Sunday, February 17

Halfway to the Grave by Jeaniene Frost

This "review" is actually a series of emails between Chantal and myself on Halfway to the Grave. Spoilers abound! Ye've been warned. LOL



Half-vampire Catherine Crawfield is going after the undead with a vengeance, hoping that one of these deadbeats is her father—the one responsible for ruining her mother’s life. Then she’s captured by Bones, a vampire bounty hunter, and is forced into an unholy partnership.

In exchange for finding her father, Cat agrees to train with the sexy night stalker until her battle reflexes are as sharp as his fangs. She’s amazed she doesn’t end up as his dinner—are there actually good vampires? Pretty soon Bones will have her convinced that being half-dead doesn’t have to be all bad. But before she can enjoy her newfound status as kick-ass demon hunter, Cat and Bones are pursued by a group of killers. Now Cat will have to choose a side . . . and Bones is turning out to be as tempting as any man with a heartbeat.


Chantal: I finished Halfway to the Grave. I have SO much to say. Don't even know where to start.

I can't believe she left him. ARGHHHHHH!


Ames: LOL

What grade would you give it? I'd give it a C+, and the plus is for Bones. LOL


Chantal: C+ Because it's not very original, there are noted inconsistancies. The + is for Bones. He is so hot!

Ames: The big inconsistency for me was Cat. She was very annoying and I felt like the author couldn't make her mind up about her. And the sex? MEH. Plus the description about them kind of ruining the hotel room in their sex, that doesn't fit the character because she was so damn modest. I mean, I doubt she'd get over the bad sex in her past that fast. And I couldn't stand how she hid Bones from her mom. And the stupidity of Timmie being her pretend boyfriend so Bones would get jealous BLAH.

Chantal: Cat didn't bother me. I mean, she did at first because the modesty annoyed me, but I thought she grew into herself over the months rather well. I liked Bones. A lot. his jealousy over Timmie kinda made me hot, LOL.

You are so right about the trashed hotel room, I didn't buy into it either.
What did you think of the ending? I don't like how she picked her mother over Bones. Ugh. I would not have been sad if the Vamps had killed her mother a long with the grand parents.

And that chick who tried to kidnap and shoot Cat, I forget her name, well didn't you find it weird that she acted shocked when Cat told her her real age when she knew it the whole time? (Because it was listed in the computer) Just a little inconsistency I picked up on.

Seriously, I like Bones. He is strong, mean and romantic.

What parts of the book did you like the best?

Ames: When Bones kicked Cat's ass at the beginning. LOL

I didn't feel like Cat grew into herself - there was no character development. UGH. And I just couldn't understand why Bones fell in love with her! This book just rubbed me the wrong way all around. LOL

Ordinarily, any jealousy on the hero's part would make me hot too, but it was so contrived with Timmie. Like we could see it coming a mile away.

And yeah, her mom could have died and saved Cat a lot of misery. Do you like where this series is obviously going? Using her special abilities to hunt down the paranormal for the government? She's just too immature to be put in charge of her own squad - and her toughness is so fake. She's just a scared little girl who wants her mommy's approval.

Yeah, I have strong feels against Cat. LOL

Chantal: Her mom reminds me of one of those parents who disown their kids because of sexuality. That attitude disgusts me.

Otherwise, how do you feel about Bones?


Ames: He's yummy except for the fact that he fell in love with an idiot. LOL I really didn't believe his love. I mean, he doesn't show his love in any way before he tells her how he feels. So we're supposed to believe it because the author tells us to? Plus, I don't think he would have pussyfooted around Cat the way he appears to. I mean, why did it take him so long for him to tell Cat that she was half vampire and that it's her reality.

What do you think about the way this series is looking to go?

Chantal: I don't like where the series is going because I don't believe it. She may have gotten over her embarrassment of seeing a *gasp!* penis, but it's a joke to think that she can head her own group or squad. It's comical, really.

Will you read the next book? I might, for Bones. Even though I don't have a hate on for Cat like you do (LOL) I don't like her enough to seek out the next book without a whole lot of Bones. I believe it is called A foot in the grave. Wouldn't it be nice to have the next one just from his POV? Yeah, that would be great.
I'll flip through it at the bookstore and see how much of role Bones has in it, then I'll decide on buying it or not
.

Ames: I don’t think I’ll read the next one. I’ll see what you think though! LOL

27 comments:

~ames~ said...

Nope.

Anonymous said...

I'm glad you reviewed this because i almost bought it yesterday and something told me to just put it back. Now I am very glad that I did. Thanks!!!

Isabel said...

I love your review! lol. I was thinking about buying this book, I think i'll wait a while.

~ames~ said...

Chantal-I agree!

Sarah-I forgot to mention that, I kept getting that feeling too about this book, but then I read some good reviews. *sigh* I should have went with my gut.

Isabel-I'll bring you my copy! LOL

nath said...

LOL, seems like a lot of ppl were like me, not sure about buying this book :) I'm glad I didn't. So would this be urban fantasy or paranormal romance?

~ames~ said...

I would say urban fantasy, because although there is romance, its not the focal point of this story.

Kris said...

I read this but had to force myself to finish it. Cat annoyed me. I doubt I will continue this series, but you never know, I could be needing something to read when the next one comes out. Or maybe I should just re-read something at that point.

Kate Diamond said...

Ooh... I'm enjoying the conversational format of the blog. This is great! Thanks for giving me a new site to add to my link list.

On a random note: love your layout!

~ames~ said...

Kris-I forced myself to finish this too.

Kate-Thanks! Nath designed it. :P

KT Grant said...

I so loved this book. It was one of my favorites for 2007. I am so far gone over Bones. Perhaps because he reminds me so much of Spike from Buffy? :)

Carolyn Crane said...

Love the review! This Bones character sounds pretty excellent, too. He reminds you of Spike, KB? Is that what people are responding to with him?

KT Grant said...

CJ: Bones reminds me so much of Spike from his British accent to the color of his hair which is the same as Spikes and the way he originally treats Cat, much like Spike did with Buffy. Maybe it is just me, but Bones is one sexy undead man. By the end his bad boy attitude becomes more hero like.

Bridget Locke said...

Hmm...you know, I reviewed this book and gave it a B-. However, after reading it again, some of the inconsistencies y'all commented on made me nod. I don't know, I guess I just like Ms. Frost's writing style. I think it was the witty banter that got me more than anything. That Kitten Tweety comment makes me giggle every time I read it. :)

Have y'all read the vampire books by Jeanne C. Stein? The first book is called The Becoming. Dark book & the bad guy...what a creep!

nath said...

Katie - Wasn't this book market or advertise as vampire story with Spike-look-alike? Or did I pick up this from your and Kristie's post.

Bridget Locke - Did you enjoy the books by Jeanne C. Stein though? Cos I have them in my TBR pile, I liked the covers... is there a love triangle in it?

~ames~ said...

I never got to watch Buffy - it wasn't on in Germany. :( I feel like I'm missing out big time. LOL

So I guess I didn't respond to Bones because he was like Spike - but for himself. He's a good character.

I didn't find Cat's banter with Bones witty at all.

KT Grant said...

Nath: It may have been me because when I reviewed Halfway to the Grave I said in my review Bones reminded me of Spike.

Chantal: You do have an excellent point! Bones is very much all man!

There was just something about this book I loved. When a book can make me laugh outloud multiple times, it is a keeper for me.
And you should all expect a review of the sequel One Foot in the Grave by April from me ;)

~ames~ said...

Katie-I'll be looking forward to your review of the next installment. :P

Carolyn Crane said...

I'll be looking forward to it, too. And I'm starting to get it about Bones, too!

Carolyn Crane said...

You want to know something funny? My husband and I rented Hairspray out of a love for Christopher Walken, but also Spike, and we read James Marsden on the box thinking that was the guy who played Spike (of course his name, I think is James Marster or whatever). So anyway, we went through the whole movie like, WTF? How did they make him look so different? Did he gain weight? Is he this other guy? Like idiots.
Finally we did some online research.

KT Grant said...

The guy who played Spike is also on the BBC show Torchwood that Sula raves about. And he also is on Smallville from time to time.
I have it bad for Bones as I do Roarke.

Carolyn Crane said...

Did you watch that clip on Sula's site? I bet you saw that. That was some incredible Spike action.
I need to check out that Torchwood.

KT Grant said...

CJ: OH YES!!! Sula showed me before she posted it and I was drooling. I have BBC America now, so hopefully I can watch some Torchwood episodes on the good old On Demand.
I have become to this Man Love things Sula and Lisa have going on. LOL

Bridget Locke said...

Nath-I did enjoy the Jeanne C. Stein books and I will not tell you anything about the romance (or is there?). She twists her series in a way that is very interesting. You will not believe how the heroine becomes a vampire. It was...interesting. :)

Anonymous said...

This was one book i just could not get into. Cat was one of the most unlikeable heroines I've personally ever run across. Her and Bones' interactions just left me rolling my eyes most of the time. I seriously wanted to pitch it cross the room and that's only happened to me a mere handful of times over the years. But hey, them's the breaks and books cannot please everyone. So many people liked this book though and have said so, so I'd begun to wonder if I was...crazy? LOL. No, just gonna chalk it up to it simply does nothing for me, except make me impatient to go on to a different book.

Devon said...

Great review! Good points, esp. the idea of Cat leading a team.

BUT, I totally loved this book. Fell for it hook, line and sinker. Funny how some authors work better for some people than others. I was able to suspend all disbelief, and I didn't even notice most of what you mentioned.

flip said...

I thought Bones was a lot like Spike. However, he was much improved over the Spike character, whom I loved when he was a sullen punk vampire and whom I hated when he was crybaby lovestriken sissy.

I loved the series. I liked the character Cat.

Bev(QB) said...

Now, I happened to REALLY like this book. Picked it up and there was no putting it down till I finished.

I thought the blend of urban fantasy and pranormal romance was refreshing and am looking forward to seeing how Frost explores the characters over the course of this closed-end series. She is promising an HEA at the end.

I only watched a couple of episodes of Buffy, so maybe because I didn't have that show in my head, I was able to sit back and enjoy this book on its own.