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Hello, my name is Valorie. I have a Master's Degree in History and a license to teach-- I have been both university professor and public school teacher. Currently, I am a middle school social studies teacher. I love horror movies and spooky things. Every day is Halloween. I am also a passionate book blogger.

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Book Review: 23:27 by H.L. Roberts

Monday, January 19, 2009

Book Review: Dead to the World (Southern Vampire Mysteries, book 4) by Charlaine Harris



Title: Dead to the World
Series: Southern Vampire Mysteries
Book Number: 4
Author: Charlaine Harris
Genre: Fiction - Paranormal
Finished: January 19, 2009

I had to dive into this one right after finishing book three. After how much I enjoyed Club Dead, I couldn't wait to read Dead to the World. In this part four of the Southern Vampire Mysteries, Sookie ends up in a whole new mess despite her New Year's Resolution to stay out of trouble. But trouble follows Sookie and is to be expected and enjoyed by now, at least for us the reader. First Sookie's brother Jason goes missing. Then she finds an amnesiac Eric running down the road (shirtless) and discovers out that he has been cursed by a lustful witch/werewolf. Defeated and fearing for her resolution, Sookie is charged to take care of Eric for an ample fee until the vampires find the witch and make her lift the curse. Due to events in Club Dead, Sookie and Bill are still on the outs and he spends most of the book collecting for his vampire directory in Peru. This book was great. I won't give away any more spoilers than my vague summary already has, but I will cheer and say that the moment I've been waiting for DID happen in chapter 6. Now, if only it could have stayed that way.

In the end, as a reader, I know that Sookie and Bill will make up and get back together and continue their great love affair. The grand bulk of this story was spent working out the relationship between Sookie and Eric, investigating Jason's disappearance, and searching for the very dangerous coven of witches that cursed Eric. The final battle scene is very tense and well played out, though not in clear drawn out detail since it is from the perspective of Sookie who is understandably out of it. We have new creatures and supernatural elements, too! As I said above, witches are introduced along with fairies. Now those can be added to the growing catalog of creatures and things Sookie has to interact with on a daily (and nightly) basis. I am almost disappointed that Eric's time may be over. I feel that he certainly shines brighter and with more character than Bill. After spending an entire book with Eric, Bill's entrance at the end was bland, at best. He just seems monotonous next to the personality that Eric exudes. If Eric could just get over himself, he would be perfect. Still, I cling to hope because surely the Eric that he was when he didn't have a memory is still in him... somewhere. I am completely addicted to this series. Anne Rice might have defined the vampire in my eyes, but Charlaine Harris makes them pretty fun. This series is just one big ball of excitement for me.

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