Dead and Gone (Sookie Stackhouse, #9) Review
Stepping back into Charlaine Harris’s world in Dead and Gone felt like wandering into a familiar, albeit slightly worn, neighborhood. As a devoted fan of the Sookie Stackhouse series, my ongoing relationship with our titular telepath has been complex—filled with thrills, disappointments, and the occasional eye-roll. Harris has crafted a universe that beckons with its supernatural charm, yet it gets hard to ignore the repetitive beats that feel all too familiar in this ninth installment.
In Dead and Gone, Sookie remains ensconced amidst her usual chaos: supernatural attacks and internal conflicts. The overarching themes of loyalty, love, and the struggle for agency in a world that feels increasingly oppressive come through, but they often get lost in the noise of too many new characters with hastily crafted backgrounds. I found myself scratching my head over the influx of names like Devon Dawn and Whit Spradlin—really, who are these people, and why should I care about them? It’s as if Harris dug into a grab bag of character traits and threw them together without much thought.
Sookie’s love life, meanwhile, feels like a chaotic freefall. One moment she’s miffed about becoming Eric’s vampire bride, and the next, she is intimately entangled with him—both physically and through the bond that bothers her so much. This emotional contradiction might resonate with readers grappling with their own relationship dilemmas, but here it feels contrived at best. The portrayal of consent often drifts precariously close to uncomfortable territory, which can leave readers baffled rather than engaged.
Harris’s writing offers an interesting lens on domestic life with strange moments of vivid detail, sometimes painfully so. I was both amused and bewildered by the length devoted to Sookie’s trowel and her weeding technique. Did we really need a step-by-step of how she wields a gardening tool? Perhaps this was an attempt to ground the supernatural in relatable realities, but the mundane often felt like a distraction from the thrilling narrative this series promised.
Memorable quotes land like little bursts of dark humor amidst this chaos. “I wasn’t amazed that someone would want to kill Crystal, but I was really horrified about the baby,” captures the ironic absurdity that Harris sometimes nails. This blend of moral complexity and intrigue is part of what keeps her readers returning—hoping for the next twist that might pull us out of the mundane.
In the end, while Dead and Gone certainly left me feeling underwhelmed compared to earlier books, it still holds value for those who’ve followed Sookie’s journey this far. Readers drawn to urban fantasy infused with Southern charm—and a bit of messy romance—will likely find enough familiar beats to make it enjoyable. But for those who thrive on character depth and narrative originality, this may feel like a collection of recycled events in a world brimming with potential.
As for me, even with its contradictions and questionable choices, Sookie Stackhouse will always have a seat at my reading table. Whether she continues to frustrate or delight me, I can’t help but be curious about where Charlaine Harris will lead her next.
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