Review: Deadlocked by Charlaine Harris
Wednesday, May 09, 2012
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
2.5 stars. Unlike just about every other fan out there, I don't have a huge problem with the fact that Sookie obviously isn't going to end up with Eric, so that isn't the reason for my low rating on this review. My problem is with the change in the relationships is the abrupt change in story arc and that the author obviously didn't have a well thought-out plan for the series. My feeling is that Sookie is a creature of the light and that ending up with Eric or any vampire really wouldn't have worked in the end and that Harris is doing a decent job of showing that. But boy are these last few books painful. On the one hand she suddenly changed from Eric as the hero to being pretty much a jerk. On the other hand, she's pretty much completely wasting the last few books when it comes to any other plot development, there's almost no story at all.
This book was mostly just a weird collection of Sookie's thoughts and wandering around town disguised as a murder mystery. It was rambling and overly complicated. In the end the actual plan was really simple, but the story to get there was really convoluted.
And the entire book had a weird detached feeling, like Sookie was telling me a story but she wasn't really a part of it, just the narrator. I never got that feeling from one of these books before. I made a note about it in the beginning of the book and the feeling never went away. She kept telling me what she was thinking but she never did much or felt much. It was so odd. And it felt like Harris wasn't even trying sometimes. Like on page 120 when Sookie was "having random thoughts" and suddenly wondered how Mr. Cataliades was doing, it felt completely contrived and awkward, but apparently it was the only way Harris could think of to introduce him before he showed up again later in the book. And Sookie showers and does her hair and shaves her legs a lot. Yes, it makes her seem normal, but it's boring. I wish Harris could find more random ways to bring the everyday into things.
There were some sweet moments though, like between Sookie and Jason when he told her about Michele, or when he gave her a birthday gift, it was a bit contrived but still sweet. The characters are still rich and well-developed, but just having Sookie run into everyone that we know and like isn't enough to have a book, you actually need a strong plot too.
I did like some things. I like seeing Sookie stand up for herself, even when it is against Eric, especially when he deserves it. I still like Pam. Um. Sigh. It wasn't painful to read. It just wasn't a good book.
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