Monday, February 4, 2013

REVIEW: Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay

TITLE: Darkly Dreaming Dexter
AUTHOR: Jeff Lindsay
PUBLISHED: September 2006
GENRE: Fiction, Serial Killer, Suspense,
SERIES: Dexter #1
SETTING: Miami, Florida
WHERE I GOT IT: ebook borrow from the library

ABOUT BLURB: Dexter Morgan isn't what he seems. By day he works for the Miami Police Department as a blood splatter analyst, by night he is a killer. Except he only hunts and kills other serial killers. When the Miami Police start to track a serial killer Dexter takes notice but can he beat them to him and serve his own justice?

EXPECTATIONS: I had really high hopes for this book considering I LOVE the TV show. I watched all the seasons on Netflix again recently but since Netflix doesn't have the newest season yet I decided to try reading the series since I am starting to go through Dexter withdrawal.

CHARACTERS: It's really hard to judge the characters on how they appear in the book because I watched the show first. When I was reading this I pictured the actors from the show, their mannerisms and how they interpreted the character and that is how I saw the characters when I read it. That sort of sucks because I can't form my own opinion of the characters myself. Although I think if I had read the books first, then watched the show I still would probably picture the actors in their respective roles if I reread the books again anyways. It happened with the Sookie Stackhouse and Harry potter series as well.

Of course I found Dexter to be interesting considering what he does in the dark of night. I think Deb is my favourite in the show and in the books I can see some of what I love about her. But to me I feel like all characters fell flat for me. What I love about them from the show is there but it feels like it only scratches the surface of their personalities. Then again this is only the first book in the series so hopefully it will get better.

PLOT: I am going to have to say that I liked the plot better in the TV show but that might be because it was more flushed out then it was in the book. But that makes sense right, the show is 12 episodes long and if you just followed the book that probably would make for one boring and even shorter TV season. I still found the book interesting though because I really didn't know exactly what was going to happen or should I say how they were going to get to the conclusion since it does differ greatly from the show. That in itself was kind of nice since it almost feels like I am getting more information on Dexter and his world.

PACING: I found the pacing of the book to be odd. I found Dexter's character interesting enough but for some reason I feel like the story line was a bit too disjointed for my liking.

WHAT MADE ME THINK: Dexter is one of those characters you hate to love because after all he is a killer. His situation is one of those grey areas in life. Sure maybe all those people he murders deserve it for what they have done but does murder justify murder? I don't really think there is a clear answer to that question.

WHAT I LIKED: I really liked the concept of the book. I haven't read another story that has a main character quite like Dexter.

WHAT I HATED: I hated that by watching the show first it has ruined the book for me. Sure I still liked the idea and the setting but I was not able to form my own opinion on what the characters looked like since I couldn't get the actors from the show out of my mind. That really doesn't have anything to do with the way Jeff Lindsay wrote the book however.

FINAL THOUGHTS: I thought the book was okay. I found it to be a quick read and it does differ from the TV show that it was still interesting to read. However, I didn't love the book either. I will continue to read the series though to see if they get better.

RATING: 2 out of 5 stars

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