Dead in the Family Review

DEAD IN THE FAMILY
Written by: Charlaine Harris
Publication date: May 4, 2010
Released in Hardcover

4 stars

Synopsis: A Fae War has left the supernatural community of Bon Temps, Louisiana, in chaos - and waitress Sookie Stackhouse mentally and physically drained. And still, the peace and quiet she so desperately craves is hard to come by....

Even with the blood of two vampires in her system, Sookie is having trouble healing from the terrible torture she endured at the hands of her great-grandfather's enemies during the brief but deadly Fae War. Worse are the emotional wounds - especially over the loss of her own personal fairy godmother and the near death of her first love.

Sookie is hurt and she's mad. Just about the only bright spot in her life - besides the fact that she is, after all, still alive - is the love she thinks she feels for vampire Eric Northman, who is under scrutiny by the new vampire king because of their relationship.

As the political implications of the shifters' coming-out are beginning to be felt, Sookie's connection to one particular Were draws her into the dangerous debate. And, unknown to her, though the doors to Faery have been closed, there are still some fae on the human side - and one of them is very angry at Sookie. Very, very angry.

My Review: It was so nice being in Bon Temps again, catching up with old friends. Over the last year, I had completely forgotten that Sookie and Eric were "married"!!

My favorite thing about this series is that, if you've been reading them from the start, you can never get lost. How long have we waited for this book? Right, a long time and Charlaine Harris in each one, always recaps for us. A character's name is mentioned and Sookie explains exactly who they - with a little history, too.

I do love Sookie's narrating. I love the way she interprets things, and getting to know what she hears in other people's heads. And I LOVE her relationship with Eric. He's so in love with her, he's gone completely soft!

Dead in the Family wasn't as action packed as most of the others were. A lot of passing time. Something would happen and then it would take a while before it was resolved; or a while before it was mentioned again. I guess, looking through Sookie's eyes, we only see what happens when she's around.

I would think vampires and Weres would be able to come up with better terms for themselves and humans other than "oneys" and "twoeys". I don't quite remember those terms being used in any of the earlier books, but it has been a while. I just felt like the terms were a little immature. It was very hard trying to picture some of the characters - like bad-ass Alcide or Eric - saying these words!

Overall, the book was kind of slow paced yet I had no problem keeping my interest up. I was hoping for the book to end with a bang - but it didn't. Not really. There were still a lot of loose ends, such as: what happens with the whole Eric and Victor thing? Do Bill and Judith stay together? What happened in the Long Tooth Pack regarding Annabelle, Patricia and Ham? Are the Weres going to have to register and if not, are the Vampires going to rebel? And most importantly, do Eric and Sookie stay together? She was pretty indecisive about how she really felt about him?

Does Dead in the Family being released in hardcover mean that this is the end? Is this really how the series finishes? I REALLY hope not. I think one more book could answer all our questions - then I'd be happy! Believe you me, I will be checking for a next one!

Who Should Read This: If you've read all the others, I believe you should follow through to the end.