I wanted to like this book. I wanted C. Harris to give us a fabulous ending to this series, and instead, we got the same old "Sookie is in danger from other supes" plotlines, only not done half as good as the earlier books in the series. I like the mystery aspect of this series, but need it always involve Sookie's abduction in some form?Now that I've gotten that off my chest, what I really disliked about this book was Sookie. And I've liked Sookie throughout this series. I've kept reading because of how I'd liked her spunky character, her acceptance of others, her good heart. But she still hasn't resolved her true feelings about Eric, or her position in the supe world. For much of the first part of the book, which gives us her day-to-day activities in excruciating detail, she complains that she and Eric aren't talking. Yet, when he wants to get together to talk, she finds some minor thing to send him away. I just didn't get that, and it happened more than once in the first 2/3 of the book.I find her behavior toward the supe world also contradictory. Much of Sookie's internal narration seems like she longs for a place in the human world, without all of the drama that comes from her supernatural side. Yet when the action turns supernatural, she jumps right in and comes alive on the pages. To me, she seems happiest in that world, in spite of the dangers. I started to notice this in the last book over her behavior regarding the demise of Victor. She wanted him dead; helped to plan it, but then cried over what she had become because of it. Can't have it both ways, Sookie.Then there's Eric. I still see him as a ultra-savvy political leader who understands the world he lives in. He has been treading very carefully since the takeover. Always practical, he knows that breaking his contract with Freyda will have serious repercussions. He's not going to do that unless he knows he can do so without putting Sookie or his people at risk. Even his manner of bringing up to Sookie that she could get him out of this marriage by using the cluviel dor was understated, as if he really didn't want to ask it of her, and I wonder about Niall's motives for even telling him about it. Hard to say much more about Eric, since he had so little book time. I think he is getting a raw deal here from Sookie, C. Harris and some of the readers. Overall, I thought the first 2/3 of the book was chock full of meaningless details that slowed the pacing of the story, the mystery plotline has been overdone, and not enough attention was given to what was happening between Eric and Sookie. The story does pick up in the last third, and I did enjoy the scene with Cataliades, loved and wanted more Pam and I did not have a problem with how Sookie ended up using the cluviel dor. What I do have a major problem with is Sookie's contradictory actions,and her unwillingness to accept that she "likes" the excitement of the supernatural world. In the context of this series, this book was a disappointment.
