GAW RUIN THE ENDING WHYDONTCHA
--SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS--
Don't read if you don't wanna get spoiled, y'alls.
With the (soft) ending of the Sookie Stackhouse saga on bookshelves everywhere, sj, Rob and I got together to discuss how we felt about how the series wrapped up. We talked about some other stuff, too.
LET THE DISCUSSION BEGIN!*
*which, of course, it's already over. WORK WITH ME HERE, people.
sj: Anyway, BRING ON THE SOOKIE BASHING!
Susie: I was actually shocked that it wasn't AS BAD as I expected.
sj: REALLY?
sj: Ugh, I knew I was in for a frothy rant when she had to tell us how hard it was to get the stupid DiGiorno cardboard into the trash.
Susie: Really. I guess I expected a lot worse somehow. Maybe more trips through the Taco Bell drive-thru.
Rob: lollll...no, it was pretty good; but then, I liked them all. It was all one big book to me.
Susie: The past several were really starting to disappoint me. I felt like she was cramming in a whole bunch of filler.
sj: I stand by what I said in my GR review - that if the last three books had been pared down and combined, it would have been a kickass ending
sj: Except for the faerie stuff in Dead in the Family. I liked that.
Rob: really? I didnt want to see them end, and I read them so fast I don't see the filler. Mostly I was disappointed that she wound up with Sam; I will always prefer Eric... but then, I pretty much knew she wouldn't go there, she'd been building up to it starting with the broken bond.
Susie: I was also pretty bummed to see her end up with Sam. Not as bummed as the people THREATENING HER ON FACEBOOK (geez people) but I prefer Eric.
Susie: (Also, I laughed really hard at the Sookie/Sam sex scene... I laughed and laughed.)
sj: I laughed too!
Rob: Most of them make me laugh.
Susie: Sookie and her "good please again dick long hard" internal monologue. >.<
Rob: She tends to keep them short and sweet, but book 4 is still the best when it comes to sex.
Susie: I haven't re-read any of the books, like ever.. I would say I'm probably due but I'm not sure I will re-read them
Rob: I've reread them til they're now beat to shit.
sj: Yeah, I haven't ever re-read them either
sj: which might be why I have to read the wiki summary before a new one comes out.
Rob: btw, there is still one more to go... a sort of wrap-up due in October.
sj: like the end of Fast Times at Ridgemont High.
Susie: She could have done a Rowling and put it in an epilogue.
sj: "Sam sold the bar and ended up back in Texas alone"
Rob: Sookie fans will scramble for the new one, hoping Harris will write "ha, fooled you all, Sookie is now in OK and having Eric's baby..."
sj: HAHA!
sj: Freida's dead and Eric is King of ALL THE US!
Rob: and Sookie is now a pregnant vampire and his queen...
Susie: but Sookie is still working at Merlotte's, even so.
sj: Bill got staked by Sookie when she caught him lurking in her yard!
sj: Lafayette came back from the dead!
Susie: MAN, I was so bummed when Lafayette died.
sj: I know, me too.
sj: back when I was actually invested in them.
sj: I CARED THEN!
sj: Susie, are you watching the show?
Susie: True Blood? Naw. I tried a few episodes but it made me feel stabby since it's so different from the books.
sj: I thought I would hate it for that reason
sj: cos you know I want all adaptations to die
sj: but then I just said "ahhhh, fuck it" and gave in
sj: and now it's laughably enjoyable.
Rob: My sister made me watch them for the first two years, which was torture, but not anymore, thank dog...
sj: it's ridiculous how bad it is
sj: but Alexander Skarsgård makes it worth watching
sj: and I don't even LIKE blonds.
Susie: Is that Eric?
sj: YES!
Rob: yes, he is cute...
Susie: I also don't like blonds.. another reason I have no compulsion to watch the show. I don't want to actually SEE Eric.
Okay, well, I have to admit, he's looking pretty hunky since he cut his hair.
Ugh. No. Moar Eric, plz.
Rob: I don't like anyone else though. I especially don't like the guy who plays Sam, he never washes his hair.
sj: No, Sam is gross.
Susie: the only reason I really thought about going forward with it was Lafayette, but then they had a scene that looked like it was straight out of something like Boyz in the Hood or Menace II Society, and I was like O_O, that is SO NOT BON TEMPS.
Rob: I bet Harris regrets selling them the damn rights. I'd have killed them all by now with a machete.
Susie: I was looking through the book summaries earlier, to refresh my memory.. hee, I really liked the one where Eric lost his memory.
sj: EVERYONE loved that one
Rob: That's book four... which also has the best sex scenes, too.
sj: Book four was totally hawt.
sj: and Eric was all sensitive
Susie: Yessss.
Susie: I liked Sensitive Eric.
Rob: I liked Eric, period. Sam gets on my nerves, always did.
sj: Oh, I liked the one with the um...the vampire conference
Susie: oh, me too. The one with Sophie-Anne?
Rob: and Andre... the creep.
sj: where Queen Sophie dies
Susie: I liked the series really well right up until about... probably three books ago. I agree with you, sj--if she had condensed the books down a tad, it probably would have been a more lively ending.
Susie: I felt like Sookie was doing a lot of waiting around and mooning over Eric.
sj: YES! I really think the last three felt like novellas that she padded out.
Susie: and eating a lot of quesadillas.
sj: "I KNOW! People want to know what SHE'S EATING!"
sj: What's southern? Sonic? Yeah, Sonic
sj: Taco Bell? WHY NOT
Rob: I like how we had to know all about what she was wearing, down to the underwear. Do I need to know her panties were steel blue?
sj: Oh, at "and made me a sandwich for a belated lunch. I ate about half of it. I wasn't that hungry, though it had been a while since I had eaten a real meal" I wrote "NOT HUNGRY?!?!?!"
sj: Because WHEN IS SOOKIE NOT HUNGRY?
sj: And when Quinn offered to make home fries, but on the next page they were eating French fries and I got SO MAD because they are NOT the same thing.
sj: I think most of my notes are food related, actually.
Rob: lollll... Those little details always trip them up.
Susie: I didn't even catch the home fries/french fries thing. I was starting to glaze over some of the filler scenes.
Susie: "Oh, Sookie's running errands" zzz. "Sookie's catching up on what's new with Tara! (hint: not that much)" zzzzzzz.
sj: I got grossed out when Sookie talked about the "sweat trickling down [her] butt cheeks."
sj: NO ONE TALKS ABOUT THAT
Susie: Also, let's be real, if Sookie had a sweaty butt, she'd call it what we call it down in the south: swamp ass.
Rob: Ick. I dont want to hear about it either way.
sj: That's what I'm saying.
sj: Why was it even necessary to say that?
sj: and why don't editors catch these things?
Rob: Who knows... maybe so we'd all say ICK?
Susie: I bet Charlaine barely got edited there toward the end
Susie: she probably had Stephen King syndrome
Rob: Unlikely; the more money they make the less they want to tamper, just ask Stephen King--he hasn't had a book edited since 1978. [jinx, Rob! -- Susie]
Rob: Are either of you surprised Claude turned out to be the creep?
Susie: No, but I'm bummed that Claude turned out to be bad.
sj: Not really
sj: and yes, what Susie said
Susie: I really loved the part where she had the homophobes ready to jump each others' bones, that tickled me.
sj: I kind of liked that Claude was an asshole, but a FAMILY ORIENTED asshole
Rob: me too...but not surprised. Like Sam, it seemed inevitable.
sj: OH, THAT REMINDS ME
sj: in the show
sj: Steve Newlin is now a vampire AND GAY.
Susie: wat.
Rob: (groans)
Susie: Go home, Alan Ball, you're drunk.
I.. I just... WHAT
Are there any Sookie fans in the house? How did you feel about Dead Ever After and the end(ish) of the Sookie Stackhouse novels? Are you okay with Sam, or are you Team Eric all the way? Tell us ALL YOUR FEELS about the series below!
[sc:greengeekgirl]
BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!
Even though that's pretty much the end of our Sookie discussion, we kept chatting and (as occurs frequently when a whole group of booksluts get together), the topic wound back around to books--this time, Harry Potter and a few other things. So, if you want, you can keep reading our chat, or skip down to the comments to talk about Sookie.
BONUS MATERIAL:
sj: The drinkalongs are FUN if you like watching movies, drinking, and snarking on things.
sj: which, who doesn't like those things?
Rob: lolllll
Susie: I only drink about half the time, but the snarking is still fun.
sj: the snarking is the best part.
sj: although that night I broke my bottle of wine was THE WORST cos
sj: ugh, Chamber of Secrets without booze?
Rob: I'd need booze to watch the Harry Potter films again.
Susie: I only did two of the movies I think, because of work and husband. I wish I had watched more, cos now I am in the mood for Harry Potter.
Rob: Ever since Daniel Radcliffe's legs stopped growing w/ the rest of him I've lost interest, it's too distracting. And ever since book 7, HP just pisses me off. I haven't forgiven Rowling for it yet.
Susie: Snaaape
Susie: the pre-book-7 Snape Debates were epic
Rob: They were. Then she made snape a "good guy" and ruined it all.
sj: THANK YOU!
sj: I FUCKING HATE SNAPE STILL
Rob: she thought she was being clever with that one, the bitch. She was just being inconsistent.
Rob: YES, always hated his guts. He was a total creep, and I don't buy the "oh, but he loved Harry's mom!"
sj: <3
Rob: 'but he loved Lily, that's why he treated her son like shit...'
Susie: I wasn't surprised he turned out to be a double-double agent, but the being in love with Harry's mom part made me groan.
Rob: Then Harry goes and names his kid after him, please.
Rob: Snape hated Harry for not dying like he was supposed to.
Susie: Have to say though, they did do some damn fine casting for Snape.
Rob: They did...that's because she had control of that, otherwise they would have fucked it up...
Rob: I really can't believe people bought it though... the whole 'he loved Lily' crap... the only reason why he felt guilty and hated Voldemort is because, as far as Snape was concerned, Voldemort screwed up and killed Lily instead of only Harry and James. If Voldemort had gotten it right, Snape would have still been a death eater.
Susie: Snape was a twisted little shit.
Rob: yes!
Susie: I think there's an alternative story here somewhere, where Snape takes over and becomes the Dark Lord, heh.
Rob: That's the only book I haven't reread in the series.
sj: I used to belong to this HP for grownups board...
sj: where people also posted fanfic and art and stuff
sj: and someone wrote an ADDENDUM to the epilogue
sj: where after Harry put his kids on the train
sj: he saw Dudley walking through the mist with his youngest child on his shoulders
sj: having just put his oldest on the train
sj: and THAT has become my own personal canon
sj: because fuck her for not telling us what happened to the Dursleys after they left.
Susie: Dudley's kids would totally beat up Harry's kids
Rob: Yeah, she never did tell us. Oh! and I cant forgive her for killing off Fred and Hedwig either. That was just dumb and unnecessary.
sj: and Remus and Tonks TOGETHER
sj: ughhhhhhh
Susie: I will never forgive her for killing Sirius.
Rob: oh, THAT too... I loved Sirius
Susie: like, great, take away EVERY ADULT HARRY HAS EVER HAD TO CARE FOR HIM
sj: DUDE
sj: when Sirius died, then Dumbles
sj: I HAD THIS WHOLE THEORY
sj: that didn't pan out
sj: BECAUSE HAGRID WAS SUPPOSED TO DIE
Rob: He should have, instead of Fred, that would make more sense.
Susie: why was Hagrid supposed to die?
sj: okay
sj: long story short
sj: in the creation of the Philosopher's Stone
sj: there are supposed to be three main stages
sj: and they're in order of colour:
sj: Black, White, Red.
sj: Black=Sirius
sj: Albus=White
sj: Rubeus=Red
sj: BUT I PUT MORE THOUGHT INTO IT THAN SHE DID
sj: because that's how I roll.
Rob: I don't think she put as much thought into any of it other than "I really love Snape, so he's gonna be a good guy and it'll fool everyone!"
Susie: I'm just pissed that she separated Fred and George.. they were supposed to grow old at the joke shop together and be selling Harry's kids some prank items.
sj: damn, I am STILL worked up over this.
Rob: lolllll... me too. I guess because it consumed us for so long at the time.
sj: Right, it was like The Dark Tower all over again
Rob: yeah, Fred dying sucks... and it was pointless--which is, I suppose, her point, that death is random, pointless, blah blah. But fuck that, she killed off enough people.
Susie: come to think of it, I'm hard-pressed to think of a recent series that hasn't totally ended in disappointment for me.
Susie: okay, the Dark Tower series wasn't TOTALLY disappointing, but there were disappointments.
sj: some, yes
sj: well, some that made me cry
sj: CRY LIKE A LITTLE GIRL.
And then we started talking about how trashy V.C. Andrews is. We were probably drinking.
