Modern Good Reads discussion

I would love to read Dead Ever After, but I haven't made it past #8, Dead and Gone. So I have some catching up to do.

Has anyone picked this up?

People are really screaming about this. I will not blow it for anyone, because I did happen upon scathing reviews with spoilers, but there is some hard-core hater action going on about this book and the way it ended the series.

So bring it. Lets hear what you have to say.

I have to admit I have this book, I picked it up within a day or two of the release and I haven't read it yet. First I haven't had the time and secondly I am not all that interested. The last couple of books in the series were not that great. Also I found the spoilers online and that doesn't entice me to read it in the least. I will get to it eventually.

Well... I have to give my two cents. I have been a fan of this series, although I've been less than impressed with the later books. Each one disappointing me a little more than the last. I have NOT read Charlaine's mystery series, or anything else other than the Sookie books. Now that you know my general background... here's what I thought.

First, let me use a quote from Dead Ever After that sums up my feelings on the book, and about Charlaine for having written it: "F*ck you, and the horse you rode in on."

Now that I have that out of the way... my reasoning. Without giving spoilers, there is controversy over the ending of the book, and over some of the major plot points and 'bad guys'. Some fans were happy as a clam, some were not. I think anytime a book creates 'Team (Eric)' vs. 'Team (Bill)' vs. 'Team (Sam)' vs. 'Team (Quinn)'... and I could go on and on (you get the idea).... there will be discord over the author's choice. My personal discord with the book, lies not in the author's choice, but rather her method. It has been said, time and time again, by Charlaine (from much earlier on in the series) that she knew how it was going to end by book #2, and that Sookie would NOT become a vampire. I feel that given that decision Charlaine made early on, she could have, nay, should have prepared her readers for her ending. I do not feel like I:
a) prepared for the ending
b) was given a HEA. In my opinion, it's a 'Happy-For-Now' at best.
c) She took a dump all over my favorite characters

All in all, I am no longer a fan of Charlaine. I will NOT buy another book of hers EVER. I might, one day, consider re-reading the Sookie series, and MAYBE will get the 'new book' coming out in ... what, like October of this year, that has (or at least claims to have) some sort of epilogue or something for Sookie. To me, that's just plain greedy. If she had the epilogue in THIS, 'LAST SOOKIE' BOOK, I may have felt differently. Fool me once, shame on you, Charlaine. Fool me twice, not a chance in hell. She had her chance, in my opinion, she blew it.

I tried really hard to say my peace without spoilers. I'm not threatening Charlaine, except for not supporting her financially anymore. I investing time, tears, love, money, and dreams into that series, and she just (metaphorically) flipped me the bird (my opinion, totally)

Ok yes I understand why many people are upset with how this series has ended even I have not finished reading the series but it is still a good series. The ending to this series does not need to be criticized by everybody because you do not like it. Their are probably thousands of books that you will the ending to and Ms. Harris thought this would be the perfect ending for Sookie. She chose to right the ending the way it was written so do not keep criticizing the ending and say you wasted money one the series because If no one bought those books the ending would still be unclear for Sookie and there would be no end. So be happy that she has kept writing and has given Sookie an ending. Thank you.

Olivia wrote: "Ok yes I understand why many people are upset with how this series has ended even I have not finished reading the series but it is still a good series. The ending to this series does not need to be..."

Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I have just as much right to criticize an ending of any book if I am unhappy. Had I known the ending, I wouldn't have invested so much in the series. I may have still read it, but not bought hardcovers, paperbacks, audiobooks, eBooks, and even gone to a signing. And an ending book can, and did in this case, really diminish the entire series in my eyes. These are just one reader's thoughts, but that does not make any less valid. There will ALWAYS be books that are not universally received and rated in the same way. Dean Koontz was previously a favorite, and an 'autobuy' author but several years ago he started spewing book after book that I did not enjoy. So I stopped buying his works, and only occasionally pick up a book from the library. I'm not saying "Let's egg Charlaine's house" like some reviewers, I'm not saying "I'm going to kill myself if..." like another reviewer said.

I saw the spoilers, and I am the kind of person who will buy a book anyway, just because I feel like it, regardless of whether or not the ending has been spoiled.

But I will tell you what, the reviews I read described an ending I do not want to know about.

We, all Sookie fans, were under the impression that Sookie was destined to be vampire bait, tied into the vampire politics and intricacies of life.

That is what we loved so much about the series, all the strange idiosyncrasies of vampire politics and personalities.

To shove Sookie off the way she did is an ending that just feels wrong (to me).

So I am avoiding this book. I may read right up to it, to #12, but I don't know if I will ever read #13.

I think really the heart of the criticism is that her fans feel slighted. She did give them fair warning before publication that her fans probably were not going to be happy, but that she was ending the series the way she wanted to end it. For those that just read the books and dont read her author updates, the ending was probably a good slap in the face on several levels. Some people have compared it to how Twilight fans would feel if both Edward and Jacob had been killed in the final battle and Bella had ended up with some random guy who works at the Safeway. The ending of Sookie's series was that unexpected and that awkward..

That just further cements that Charlaine's writing is not for me. I shouldn't have to read author updates or some blog just to not feel assaulted by the final book of the series. And as a 'final' book, I feel jipped. She had her chance, but I'm just done. Obviously I am not her target audience.

Alana ~ The Book Pimp wrote: "Olivia wrote: "Ok yes I understand why many people are upset with how this series has ended even I have not finished reading the series but it is still a good series. The ending to this series does..."

I have enjoyed most, if not all of Dean Koontz's novels. But, I did not care for his reimagined version of Frankenstein. That was a real WTF?? for me.

The Odd Thomas series is wonderful though, and more than makes up for Dean's trip to lala land with Frankenweird.

:)

C.E. wrote: "I think really the heart of the criticism is that her fans feel slighted. She did give them fair warning before publication that her fans probably were not going to be happy, but that she was endin..."

I'm a huge fan of this series waiting eagerly for each book. Though the last few books seemed to have lost their zest I still liked most of them. I also noted that CH foreshadowed who Sookie was not going to end up with in the second to last book so I was prepared. Was I happy with the ending not really. It was kinda grey. What I mean by that is I always think in colours. The series to me for the first 10 books was yellow then sunk to green but the last book was grey. Was it a lunch box let down? You betcha. Will I lose sleep over it and curse out a wonderful writer just because she ended *HER* story how *she* wanted ...nah..I just move on to my next read on the humongous TBR mountain.