Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

******************SPOILER ALERT************************** I have been a fan of this series since book 1. I am a fan who bought the newest book the day it came out and took the day off to read it through. I say this as a preface to what comes next. There are so many things that are wrong with this last book, starting with continuity failures. The author reverses herself on so many things she wrote previously;a last minute "fix" for Sookie's telepahty problem when she firmly established in earlier books (see conversations with Niall & Mr Catiliades) that it couldn't be taken away. She has Sookie tell Sam she can't hear his thoughts, only his emotions. Yet in previous books she heard him, as well as those of Quinn and Alcide. (This as a way to make it easier for her to be with Sam I suppose). Sam has been firmly ensconced in the "best friend/boss/almost older brother" role for most of the series and suddenly that changes. There is no build up in the books for this change,since it apparently is at least partially due to the Cluviel Dor she used to save him. And there is another huge continuity issue. Sookie hated the blood bond because she feared that it caused her to love Eric, yet she is fine with the possibility that the CD is effecting how she feels about Sam. And once again we have a fairy (Claude) back, it seems the idea of those portals being closed is more of a thought than a fact. The cruelest thing though I think is the way Eric's character was portrayed. While I confess I loved the romance between him and Sookie, I always thought that the author was not going to leave them together at the end. She has been quoted too many times as being actually confused why the fans of this series like Eric so much. But there could have been a gracious way to end their relationship rather than the gut wrenching painful way it was done. And I will mention in passing that the author has been given credit for making the vampires in the SVM world be a metaphor for the gay community (Vampires "came out of" of the coffin). Butthe message from DEA is clearly, it's too difficult to deal with this world, better to go back to what you know and feel safe with. I could go on and on. One positive comment, I do want to thank Charlaine Harris for creating the SVM world and the wonderful characters she populated it with. I just wish that in the end she had cared about them as much as her readers do.