Book Review: The Sookie Stackhouse Series

By: Kaitlyn Boisvert
Posted In: Opinion

One of the greatest accomplishments an author of fiction can achieve is creating characters that feel so real that readers can come to love them as if they were real people. Author Charlaine Harris has accomplished this feat with her Sookie Stackhouse novels, a series that inspired the popular HBO Show “True Blood”. Harris develops the protagonist Sookie Stackhouse so well that readers cannot help but feel that they are closely acquainted with Sookie, as she takes them along in a wild adventure into the world of supernatural beings.

The series revolve around Sookie, a twenty-five year old girl living in Bon Temps, a small town in Louisiana. Sookie was born with a certain gift that enables her to hear the thoughts of everyone around her. Her telepathic ability is partly a blessing, as she is able to sense when someone has malicious intentions or plans to double-cross her, but her gift is also a curse. People avoid her, dubbing her as a crazy woman. Friends are a rarity, and dating is impossible. She spends her days working as a waitress for a bar called Merlotte’s, an exciting place where she can relax and immerse herself a bit more into the social life.

In the books, vampires have revealed their existence among society, and live among people as citizens during the nighttime. They live off of Trueblood, a synthetic blood that makes it possible for vampires to be around humans without having to feast upon them to survive. The undead creatures are beautiful, frightening, enthralling, and mysterious, and stir a lot of danger and controversy in their wake. One night, the bar gets its very first visit by a vampire. He is beautiful, dark, and mysterious, and to Sookie’s delight, immune to her telepathic abilities. She can be near him without being bombarded with secret thoughts. She gets only absolute silence from his brain, and it is absolutely divine. Although it is nerve-wracking to not know his thoughts, Bill offers Sookie a new excitement in her life, as they begin a passionate romance. But soon after they begin to see each other, brutal murders begin to occur in Bon Temps, all to young girls associated with vampires. Sookie soon becomes afraid for her life as she realizes that she may be the next target, and must discover who the murderer is before he gets her. Throughout this dangerous process, she comes to realize how much danger she has placed herself in by acquainting herself with a vampire, and comes to realize that her life will never be the same, as the secret supernatural world begins to unfold.

“Dead Until Dark” is the very first book in the series, that introduces readers into Sookie Stackhouse and brings them along the wild and dangerous adventure that the telepathic antagonist embarks on. Each book in the series is similar to addictive candy; the reader devours it in a delicious gulp, and becomes determined to immediately get the next in the series. Charlaine Harris has released ten books so far that chronicle Sookie’s journey, and the eleventh; Dead Reckoning, is due out this May. The cover art for the series often depict scenes from the books in colorful, rather quirky illustrations that further emphasize s the fun nature of the series. The books themselves are a delight; offering readers a unique experience through its witty dialogue, fun characters, and creative fantasy world.

What is perhaps the most endearing feature about the series is the character Sookie herself. She is quirky, funny, and incredibly real. She stands as the strongest feature within the series. Although the books deal with the intruiging world of the supernatural, Sookie steals the show, and is the main focus of the story. She has a character that one cannot help but love and root for, and watching her progress from a meek self-conscious girl into a confident strong-willed young woman is a very enjoyable experience. Whether she is battling evil vampires or just sitting in her kitchen sipping morning coffee, Sookie succeeds in drawing the reader into her story, and one cannot help but be anxious to discover what happens to her next.