Dead Ever After is the 13th and final book in the Sookie Stackhouse series and therefore this review may contain spoilers for the previous books.

There’s a devil in New Orleans; trading wishes for souls. Meanwhile, barmaid and now co-bar-owner, Sookie, is preparing for her brother’s wedding and spending time with her friends. She’s trying not to think about how things lie between her and Eric; in his eyes she chose Sam over him. And Sam’s acting odd too but he has come back from the dead and might need time to adjust.

Experience had taught me it’s better to be wary and feel ridiculous than to get conked on the head or abducted or whatever the enemy plan of the day might be.

Dead Ever After serves as a curtain call to the series. Everyone rallies round to help out Sookie. There are appearances from her enemies as well as those who have gone out their way to help her over the years. I loved that she seemed to be getting a bit tired of all the trouble and danger that she gets in. Even Sookie agrees the end has come. The format deviates a little from the norm, starting with chapters in third person without Sookie present. I liked that it went back to its mystery roots, with plenty of chances to piece together the puzzle, despite there being a huge array of pieces to choose from.

Throughout the series, Sookie has been very lucky with getting away with things. So she’s been tortured and heart-broken…but she’s managed to avoid the hand of human law. When she is arrested, I did start to wonder if the series was going to end cruelly, lock her away for the rest of her years behind bars. It also made me chuckle that one of the vampires was called Karin Slaughter; I’m guessing this wasn’t a coincidence. Sookie is also reading Dana Stabenow, both little nods to the crime fiction Charlaine enjoys herself.

So, the ending. I have no idea why fans got so irate; just because it didn’t end how they wanted doesn’t make it a bad book. I actually think it was the best way to leave Sookie and be assured that she wouldn’t be in future danger. There were partings that were a little sad and I got a bit emotional at the end. It’s a fond farewell to a character I have loved, through the good times and the bad. But as the author, Charlaine is the one to decide what happens to them all. In the dedication, she states she can’t please everyone and therefore she ended it the way she had always intended. The actions of the previous book would have made it very hard for things to turn around, this was the logical conclusion if not the popular one.

Dead Ever After is published by Gollancz and is available now in hardback and ebook editions. Thank go to the publisher for providing a copy for review. If you do click through to Amazon, beware the “reviews” contain spoilers.

Goodreads | Amazon | Waterstones | Hive

Also reviewed @ Creative Deeds Reads

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book free of charge for review purposes only. Receipt of a book does not guarantee a review or endorsement. My reviews are my honest opinion and are not biased for the purpose of personal gain.