879 and counting …

• Posted in Books I've Read

Finished Halfway to the Grave by Jeaniene Frost. Someone (I believe Chasity) recommended this book in another post. So I snatched it up when I saw it at RT in the goodie room. Warning: there be spoilers ahead.

This is the first book in Frost’s Night Huntress series, which stars Catherine Crawfield. Cat’s mom was date-raped by a vampire, which means Cat herself is half-human, half-vampire — and on a mission to kill every vamp she can. Cat goes out to local nightclubs in her Ohio neighborhood, waits for a vamp to pick her up, and stakes them when they go for her neck. Until she meets Bones, a master vamp who offers Cat a deal — die or work with him to hunt down a particularly nasty vamp who’s abducting girls for a slave/blood ring. Cat chooses to work with Bones, who begins training her and teaching her that not all vamps are evil.

I liked a lot of things about this book. Frost has a great voice and a very easy-to-read style. Cat is a likable character, who’s only trying to get her mother to love and accept her by killing vamps (which her mom hates more than anything else).

Then, there’s Bones. Ah, Bones. He totally made the book for me. Loved everything about his character. Someone (again, I think it was Chasity) commented that he’s a lot like Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Yeah, I can see that. Bones is British, has blond/white hair, and is just super-cool, just like Spike (who was always my favorite character on Buffy). But I think Frost made Bones her own character. He was definitely the highlight for me. 

I also really liked the way the romantic relationship developed between Bones and Cat. The progression felt natural, and by the end, you felt like these two would do anything for each other.

I felt like the end spiraled out of control just a bit. Surely, there would be more consequences for killing the governor of your state, which Cat does. I would think it would be hard to remain incognito after that, even if you were recruited for a secret government task force. But it did set up the storyline for the next book and made me want to see more of Cat in action — and how she reconnects with Bones.

The only thing I didn’t like was Cat’s mother (but I imagine Frost intended it to be this way). What a harpy. She wasn’t a good mom, and I didn’t feel that she really loved Cat. I know the mom was severly traumatized by the rape, but what kind of mom would let her teenage daughter go out, kill vamps, and risk her dying? If the mom was going out with Cat, I might have understood it. But it felt like she was punishing Cat and withholding her love for something that wasn’t Cat’s fault and something she can never change. Gotta say, I was rooting for the mom to get it in the end.

I also wanted Cat to stand up to her mom. It didn’t happen to the degree I’d hoped (because she chose her mom over Bones), but perhaps in the next book.

Overall, a solid urban fantasy read. Looking forward to getting the next book. Thumbs up.

Up next: The anthology Playing Easy to Get.

Books in my TBR pile: 18.

BTW, this is 100th book I’ve reviewed on the blog. Quite a milestone, eh? :ww:

6 Responses to “879 and counting …”

  1. Chasity says:

    Yep, that was me. I’m tickled to death that you liked this one. I loved this series.

    I do agree with you about Cat’s mother. That woman got on my nerves so very bad, that I wanted to crawl through the pages and kill her myself. I give Ms. Frost for being able to create a character that I have such strong feelings about. It’s very rarely that I have that many emotions for one single character.

    Bones, oh Bones. How I love thee. Everything about you makes me tingle to the tips of my toes.

    When I first met Bones’ I thought “what an asshole”. Just like with Spike. But at the very same time, I couldn’t help but love the badness and the badassness. (Is badassness even a word? We’ll just pretend like it is.)

    Like you, the very end didn’t seem to beleive to me. I was willing to suspend reality and just go along with the plot. We all know in real life, Cat would have ended up in jail for killing the governor. But overall, I didn’t question the ending too much.

    I just hated that Cat decided to leave Bones and go along with the government agency’s plan. But alas, all of that is handled in the next book.

    I’ll stop at that so I’m not tempted to spoil the next book for you. I think you’ll like it just as much.

    Congratz on your 100th review. Cookies for you!

  2. Jennifer Estep says:

    I liked it a lot. I’m glad you recommended it. I’ve the other books you mentioned in a list somewhere … :bubbles:

    Yeah, the mom really irritated me, as did Cat’s constantly giving in to her. But you know, it was believable. What wouldn’t a daughter do to get her mom to love her? I’d kill vamps for my mom.

    Oh, Bones. He was so great. I heart Bones. And yes, I think badassness is a word, at least on this blog. 😎

    Yeah, the media would have been all over Cat for offing the gov. Her picture would have been plastered *everywhere*. But it did set up the next book nicely.

    In the end, it came down to Cat choosing between Bones or her mom. She chose her mom, even though she knew she’d be happier with Bones. I don’t agree with her choice, but I can understand it.

    I’m looking forward to the next book. But I promised myself I’d whittle down my TBR pile before I bought anything new. Must be strong!

  3. Chasity says:

    Oh I’m thinking about Bones again now. I think I’m going to have to drag the first book out and reread it now. Or go watch some Buffy. Yeah, I may go watch some Buffy for a while.

  5. B.J.K says:

    i am reading one of your book it called one foot in the grave it is a good book my daughter read all of this book she really like that is doen;t read much but your book she does like.thank you for writting this book.

  6. Jennifer Estep says:

    Hi, BJK. Actually, I didn’t write One Foot in the Grave. That book is by author Jeaniene Frost. But I’m glad you and your daughter are enjoying that book.

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