Sookie Stackhouse is a small-time cocktail waitress in small-town Louisiana.
She's quiet, keeps to herself, and doesn't get out much. Not because she's
not pretty. She is. It's just that, well, Sookie has this sort of 'disability'. She
can read minds. And that doesn't make her too dateable. And then along
comes Bill: he's tall, dark and handsome - and Sookie can't 'hear' a word he's
thinking. He's exactly the type of guy she's been waiting for all her life.

But Bill has a disability of his own: he's a vampire. Worse than that, he hangs
with a seriously creepy crowd, with a reputation for trouble - of the murderous
kind.

And when one of Sookie's colleagues is killer, she begins to fear she'll be next...

* * * * * * * * * *

Sadly, I have never managed to watch the show "True Blood". I went into the Sookie Stackhouse series, totally unknowing as to what was going to happen, and who the characters were. I wouldn't call this series Young Adult, but it does have crossover appeal for teens (aged 16 plus, I'd recommend) so that's why I'm reviewing it here.

Right off the bat, if you're looking for a deep, meaningful book, you need to look somewhere else. Dead Until Dark isn't the kind of story that leaves you lying awake at night, pondering what it is that you've just read. It doesn't make you question yourself, your purpose or... anything really. But that doesn't mean it is a bad book. Some books are meant to be deep, others are there for pure entertainment, and Dead Until Dark is quite entertaining.

Some of the dialogue was very awkward and forced. I mean, I know Bill is old-fashioned but "I want to enter you again." Seriously? I'm only 16, and I may not have been alive 200 years ago, but I'm preeeeeeetty sure that's not a normal thing to say, no matter the time period. And on the topic of things not making sense... *SPOILER* Sookie finds her grandmother brutally murdered in her kitchen, her boyfriend then appears magically fast, and her first reaction isn't to scream and cry over the horrible sight before her eyes, it's to laugh at how ridiculous her boyfriend's shirt is. Huh!? *END SPOILER*

Overall, though, Dead Until Dark is a quick, fun, enjoyable read. Just beware going into it with very high expectations, this is very much a guilty pleasure read. I look forward to gonig on and reading the rest of the series!

THE SHORT VERSION:
I rate Dead Until Dark at 3&1/2 stars out of 5. I recommend it to lovers of vampire stories and paranormal romance, aged sixteen and over.