This Side of the Grave (Night Huntress, #5) in SOS: Serious Overload of Series

Sep 29, 2010 Francesca the Fierce (Under the Covers Book Blog) rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-audio-books, genre-urban-fantasy, vampires, books-read-2011, books-read-2020

3.5 Stars

I was so excited to get this book, and start reading it as soon as it came out! I've been on Cat & Bones withdrawals because the 4th book in the series was a bit mehh, and then we got 2 books in the Night Huntress World spin-off, and I was not so happy with Spade's, and I did liked Mencheres.

But here we are back with Cat & Bones.... Ahhhh... Opening scene... LOVED IT! I wouldn't mind having him shackled to a cave wall! After that though it started going really slow for me.

The story was 3.5 Stars

I was so excited to get this book, and start reading it as soon as it came out! I've been on Cat & Bones withdrawals because the 4th book in the series was a bit mehh, and then we got 2 books in the Night Huntress World spin-off, and I was not so happy with Spade's, and I did liked Mencheres.

But here we are back with Cat & Bones.... Ahhhh... Opening scene... LOVED IT! I wouldn't mind having him shackled to a cave wall! After that though it started going really slow for me.

The story was ok enough, but it wasn't GREAT. I had really high expectations for this book, and didn't feel like it met them 100%, even though it was a good book (I did rate it 4 stars!) I mainly feel like Cat lost some of her spark and spunk from the beginning of the series, and she didn't feel like she was as confident. And although she was funny at times, sometimes she got a little on my nerves. And that's not good since we're getting the story from her POV.

Bones was amazing in this book however! OMG! I'm in love with him, he can do no wrong! His connection to Cat felt rekindled in this book where it was a bit lacking in the last NH book. And yeah, of course, that brings up the elephant in the room... Chapter 21!!!! I knew before hand from comments on GR to watch out for that chapter, so I paid extra attention, I might've read it twice ;) It was HOT, YOWZA, INTENSE and did I mention REALLY HOT? It has been compared to Chapter 32 of One Foot in the Grave, and I'll agree it gives it a run for the money. It all depends on your preferences. I actually went back and re-read Chapter 32 after finishing this book to be able to compare with a fresh image. There's a lot of biting involved in both, except OFITG was Bones doing the biting, in TSOTG was Cat. But biting aside, I think this book gives us a little bit more intense view of what else they were doing aside from all the biting ;) And I loved seeing Bones lose control! Enough said!

One of my favorite lines in the book is from Bones, when he tells Timmy to ask what he wants about vampires but then he says "If you ask me if I sparkle I'll kill you" LMAO!

Vlad... where do I start... He's the best! He had the best lines in the book ("Premature inflammation! Very embarrassing, I don't like to talk about it!" Come on! I was ROTFLMAO) There was plenty of him in this book and I still want more!

Mencheres... 2 things.... 1 - Him having sex with Kira while Bones and Cat where waiting to see and could hear him... LOL 2 - The shorts and t-shirt at the airport?!?!? That I would have to see!

Ian... Not enough of him in this one. I would love to see his character developed a bit more, I know he has to mature before he can get his own book but he has the potential. And I couldn't believe his comment about Veritas... I always picture her as a kid! Even though she's old as dirt.

The twist at the end.... I could've used at least one more page after the last word!!!! WHAT?!?!?!?!? I'm dying to read the next book and see what the hell happened there!!!!! ...more

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Nov 22, 2010 Chelsea rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: vampires, uf-pnr, demons

This review was originally posted at Vampire Book Club.
A quick word of caution: We’re going to reference events in earlier books. If you haven’t read earlier Night Huntress novels, there will be spoilers ahead.

Sometimes you run into an old friend at the mall to suddenly realize just how much you missed seeing them in your daily life. That’s how I feel about Cat and Bones, the lead couple in Jeaniene Frost’s Night Huntress series.

This Side of the Grave by Jeaniene FrostIt’s not like I didn’t know This review was originally posted at Vampire Book Club.
A quick word of caution: We’re going to reference events in earlier books. If you haven’t read earlier Night Huntress novels, there will be spoilers ahead.

Sometimes you run into an old friend at the mall to suddenly realize just how much you missed seeing them in your daily life. That’s how I feel about Cat and Bones, the lead couple in Jeaniene Frost’s Night Huntress series.

This Side of the Grave by Jeaniene FrostIt’s not like I didn’t know how much I love Frost’s sharp, often laugh-out-loud funny writing. Or how much I enjoy the feminine strength Cat exudes and the protective roughness of Bones. Nope, I just didn’t realize how ready I was for more of it until I started reading This Side of the Grave.

All the strong features of the Night Huntress series are prominent in this fifth installment. Cat and Bones are happily married, but dealing with the societal fallout of Cat’s transition to full vampire. One of the ghoul leaders is trying to use her as a rallying point to ignite war between the ghouls and vampires. In the meantime, he has ghouls taking out the weak and master-less vampires throughout the country.

The list of reasons I enjoy reading Frost’s writing is long and spans from her stellar world-building to her defined and endearing characters to her ability to pepper in humor amid death and darkness. The last was particularly strong in This Side of the Grave.

Example: Cat and Bones are meeting with a human who has become aware of the existence of vampires. Here’s a quick little exchange I’m sure you can appreciate:

Timmie gave Bones and me a speculative glance. “Before we go, I gotta know: If mind-reading abilities are real, there’s something else I wondered if fiction got right about vampires–”

“Ask me if I sparkle and I’ll kill you where you stand,” Bones cut him off with utmost seriousness.

We’ll spare you the spoiler-y details, but we’ll hint. With This Side of the Grave you may expect a curious encounter with a ghoul queen, an exciting reaction to new powers for Cat, lots of the undead, a bit of family drama and requisite time with Cat, Bones, Vlad and Mencheres.

In other words, drama, mayhem and vampires. All the things you’ve come to love from Night Huntress novels. ...more

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Sep 14, 2010 Vivian rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-2011

Just a couple thoughts on this one.

Oh my cheesiness, Cat and Bones are so over the top sappy. Definite overkill, but thankfully, the second half was more action, less goo-goo eyes.

Marie is so much more devious than I gave her credit for. She gives these cryptic clues and you can kinda half figure them out, but then you learn there's so much more to it than that. She's downright scary, and things are always more interesting with her involved.

...more

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