Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris

4 out of 5 Robots!

My Review:
So, Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris picks up right where book nine left off. This is one of my absolute favorite series- but this is maybe one of my least favorites of them all. There were too many story lines going on and then it ended abruptly, too easily. Maybe I'm just being greedy here, the more Sookie, the better!

This installment literally focuses on the family of each character. This made the plot become a little perplexing- Tara's pregnancy, Sookie's cousins, Eric's maker & brother, Sam's family issues, Jason's new relationship and Bill's living family and sister... This isn't all of it either- Now that the werewolves are out, there are people who think each should register and Victor is out to get Sookie and Eric. Now, even though I would think that the Victor and Were problems would take first priority over the family drama, it didn't. They were both sorta pushed to the back burner to be dealt with later.

It was amazing to see Sookie and Eric in a REAL! relationship, it felt extremely natural. (Probably because I've been itching for this from the get-go.) But I found that I enjoyed them more as an item when they weren't a couple. It even made me sympathize with Bill- something I never thought I would do as Eric has always been my preferred choice for Sookie. The writing is just more entertaining when Eric is fighting for her attention and she is fighting her attraction to him. Maybe Charlaine is better with sexual tension than the actual sex?

So before you think I'm just doggin' on this book- I want to tell you some of the things I adored about it. Claude! We get to see an entirely new side to him. I hope that Charlaine gives Claude and Dermot some big parts in the upcoming books, they have a lot of potential to be magnificent characters- loved them. It is also  wonderful that our Sookie gets to embrace all these new family members, just brilliant how the family is developing. And Jason is finally growing up- acting his age with a new woman. Yay!

Sookie sucked me into her story right away- I was never bored, just the opposite. The book moved along at a steady pace, although the characters weren't fighting for their lives every five minutes. Maybe Charlaine was giving Sook a break after the torture she endured in the previous book? ;) I wasn't dismayed with the plot, but this book did have a "filler" feel to it. I will tell you what DID disappoint me though- where was Charlaine's typical suspense?! This must have been a relaxed transition into the next book... where something big is going to happen. I'm speculating, of course :) Now the real hard part... waiting to read what comes next! 

Book Details:
Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: Ace Hardcover; 1 edition (May 4, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0441018645
ISBN-13: 978-0441018642
Book Received From: Amazon.com

Other books in this series in the series that they should be read: 

1. Dead until Dark

2. Living Dead in Dallas

3. Club Dead

4. Dead to the World

5. Dead as a Doornail

6. Definitely Dead

7. All Together Dead

8. From Dead to Worse

9. Dead and Gone

10. Dead in the Family