I really wish we could give half ratings to books in GR. It would make things so much more precise. Anyway. My thoughts:
1. Sookie is awesome. I love her character, she's really different in that she's straight-froward and honest but not naive. The male lead, at least in this book, is Bill and he was sweet, caring, etc. but also more than a little dull. Eric made all of 3 appearances in this book, and it intrigues me how he goes from being no less than a side character to the hero everyone seems to adore.
2. The plot's not the most original one ever; the same murders, the same heroine who seems to be in the middle of it all, and the same obvious "unexpected" murderer. Still, the characters are interesting enough to make me keep reading since I hope it'll turn out to be one of my favorite series in the long run.
3. Sookie is a waitress, and I've about had it with all of these female protagonists either being waitresses or policewomen. There are so many other interesting careers out there that would make just as good of a heroine, but I rarely read about them anymore, and it's getting really old.
Despite everything though, I think I'll give the next couple of books in this series a try. Not immediately, probably, but still not too far in the future either.
 - Charlaine Harris)
