Sookie vs Sookie

This is a bit of a break from my usual, but i found I needed to get this down and out of my head.
This week I wanted to do some light reading, and being in London, I returned to my Sookie stack house novels (the ones that inspired true blood). This was also because, I had attempted to watch the true blood series again and was (inevitably) disappointed. So having read and watched both I wanted to compare the star of both the novels and the tv show.
on initial reading of the Sookie Stackhouse books, i got what i thought i expected. the books were flighty, sexy and a little bit bloody. they are the epitome of easy reading. I appreciate a fantasy writer that can create a world with new rules that exists within our own. Now, upon reading the novels a second time, i found i was most interested in Sookie, the blonde, telepathic waitress. she does something that few flighty and beautiful romance heroine's can do- sookie learns from her mistakes. When we first meet her, she's just a waitress in a small town that most people consider crazy because of her telepathy. She is a part of the back ground, and she is just an innocent girl who has hardly ever been out of her small town. When that town changes, her reaction feels quite genuine. She is scared and cautious of her new relationship with the vampire Bill. After knowing him at slightly deeper than surface level, Sookie worries if a relationship with a Vamp may not be all peachy just because she can't read his thoughts. She backs off and thinks. She gets around people. This is in sharp contrast to her living and breathing counterpart, played by Anna Paquin in the True Blood series. Paquin as Sookie, is helpless in her love for Bill (and disgustingly sappy). She relies on him for so much and doesn't seem to ever accept a bad word against him. She has no inner strength and doesn't seem to ever learn from any mistakes or understand the ramifications of spending lots of her times with Vampires. She's selfish and a little stupid.
Now i am curious as to why they changed Sookie so much. she is mildly more likable in comparison to bill (who is the most wimpy, whiny vampire ever created. plus he's like 4 ft tall #petty), but nowhere near as interesting as her original. I'm curious as to why they changed her at all.
i don't think that i gave her enough credit in my initial review. Harris has created a very strong and likable girl in her leading lady. although the books are fluffy, i do like Sookie. I like seeing her gradually change and harden towards her brother and ex-lovers. She makes the hard call many times, but it only makes her more interesting and compelling. i'm not sure if you'd see in as much if you hadn't read the books entirely in a row (but seeing as each takes maybe an evening to read and always end on an exciting note, i don't see how you could read them any other way), but i think you still would. they're fluff, but there is something worth while about them.


xo- ellebee