Title: Deadlocked

Author: Charlaine Harris

336 pages, Published by Ace

Charlaine’s Info: Website

Buy The Book: Amazon

Summary:

It’s vampire politics as usual around the town of Bon Temps, but never before have they hit so close to Sookie’s heart…

Growing up with telepathic abilities, Sookie Stackhouse realized early on there were things she’d rather not know. And now that she’s an adult, she also realizes that some things she knows about, she’d rather not see—like Eric Northman feeding off another woman. A younger one.

There’s a thing or two she’d like to say about that, but she has to keep quiet—Felipe de Castro, the Vampire King of Louisiana (and Arkansas and Nevada), is in town. It’s the worst possible time for a human body to show up in Eric’s front yard—especially the body of the woman whose blood he just drank.

Now, it’s up to Sookie and Bill, the official Area Five investigator, to solve the murder. Sookie thinks that, at least this time, the dead girl’s fate has nothing to do with her. But she is wrong. She has an enemy, one far more devious than she would ever suspect, who’s set out to make Sookie’s world come crashing down. (Summary provided by Ace.)

My Thoughts:

Warning! The Following contains lots of spoilers pertaining to Deadlocked including how the book ends. Do not read this if you haven’t read it yet. Also, this will probably not make any sense unless you have read the book already. So read Deadlocked. Then come back and read this.

I’m calling this a book reaction rather than a book review because I have become emotionally invested in the Sookie Stackhouse series. I feel like it’s hard for me to give a review based on anything other than how I feel about what happened to the characters I have grown to care so much about. I have the utmost respect for Charlaine Harris as a writer. Before I started blogging (and had more time to read) I followed and loved every single one of her many series. So this “book reaction” does not pertain to her skill as a writer. As a writer with Deadlocked (book twelve in the Sookie Stackhouse series), Harris’s writing is still tight, her characterizations are still vivid, and Bon Temps still remains a place that feels like home.

With that said, I had a couple of issues with this installment of my favorite (yes I said favorite) series. First, there is no sex in this book. Unless I missed something, there is nary a sex scene in Deadlocked. With each book I have come to expect Sookie to have a couple of hot sex scenes. There isn’t one in this book. Maybe it’s wrong of me to expect a sex scene or two in this book since part of the plot is that Sookie is having relationship issues with Eric. But by golly, I expected some nookie.

I know I sound like an idiot. I almost didn’t write about the book because I sound like one of those weirdos that thinks fictional characters are real people. But I think that’s part of the problem. The citizens of Bon Temps have become all too real to me over the last twelve books. I have come to know and love them like old friends. And just like with friends I have hopes and expectations for how I want their lives to turn out.

This leads to my other issue with the book. In this book Sookie is in possession of a magical fey object called a cluviel dor. The cluviel dor will grant one wish to the person who posseses it. So there is much talk of the cluviel dor throughout the book. Sookie wonders what on earth she should wish for. Then something happens. Sookie finds out that Eric’s maker signed Eric over to the queen of another state before he was killed. Since Eric is married to Sookie, he would be the Queen’s consort and not an actual king. I find this tragic. It was a last laugh from his abusive maker. I mean he basically signed Eric over to be this woman’s whore and enforcer from the way I read it. For those of you who only watch True Blood, in the books Eric’s maker is a total a-hole. Anyway, Sookie finds this out and expects Eric to say no to the vampire queen whom he’s supposed to be bound to by an unbreakable contract his maker made without his knowledge. Sookie is mad because she found out about it from the queen not Eric. (See there are so many spoilers in this. Stop reading now if you don’t want to know how the book ends.) Eric finds out Sookie is in possession of the cluviel dor. He basically begs her to use it on him. And by begs her I mean he vaguely implies she should use it which for Eric is begging. Then there are what seemed like pages of Sookie thinking, I wonder what Eric meant? I wonder what Eric meant? Meanwhile I’m reading the book giving it my bitchface look screaming, “Use the cluviel dor on him Sookie!!!”

Okay, so another plot line in the book is that the Shreveport pack enforcer, Jannalynn, hates Sookie. Jannalynn is dating Sam. A bunch of stuff happens and it ends up that Jannalyn played a big part in the murder that is the central mystery of the book. There is this pack meeting where Jannalyn has to fight another pack member to the death. Sookie, Eric, and Sam are all there to watch. Jannalyn goes to stab Alcide misses and stabs Sam. Sam dies. Sookie uses the cluviel dor to save Sam’s life. At this point I am pissed. Guess who else is pissed? Eric. He just leaves without saying a word to Sookie. So I guess they are done. I have always been Team Eric. I feel like Sam has poor judgement when it comes to women. I feel like Sookie used the cluviel dor rashly without considering what she was doing. Most of all, I feel like an idiot for saying what I think fictional characters were thinking when they are puppets being animated by the author, but that’s how real these characters have become to me.

After all of that, I wouldn’t say I did not enjoy the book. I’m just sad about the outcome. Unless Charlaine Harris has a huge twist in store for the next book, I’m willing to bet Sookie either ends up alone or with Sam. If it comes to Sam or being alone, I hope she ends up alone. Sookie is a strong woman and she doesn’t have to end up with anyone. Although, I think we all want to see her have a fairytale ending. For me that ending was with her and Eric being together. I will read the next book regardless because despite my disappointment in the outcome of Deadlocked it was still entertaining as hell.

So, have you read Deadlocked? What did you think? Are there any Team Sam people out there who are thrilled with the ending? Any other Team Eric peeps like me who were disappointed? Let me know in the comments section.

~~

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Here are some links to articles written by me and others across the web:

Blissfully Domestic

I have a side writing gig that I love over at Blissfully Domestic.

Here is a link to a couple of articles I wrote for the Family/Parenting section over at Blissfully Domestic this past week:

How To Make A Kite: A Fun Spring Activity

What’s Your Mom Salary? Calculate Your Mom Salary and Win With Salary.com!

Posts on The Well-Read Wife From The Past Week

If You Like Mad Men, You’ll Love This Print By Flapperdoodle

Guest Post: Lyon’s Bride and The Price of Love by Cathy Maxwell

Photo: I Love The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty

Book Review: The Chaperone By Laura Moriarty

Cool Stuff Other People Wrote:

Boggle The Mind: NYT Review of  Imagine by Jonah Lehrer

The Founder Of Mother’s Day Later Fought To Have it Abolished

So You Wanna Read About Comedy?

The Time Magazine Breast Feeding Cover: Its art historical images and what makes the cover so sensational

Personal Note:

Today is Mother’s Day and I’m sitting in my living room taking it easy. I hope everyone’s having a great weekend. I’ve had a jam packed week. Between reading and writing up a storm for The Well-Read Wife & Blissfully Domestic, I have attended a party, a fundraiser, and went to the spa twice to get ready for the parties. This sounds insane to write, but it’s all f*cking exhausting sometimes. I also got eyelash extensions this week too (see above picture). All of the spa stuff and the eyelash extensions were happies from my husband, because I’ve been working super hard on my diet. I’ve lost 32 lbs so far on the Paleo diet, and every pound has been a struggle.

I’m also working on a book which was sorely neglected while I did all of the other stuff this week. However, I did write a really weird, extremely detailed essay about the possibility of my one day having a half Sasquatch baby. I’m not sure if it’ll ever see the light of day on this site, but I sure did waste all of my free time this week writing it for no reason at all. I procrastinate in the oddest ways.

I am super excited for BEA Bloggers in New York this June. I am speaking on a panel about Creating Community and Driving Engagement. The other people on the panel with me are all SO awesome: Michelle Dunphy from Authors Are ROCKSTARS!, David Lee King Digital Services Director at Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library, and Stacey O’Neale of Entangled Publishing. Please take time to stop by each of their websites. We have already started working together to produce what I think is going to be a stellar presentation.

I’m taking a two week hiatus from my If You Like Mad Men series for a couple of reasons: Today is Mother’s Day and next Sunday I’ll be on my way back from Disney World. So the series will pick back up in a couple of weeks. I am so excited to go to Disney with Nate and the boys. My youngest Brucie is two and a half years old, and I think he’ll finally really enjoy Disney. (He doesn’t remember his previous trip to Disney World.) If any burglars are reading this, we will have a house sitter this week. We have an awesome alarm system, and we have security cameras all over the place.

I’ll probably post a couple of reviews this week before I leave for vacation. I hope everybody has a great week!

~~

Make sure you don’t miss a thing! If you’re new to The Well-Read Wife, click here to subscribe. Be sure to follow me on Twitter and “like” me on Facebook.

 

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Title: The Chaperone

Author: Laura Moriarty

384 pages, Published by Riverhead

Laura’s Info: Website | Twitter | Facebook

Buy The Book: Amazon

Summary:

A captivating novel about the woman who chaperoned an irreverent Louise Brooks to New York City in 1922, and the summer that would change them both.

Only a few years before becoming a famous actress and an icon for her generation, a fifteen-year-old Louise Brooks leaves Wichita to make it big in New York. Much to her annoyance, she is accompanied by a thirty-six-year-old chaperone who is neither mother nor friend. Cora Carlisle is a complicated but traditional woman with her own reasons for making the trip. She has no idea what she’s in for: Young Louise, already stunningly beautiful and sporting her famous blunt bangs and black bob, is known for her arrogance and her lack of respect for convention. Ultimately, the five weeks they spend together will change their lives forever.

For Cora, New York holds the promise of discovery that might prove an answer to the question at the center of her being, and even as she does her best to watch over Louise in a strange and bustling city, she embarks on her own mission. And while what she finds isn’t what she anticipated, it liberates her in a way she could not have imagined. Over the course of the summer, Cora’s eyes are opened to the promise of the twentieth century and a new understanding of the possibilities for being fully alive. (Summary provided by Riverhead.)

My Thoughts:

When I started the The Chaperone, I assumed the main focus of the novel would be on Louise Brooks. This was a little dense on my part as the book is titled The Chaperone, so obviously it’s going to be about the chaperone. Duh Mandy. The silent film era star Louise Brooks does play a prominent role in the novel as seen through the eyes of Cora her chaperone for a 1922 summer visit to New York City. I was captivated by Cora’s story and the parallels between Cora and her young ward on the trip to New York.

Moriarty’s narrative slips back and forth seamlessly between Cora’s present and past. Cora’s story like Louise’s own back story is heartbreaking at times and bittersweet at other times. There were so many passages throughout the book that resonated with me including the following passage regarding Cora reading The Age Of Innocence by Edith Wharton before heading to New York with Louise:

It was also set in New York City, and though it was set in the previous century, Cora thought it would be interesting to read about the very place that they were headed, to picture long dead characters walking the very streets that would soon be under her feet.

I read this and felt one of those little sparks that you feel when you read a passage that you can relate to so vividly. I’m reading a book about long gone people from the last century that takes place mostly in New York City before I head to New York for BEA (Book Expo America) next month. It gave me chills to read that sentence where a character in a book from the previous century is thinking the same thing I am.  On the same page in the book Louise Brooks makes the statement to Cora that historical fiction bores her. I thought that was a funny reference to the genre I was thoroughly enjoying reading at the moment.

Moriarty has a way of adding the most poignant observations at the most unexpected times. During an exchange with Louise’s dance instructor in New York. The instructor says to Cora in reference to Louise’s relationship with her mother, Myra,” Show me a mother with such thwarted ambition, and I’ll show you a daughter born for success.” That one sentence perfectly summed up the root of Louise’s determination to become a star.

Throughout The Chaperone Cora struggles with accepting that the times were indeed changing. From hemlines to racial relations to contraception, important societal issues of the time period appear frequently throughout The Chaperone. Including one passage where Cora notes that women were not allowed to testify before voting began for a bill concerning making contraception information available. It is a startling reminder that women are still facing some of the issues that Cora dealt with in the 20′s and 30′s.

The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty is the kind of novel that makes me want to underline passages and write notes in the margin to look at later. It is the type of novel that made me sigh through my tears as I finished it. A sigh both of contentment and of longing. It is the type of book I wish could have gone on and on. It is perfection. Or at least it’s my idea of what the perfect novel should be.

Many thanks to TLC Book Tours for including me on the tour for The Chaperone. Be sure and check out my photo tribute to The Chaperone.  Also, stop by and check out the other stops on the tour:

Tuesday, May 1st: Sophisticated Dorkiness

Wednesday, May 2nd: bookchickdi

Thursday, May 3rd: From Left to Write

Friday, May 4th: Rayment’s Readings, Rants and Ramblings

Monday, May 7th: Frenzy of Noise

Thursday, May 10th: Bewitched Bookworms

Friday, May 11th: The Well-Read Wife

Monday, May 14th: Fire and Ice

Tuesday, May 15th: Book Journey

Wednesday, May 16th: Babbling About Books and More

Thursday, May 17th: Workaday Reads

Friday, May 18th: An Avid Reader’s Musings

Saturday, May 19th: Midnight Book Girl

Monday, May 21st: Never Too Fond of Books

Tuesday, May 22nd: The Compulsive Reader

Wednesday, May 23rd: Kritters Ramblings

Thursday, May 24th: Literate Housewife

Friday, May 25th: Paperspines

Monday, May 28th: Sassymonkey Reads

Tuesday, May 29th: Picky Girl

Wednesday, May 30th: Chaos is a Friend of Mine

Thursday, May 31st: An Unconventional Librarian

Friday, June 1st: The 3 R’s: Reading, ‘Riting, and Randomness

Date TBD: Verb Vixen

FTC Disclosure: I received a complementary copy of this book for review.

~~~

Make sure you don’t miss a thing! If you’re new to The Well-Read Wife, click here to subscribe. Be sure to follow me on Twitter and “like” me on Facebook.

 

 

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Photo: I Love The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty

May 10, 2012

 I am thrilled to be part of the TLC Book Tour for The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty. I loved Moriarty’s novel about Louise Brooks and Cora Carlisle’s trip to New York City from Kansas. It takes place in 1922, so I thought it would be fun to dress up like a flapper and pose with [...]

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Guest Post: Lyon’s Bride and The Price of Love by Cathy Maxwell

May 8, 2012

I am so excited to welcome New York Times best selling author, Cathy Maxwell to The Well-Read Wife for a guest post. Her latest novel is called Lyon’s Bride: The Chattan Curse (Avon, $7.99). Lyon’s Bride: The Chattan Curse has an intriguing plot that involves a fatal curse and star crossed lovers. Cathy’s guest post [...]

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If You Like Mad Men, You’ll Love This Print By Flapperdoodle

May 6, 2012

I’m doing my If You Like Mad Men post differently this week. I’m featuring a cute Mad Men inspired 8×10 print by Flapperdoodle. It features Betty, Joan, and Peggy. Click here to check out Flapperdoodle’s Etsy shop. This print is the perfect gift for the Mad Men lover in your life! This is part five [...]

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Link Roundup and A Personal Note

May 5, 2012

  Above Photo: Wearing my new favorite ring from Modcloth while I edit photos. Here are some links to articles written by me and others across the web: Blissfully Domestic I have a side writing gig that I love over at Blissfully Domestic. Here is a link to an article I wrote for the Family/Parenting [...]

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