Dead Ever After by Charlaine Harris Series: Sookie Stackhouse #13
Published by Ace on 7 May 2013
Genres: Adult, Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy
Pages: 338
Source: Kindle Purchase
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Sookie continues to have to deal with both supernatural and natural problems in Dead Ever After, and she is lucky to have good friends and family she can count on when she needs them. The whole story was slightly bittersweet, as a last book in a beloved series should be - and the ending was logical. Sookie has been through a lot since the beginning of the series, and this was no exception in Dead Ever After... where she is accused of murder, stays a night in prison, and has to find a token that makes a police officer really have it in for her.
Dead Ever After is the last book in the Sookie Stackhouse series, and the ending was quite logical – and most characters from past books showed up in Bon Temps to help Sookie with some problems she had, and at the same time, it also felt like they had come to say goodbye to the readers. This made Dead Ever After feel like goodbye as well – even if there was a lot of stuff happening that had something to do with what had happened in prior books.
Sookie once more found herself in the middle of an intriguing mystery, and at the same time, she had to deal with Sam’s withdrawal after she had brought him back to life. Dead Ever After is far from dead, though, it is more as if even some whom Sookie (and the readers) thought were dead weren’t all that dead anyway. And the surprising thing was that I was actually surprised by who it was that was after Sookie this time around!
The most heart-breaking thing that happened in Dead Ever After was Eric and Sookie’s interactions. Even if everything that happened was really logical, my poor heart was crying there for a while. But I can completely understand where Sookie was coming from – Eric’s underhandedness showed itself one time too many, and Sookie just didn’t want to deal with being the last person to know important information anymore. As usual, Eric couldn’t understand Sookie’s point of view, which is also normal – that head-strong vampire has always had a thing for my way or the highway – and it’s one of the things I love so much about him!
Even Arlene made an appearance in Dead Ever After, and she acted just as clueless as always. I could not even muster a tiny speck of sympathy for Arlene, so I have to give big kudos to Sookie for managing to do that for me. All the characters I’ve come to know and love in the Sookie Stackhouse series made at least one appearance in Dead Ever After, and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing them again. Part of that enjoyment, of course, is that many of these loved characters are very fine male specimens, and I only have to close my eyes to imagine Quinn, Alceede and Eric showing up at my doorstep to help me figure things out 😉
The particular brand of humor that has always been a staple of the Sookie Stackhouse universe was still there as well, even if there was kind of a sad undertone to it in Dead Ever After. Pam and her dry humor never ceases to get my funny-bone working, and I also love how Tara is always able to bring something light to a dark situation.
So yeah, I really enjoyed saying my goodbyes to Sookie and all her friends! One day, I’m sure I’ll sit down and re-read the whole series back-to-back, because I really love it. If you have enjoyed the prior books in the series, you just might enjoy Dead Ever After as much as I did. I definitely think that the ending was up to par with the whole series, and who Sookie ends up with is quite logical, and has been for several books.
He opened his eyes as I came down the back steps and crossed the yard. I was still in my nightshirt, and I didn’t even want to think about my own hair. It was pretty much one big snarl.
The flowers bloomed and bloomed and bloomed, until I had a vase full in almost every room in the house. I even walked through the cemetery to leave some on Gran’s grave, and I put a bouquet on Bill’s porch. If I could have eaten them, I’d have had a full plate at every meal.
As I sat on the front porch with a glass of iced tea, I examined myself to see if my heart was broken. I was so emotionally exhausted, I couldn’t tell.
“What about the Viking? Why is he pissed? His life didn’t need saving. He’s already dead.”
“I spit on the supes who’ve let you down,” Tara said, fortunately not suiting action to words.
On this very hot summer day in July, it felt comfortingly normal to be having this gossip session while we took a gal-pal road trip.
Holding my breath with suspense, I slid the dress off its hanger and over my head. It settled on my hips like it was happy to be there. – I want a dress like that!
After my phone message, I checked my e-mails. Most of them suggested I enlarge my nonexistent penis or help desperate lawyers get huge sums of money out of Africa […]
I could hear a faint strain of music when we got out of the car, so I knew there must be a live band tonight (“live” in the sense that they were actually onstage).
About Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms
Linda is an English as foreign language teacher and has a Master's degree in English Language and Literature. She's an avid reader, blogger, compulsive one-clicker and a genre omnivore. Ever since she learnt how to read she has been seen with a book or two in her hands everywhere she goes.
Excellent review, Lexxie! I’m glad you enjoyed the end of the series. I’ve read about some of the hubbub over it. I’m glad you think it’s logical and that, although bittersweet, it was a goodbye you’re happy with. I have only read the first 4 books in this series so I’m a bit behind. But one day I’ll catch up.
Sometimes, it’s a lot more fun to catch up with a series when you already have your hands on all the books 🙂 And it must have been so hard for CH to continue to write this series when there’s a TV show out there that’s losely based on it – but so far from the books anyway.
Thanks for taking the time to stop by and comment, Brandee 🙂
Excellent review, Lexxie! I’m glad you enjoyed the end of the series. I’ve read about some of the hubbub over it. I’m glad you think it’s logical and that, although bittersweet, it was a goodbye you’re happy with. I have only read the first 4 books in this series so I’m a bit behind. But one day I’ll catch up.
Great review Lexxie! I just finished Dead Ever After a couple of days ago and was pretty pleased with how it turned out. I thought that Charlaine Harris stayed true to her characters and vision for the series and the pace seemed to pick up in this book from the last one.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it as well, Traci! I agree, it was really following the same line as it had from the start, I think, and Sookie continued to be Sookie 🙂
Thanks for taking the time to come by and comment 🙂 It’s always appreciated!
Okay, you got me. Like Brandee above I’ve read a lot of hubbub about how things ended. Goodreads exploded on the issue. I’m so glad I read your review because I’ll go back and hit the last few books. Or maybe I’ll start at the beginning. I never made it to Quinn. And besides Alcede’s terrible taste in women and his furry disposition, I was really rooting for him. But Eric was my main squeeze. Bill was dead to me…hehe. Have a great weekend!
Oh, Eric was definitely my favorite as well, and even more so after I started watching True Blood *drools a little*…
I hope you’ll enjoy the books you still have left in the series, and that Sookie will make you happy 🙂 Oh, and Quinn definitely got to me a lot more than Alcede did!
I’m curious to read this one but also anxious after everything and well it’s always difficult to close a series like that.
I agree, Melliane, in a way, I wish it would go on forever, but at the other hand, I understand the need for an author to move on to something else 🙂
Oh I cannot wait to read this one myself! Haven’t gotten to it yet but it’s been a book with a lot of buzz surrounding it and its ending. I made sure to avoid any talk of that!
I did notice on Amazon that there will be a Sookie Stackhouse 13.5. I didn’t read what it was about since I still need to read book 13, but it definitely makes me curious to see what this final-final goodbye will be about!
Once again, excellent review!
I stayed far away from all the buzz myself, the only thing I did read was that someone (supposedly) leaked the ending. I don’t know why anyone would do that! When I get an ARC of a book, I always am very careful when I write my review, so that noone will be spoiled!
I think the 13.5 book is a kind of an introduction to a new series, but I’m not sure. I haven’t read much about it yet either. I am pretty sure I’ll check it out when it will be released though.
Hopefully, you’ll enjoy this book as much as I did! And thanks so much for the compliment, Jessica 🙂
I’m glad you enjoyed this, Lexxie! I saw so many people were disappointed in the ending of the series, but maybe your going into it with a positive attitude helped. I love it when you have series that you feel like you can revisit time and time again.
Wendy @ The Midnight Garden
Even without knowing what the ending that was leaked was, I did have an idea, and even if it wasn’t exactly how I would have hoped things would end – it was right in line with the whole series.
And yes, Sookie and I have became good friends over the years – it would be sad if I could never visit with her again;)
Thanks for stopping by, Wendy 🙂
Glad to hear you enjoyed this one. I know a lot of people were saying it wasn’t that great. But I’m still excited to read it. I love Pam’s humor too. She’s the best. And I’m a big Team Eric fan so I’m a little nervous, but I think I’ll be okay if she doesn’t end up with him. Great review!
Thanks Melissa 🙂 I hope you’ll like it, I thought it was written in the spirit of the series, with everybody acting true to themselves 🙂
So glad you enjoyed this! I was a bit sad to see all the negative reviews, because I thought it was a pretty fitting ending as well. And it’s not that bad! I was happy that Charlaine made it like a farewell tour for her characters, but the person who was after Sookie was a big surprise to me too, and I loved that I didn’t guess it. Great review!
I can understand why some people were upset, but I agree, it was fitting, and like a farewell tour. I’m glad you liked it too!
Twitter: bmreviewsohmy
I have only read three of the Sookie Stackhouse novels and I like them I just haven’t gotten any farther..lol. One thing I don’t understand is why doesn’t any one like Bill?? It’s always Eric, Eric, Eric. I like Bill..lol. Even on the HBO show I still like Bill. Just curious…lol. 🙂 Always sad to see a series end but after 13 novels I think some are probably glad to see it come to an end.
LOL I like Bill in the books, up to a certain point… can’t tell you more until you’ve read more than three books, I’m afraid.
I am sad to see the series end, but at the same time, I think it’s good to end it while it’s still good. And I know that some readers haven’t been very happy for the past few books, even if I was.
I’m so sad this will be the last Sookie book! I got up until nine before review books cut in and I didn’t have the time to read them. This summer I’ll have a Sookie-month 😀 Great review Lexxie!
Oh, a Sookie-months sounds really good! I hope you’ll enjoy them all!!
Thanks for stopping by, Celine 🙂
I need to read this book so badly 🙂 I’m on my library’s waiting list for it. I’m glad you enjoyed it!
-Scott Reads It!
I hope you’ll enjoy it too, Scott! I’m always sad when a series comes to an end, but this was well done 🙂
Thanks for stopping by!
Great review Lexxie! I have really been on the fence about this book, because I know it’s not going to end like I want to. LOL. My friend has read it and has been bugging me to also so we can chat about it. I may just have to cave here in the next few weeks!
Even if it doesn’t end the way you want it to, it does give closure, at least 🙂 Good luck with it if you decide to read it anyway!
Thanks for stopping by 🙂
Great review. I couldn’t agree more. I thought it was a wonderful book that ended the series on a great note. I also agree that the choices were logical and I don’t understand why people were so upset with it. I mean, Sookie even explained why she chose the way she chose, so even if you were Team Anyone Else… you had to know WHY things ended the way they did.
The book had so much closure while also keeping up with the pace of the other books in the series. I don’t think it could have been any better. I’m glad you liked it as much as I did!
Thanks Megan 🙂 I’m glad you enjoyed it as well! It is nice to see I was not alone 😉
I agree with all you said – even I was Team Someone Else, but I was still happy with the way it ended, and I had even suspected it would end that way for quite a while 🙂
I haven’t read Deadlocked yet, so I haven’t rushed out to get this one yet, but I want to. Therefore, I haven’t read your review yet either. But you gave it 4 stars so it must of been good!! I loved most of the books but was disappointed a bit with Dead Reckoning…. anyway, I must get to and finish it!!
Naomi @ Nomi’s Paranormal Palace
Thanks for stopping by Naomi, I was a little disappointed in Deadlocked, but I enjoyed Dead Reckoning…
I hope you’ll have fun with the last two books in the series.