Morbid Romantic

Book Review & Personal Blog

Title: Living Dead in Dallas
Series: Southern Vampire Mysteries
Author(s): Charlaine Harris
Genre: Fiction
Tags: vampire, new orleans, telepathy, shape shifting, louisiana, romance, horror, mystery, murder, blood, sookie stackhouse, bill compton, true blood
Summary: Sookie finds herself in the path of more danger and mystery as she first investigates a murder before being sent out to Dallas to find a missing vampire.
Finished: November 15, 2008
Rating: 5 Stars
Review:

I enjoyed this one as much as I enjoyed the first one. It was more violent and full of more sexiness, but that just made it better! Sometimes you have to wonder how one girl can get into so much mess, but then you have to suspend reality when reading these books anyway because of the whole vampire/shapeshifter/etc thing. Moreso than the first one, you come to see as a reader just the sort of discrimination that vampires face. It’s strikingly familiar to anyone who watches the news today, which is full of people declaring hatred for lifestyles and people that they understand little about. Sookie first investigates the murder of a friend, which leads her to an interesting sex party. It’s not for people with delicate natures, but I found it a lot of fun. But be warned, this one is extra bloody and extra violent. After solving one mystery, Sookie is sent out on loan to help a vampire coven in Dallas find a missing member. This storyline makes clear that vampires, while making many mistakes in line with their nature, also make very human mistakes. I found the idea of a vampire wanting to die very… sweet. But, I do have a history of Anne Rice and her vampires are the most angst-filled in the genre, by far. Did I like this second installment in the Southern Vampire Mysteries? I LOVED it.

- More can be found in my Reviews section.
- If you would like me to review your book, send an email to me at morbidromantic@gmail.com. Read my Book Review Policy for more information.

Title: Dead Until Dark
Series: Southern Vampire Mysteries
Author(s): Charlaine Harris
Genre: Fiction
Tags: vampire, new orleans, telepathy, shape shifting, louisiana, romance, horror, mystery, murder, blood, sookie stackhouse, bill compton, true blood
Summary: Sookie is just a regular barmaid and telepath from Bon Temps, Louisiana until she meets the vampire Bill and becomes entwined in murder and supernatural mystery.
Finished: October 30, 2008
Rating: 5 Stars
Review:

It’s been a long time since I’ve read a good vampire story. In fact, I don’t read many vampire stories at all. I have high expectations… to high, I guess. But, I really enjoyed this one. And joy, none of the characters pissed me off or annoyed me. Dead Until Dark was funny, sexy, and interesting. I enjoyed the plot and really liked some of the characters. I overlooked my expectations for vampires to read this book and I found it worth my while. Though the Southern Vampires sort of defied some of what I think vampire should be, I liked the books enough to get past that superficial issue. I thought that the dialogue was especially good. Nothing can turn me off of a book faster than dialogue that seems forced or insincere… or just NOT the way that people talk. I am utterly charmed with the Southern Vampire Mysteries now. I finally found a series about vampires worth reading since Anne Rice. You want exciting and sexy? Read this series. In ways, it’s even better than anything Anne Rice created since hers remain shrouded in mystery and lore. The Southern Vampire Mysteries make vampires part of this world; it rips from them a preternatural sense of otherness and puts them directly in the human world shamelessly. Simply wonderful.

- More can be found in my Reviews section.
- If you would like me to review your book, send an email to me at morbidromantic@gmail.com. Read my Book Review Policy for more information.

Do you think reviewers are obligated to put up a good review of a book, even if they don’t like it? Have we come to a point where reviewers *need* to put up disclaimers to (hopefully) save themselves from being harassed by unhappy authors who get negative reviews?

I have to answer this one in two ways depending on circumstance.

If an author simply sends a book and asks for a review, the reviewer is not obligated to give a positive review by virtue of the fact that they were approached by the actual author and received a free book. A reviewer should be free to write of the book the way they feel and to give an honest review. I would think that an author would want honest feedback, for better or for worse. It is sort of the risk you take when you ask a stranger to read and review your stuff. It’s dishonest to expect someone to rave your book if that’s not what they feel. If you can’t take a bit of criticism as an artist, you should find a happier, nicer line of work. Not everyone is going to like the stuff you produce and they have a right to judge it accordingly.

But, if an artist gives the book with the stipulation that it must be a positive review, they have the right to be unhappy if they don’t get it. As dishonest as it is to want only positive reviews, some reviewers out there won’t mind if proper compensation is given. It’s within both parties rights to come to such an agreement.

Even if you are a die-hard fan of the public library system, I’m betting you have at least ONE permanent resident of your bookshelves in your house. I’m betting that no real book-lover can go through life without owning at least one book. So … why that one? What made you buy the books that you actually own, even though your usual preference is to borrow and return them?

If you usually buy your books, tell me why. Why buy instead of borrow? Why shell out your hard-earned dollars for something you could get for free?

I buy books because I want them. It makes me proud to see a shelf full of my favorite books. I love the way that book shelves look, colorfully lined in alphabetical or size order. It’s like chaos and order all rolled up into one. I can’t imagine living in a home without a book shelf and without ample books to read when bored.

True, I could save a lot of money by going to the library, but then the books wouldn’t be mine. I want hard, owned copies of my favorite books so that I can pick them up and read them whenever the whim hits. Sometimes I sit in bed and think to myself, “I’d love to read that chapter again.” If I have the book, it’s a simple matter of getting up, pulling the book out and flipping to the correct page. If I don’t have the book because I’ve returned it to the library, all I can do is long and go without. There’s something really special and comforting about an old favorite, a book you’ve had for years, with a broken spine and dog-eared pages. When you look at a book like that, you know you’ve had a lot of good late nights together with many more to come.

Another reason to buy books is to support the author. If it’s a favorite, give back to the person who wrote it by purchasing it. I want good authors to get proper credit for the excellent things that they write.

It was hard for her to sacrifice happiness. She had so little of it throughout her life that she almost felt entitled to it, like it was owed to her after so long of emotional struggle. It made her feel selfish, but the thought of going back to that place was more miserable than she could bear. As time went on, she tried to stop feeling this way, told herself that she had to mature and get past the immature emotions and the stifling anger that contributed its own ample, significant share of misery.

Sometimes, you have to sacrifice, she told herself. Even then, though you’ve lost, you can be satisfied that you’ve given someone something else. Her brain attempted to rearrange priority. Each time she managed to push aside her selfish needs, she thought in her head, you’re doing what no one ever did for you.

That’s the way cycles are broken.

Did you guys know that Morbid-Romantic.net was ‘born’ today, on this very day, in 2002? Yes, today is Morbid-Romantic.net’s sixth birthday! I have been at this domain for a total of six years. Can you believe it? Pretty soon, we are going to celebrate the decade together.

I bought his domain when I started college. It was sort of a treat to myself to get one, as I had a blog hosted at other places for a while up to that point. I chose a name from one of my favorite Anne Rice book quotes and set off on the purchase. I can still remember very clearly sitting in the computer lab of the school, checking my URL to see if it worked. And I can remember how happy I was to see it and know that it was mine. I also recall very clearly how upset I was when I almost lost this domain. In the six years I have had it, I haven’t once thought of buying a new personal domain. This is my domain. I want no other name but this and I can’t imagine ever wanting another one to identify me.

This blog/site has gone through many changes, but so have I. Okay, so it has little more purpose than it did from inception, but it makes me happy and that is all that counts.

I just wanted to mark this occasion by announcing and by declaring my ever lasting love for this domain.

And the count begins again.