Review: AT GRAVE'S END

At Grave's End by Jeaniene Frost
Narrated by Tavia Gilbert
Book 3 of the Night Huntress Novel series
Genre: urban fantasy
Format: paperback, audiobook

About At Grave's End:

It should be the best time of half-vampire Cat Crawfield's life. With her undead lover Bones at her side, she's successfully protected mortals from the rogue undead. But though Cat's worn disguise after disguise to keep her true identity a secret from the brazen bloodsuckers, her cover's finally been blown, placing her in terrible danger.

As if that wasn't enough, a woman from Bones's past is determined to bury him once and for all. Caught in the crosshairs of a vengeful vamp, yet determined to help Bones stop a lethal magic from being unleashed, Cat's about to learn the true meaning of bad blood. And the tricks she's learned as a special agent won't help her. She will need to fully embrace her vampire instincts in order to save herself—and Bones—from a fate worse than the grave.

Source: Info in the About At Grave's End was taken from GoodReads at http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3570231-at-grave-s-end on 26/02/2012.

Review:

So I was disappointed with Books 1 & 2. But I decided to plod on with Book 3 anyway because: One, I already borrowed this book from the library. Second, I could actually detect the addictive quality of this series from the first two books despite them being a disappointment. Third, some book bloggers said that this third book is the best of the series. So, I wanna see what this book is all about... like they said, curiosity killed the cat... having said that, it probably not my curiosity which ends up killing me but Cat's stupidity! Okey, okey, I'll probably get stoned with ripe tomatoes by fans of this series... wait!!! I'm not giving up on this series. I still have Book 4 to listen to... might get better with Book 4, you'll never know... Or I'll prove that I am just a sucker for punishment... Either way, you'll have to admit that the cover art, specially the paperback one, is stunning! As a marketing tool for this book that one aced all ratings. Plus, if you can get through the first few chapters without popping an aneurysm (due to annoyance of a holey plot), the story actually gets better. And then we are introduced to more kinds of supernatural beings and amazing powers... Have I told you that the Night Huntress Novel series have a wonderful world building?! Well, it does!!

But the plot... it got a few holes in it... I would think that they got Cat's mother in a secured place, right? Precisely because she is Cat's achilles heel. Because they are suppose to be good at strategy. Even I, can deduce that it makes sense to have your weak link covered, specially if you know that your enemy most likely knows of it too. Specially when your enemy's intel on you apparently is getting better... Only for any vampire to waltz in and nab her? So what is the point of being a kick-ass heroine if you are going to dangle your weakness in front of your enemies almost inviting them to take advantage... *sigh* holey indeed...

Final Verdict:

Fantastic world building. Good character development. Holey plot.

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 3.5
Character development = 4
Story itself = 4
Ending = 4
World building = 4.5
Cover art = 4.5
Pace = N/A (8 discs/9.5 hours)
Plot = 2.5
Narration = 4.5

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 cherries

Thank you to the RCT Library for letting me borrow this audiobook!!

FTC Disclosure:
This audiobook was borrowed from the library. No money received for this review.