Dead Until Dark (Southern Vampire Mysteries, Book 1)

Charlain Harris is one of my all time favorite writers. I have read every single one of her books and have not been disappointed yet. I over looked the books for years because I couldn't get past the cover art. I know you're not supposed to judge a book by the cover, but come on these covers are ridicules for this series... I also think it has put a lot of readers off of buying the books... My husband also never wanted to read the books because of the said cover art. I finally talked him into reading the series, and he of course loved it. I have a feeling if they update the covers it would appeal to a wider group of people and her sales would sky rocket.

I fell in love with Sookie. After reading this book I couldn't wait to get my hands on the second one. I read the whole series in a week. My favorite characters are Sookie and Eric. I look forward to seeing how these characters develop. If you are looking to escape reality for a little while this is a great series to get hooked on.

The Southern Vampire Mysteries is a must-read vampire story since Anne Rice. Forget "Twilight", considering the author has completely ripped off Charlaine Harris' beautiful tale of the supernatural.
You will NOT be able to put this down. I ordered every book and every short story, reading day and night.

I have been watching the HBO TrueBlood and became interested in the written series. I loved the book even better than the TV series which I didn't think was possible. It was smart, funny, mysterious and sexy. It was also easy to read.
Luv'd it!!

I bought this book because I really enjoy the HBO sensation, True Blood. There are spoilers in this review.
There are apparently 8 books in the series, and this is the first and left me unconvinced I should carry on. Unlike the show the book is done in first person entirely from Sookie's standpoint. This is very limiting because (in the show) there are many interesting characters with many different storylines. Not in the book though.

Other than Eric and Bill (vampires that are 'super-hot') all of the other characters are mentioned in passing. Some included in the television show are excluded (Tara) or completly watered down (Lafayatte, Jason, Amy Burley). The extra characters that Sookie isn't thinking about getting intimate with become shadows, when people die in the book (including Sookie's grandmother) it gets all of 2 sentences of attention. When Sam reveals his big secret she throws up and carries on.

Overall it's not the worst but bland and undeveloped. The show is much more enjoyable.