Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

BEWARE SPOILERS For me the HEA is not the issue - ha those of you who know me are like right OY - hahahahaha. But seriously, I could have lived with a Sam HEA if it had been presented in a better manner or even if Sookie chose Sam. I probably would have given the book 3 stars too if the message didn't suck so bad. And that is what really made me mad, the message. Here were my issues: #1 - the message For years CH has talked about the underlying message in the series being about marginalized people, gay rights, discrimination, blah, blah, blah. Well, in the end she turns that issue upsidedown and smacked us in the face with it. Sookie's desire for a simple normal life with humans is painfully clear. CH tries to reinforce her choice in the HEA by driving the point home over and over that vampires are bad, and not to be trusted. That the only healthy safe life, is away from them. From Tara saying we should spit on the vampires to Sookie outing the Were at the clothing store, she turns Sookie into nothing more than a bigot. Now Sookie has shown signs of this before, but I truly believed given CH message about prejudice blah, blah, blah that she would ultimately make a strong case for the underlying theme in the final book. This is the main reason I always felt the HEA had to be Eric. Instead the message from DEA is that people should stay with their own kind. And I find that message to be very sad and shocking. #2 - it is a tragedy I would be okay with the HEA if everyone ended up happy. In the end, I don't think anyone got what they wanted. Sookie, wanted Eric to choose her, he didn't. Eric, got sold into slavery, and another 100 years to boot to keep Sookie safe. Sam, got Sookie but only because Eric dumped her. Bill got to roam Sookie's woods forever listening to her have sex with Sam. Pam and Sookie cannot see each other under penalty of death. It is just a tragedy all around. I wanted Sookie to be happy, and maybe she will be now that half the town likes her but still thinks she is crazy, but at least they like her. The real tragedy is the fact Appius wins - oh a not so subtle statement there I think since he is Eric's maker and CH is the Maker - should have seen that coming #3 - the inconsistencies I love it when an author changes canon to suit their needs. All of the sudden everything that happened before is not relevant and nothing that was said before matters. Eric and Sookie talked about turning her, and he was fine with not doing so. Or the fact that Sookie can hear Sam's thoughts and has numerous times, and does so even after this book in IIHAH, but we are told she only gets emotions from him in DEA. Not to mention things like how is Sam going to keep her safe from all the other vampires besides Freyda and FDC - lol FDC - yeah we know how well he honors his deals. Oh and let's not forget that Sookie is not even sure if it is the CD that is making her feel this way - so a BB isn't okay but a magical fairy CD is? It is convenient writing, lazy and shows no respect. #4 - the horrible all star revue and alphabet brigade...and food! I could have used less CH worrying about how she was going to fill out her Coda "After Dead" alphabet brigade by introducing new characters to make up for hard letters like Xavier and a little more time with the important issues of the day like doing a 180 and developing a HEA In 352 pages. It seemed like everyone had to make a cameo. I felt like I was reading a who's who of the Sookieverse, some sort of celebrity roast, instead of a novel that had more important issues to resolve. And it felt like every time a new character was introduced everyone had to eat. Maybe that is why I always liked the vampire story line so much, they didn't eat and I didn't have to read all those meals getting prepared. #5 - animal sex Ewwwww - psst don't write about animals and sex. I thought the monkey sex was a little squicky in DR, but seal sex? It....welll...lets just say when one of the people can actually turn into a seal at any moment you might not want to bring that up. It definitely gave it an ick factor. ------------------------------ I probably would have given the book 4 stars even if Sam had been the HEA if it showed any semblance of Sookie growing as a character and learning something and getting a happy ending. In the end she got a maybe, and ended up being a prejudice small town girl who is right back where she started with nothing to show for it but a few scars. I came away not liking any of the major characters, especially Sookie whom I have loved for years. The book is just a sad, sad ending, and it really does feel like CH flipped the majority of her fans the bird.