Book Review- Dead in the Family

I finished reading Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris today.

From Goodreads:

After enduring torture and the loss of loved ones during the brief but deadly Faery War, Sookie Stackhouse is hurt and she's angry. Just about the only bright spot in her life is the love she thinks she feels for vampire Eric Northman. But he's under scrutiny by the new Vampire King because of their relationship. And as the political implications of the Shifters coming out are beginning to be felt, Sookie's connection to the Shreveport pack draws her into the debate. Worst of all, though the door to Faery has been closed, there are still some Fae on the human side-and one of them is angry at Sookie. Very, very angry...

Part of this book was...disturbing I guess is the word.  There's a new character in this book.  Alexei.  Who was part of the Russian royal family and was killed when he was 13.  So while he was doing all of his vampire acts in the book, in  my head I was seeing this thirteen year old kid and it bothered me.

And this book seemed so much sadder than the ones before.  There is a lot of death and gore, of course, but there doesn't seem to be anything happy or hopeful in the book. 

And I wanted more Sookie/Eric action.  Eric isn't present all that much in the book, at least not in a romantic way. 

I did like Sookie's relationship development with her cousin, Hunter, who has the same ability that she does.  I thought it brought out the softer side of Sookie, and I liked it. 

I'm going to pick up the next book in the series, Dead Reckoning, tomorrow so we'll se where that book leads us!

I gave this book a rating of 3/5.

This book fulfills items in the following challenges:
Sookie Stackhouse Reading Challenge: Dead in the Family
2011 100+ Reading Challenge: 82 

*FTC Disclosure:  I received this book for free by trading with a friend.