would have caught these types of discrepancies...For example: - (Book 1) Fang-bangers became fangbangers. (This isn't a huge issue, but the hyphen was used originally, and therefore should be afterwards.)- (Books 1-5) Kevin Prior turned into Kevin Pryor, and then back to Prior, and then back again to Pryor. - Jason's boss is Shirley (Catfish) Hennessey in Book 4, but in Book 5, all of a sudden he's Shirley (Catfish) Hunter. What?!?This is kind of a pet-peeve of mine. It's a petty thing, I know, but it is annoying. In my opinion, Harris has created a world of detail in these books, and it seriously detracts from the enjoyment of the story when those details change from book to book in the series.I wish that Sookie would stop being so friggin' unreasonable when it comes to disagreements. If she would just hear someone out one day rather than storming off in a huff, she might be better off!
—Becky
