THIS SIDE OF THE GRAVE

This Side Of The Grave by Jeaniene Frost
Narrated by Tavia Gilbert
Book 5 of the Night Huntress Novel series
Genre: urban fantasy
Format: paperback, audiobook

About This Side Of The Grave:

Danger waits on both sides of the grave.

Half-vampire Cat Crawfield and her vampire husband Bones have fought for their lives, as well as for their relationship. But just when they've triumphed over the latest battle, Cat's new and unexpected abilities threaten to upset a long-standing balance . . .

With the mysterious disappearance of vampires, rumors abound that a species war is brewing. A zealot is inciting tensions between the vampires and ghouls, and if these two powerful groups clash, innocent mortals could become collateral damage. Now Cat and Bones are forced to seek help from a dangerous "ally"—the ghoul queen of New Orleans herself. But the price of her assistance may prove more treacherous than even the threat of a supernatural war . . . to say nothing of the repercussions Cat never imagined.

Source: Info in the About This Side Of The Grave was taken from GoodReads at http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6871617-this-side-of-the-grave on 09/03/2012.

Review:

I could only make it through halfway this book and gave up. Cat is just too stupid to live (TSTL). Although the world building is very good, it cannot outweigh the annoyance of Cat's TSTL. By now, I have a good grasp of this series. I know with high certainty that the TSTL and holey plot will feature throughout the entire series. In which case this series is not worth the wasted time of reading or listening to it despite the wonderful world building that Jeaniene Frost gave this series. And despite the really beautiful cover art this book has!

Overall Rating: Did not finish (DNF)

Review: DESTINED FOR AN EARLY GRAVE

Destined For An Early Grave by Jeaniene Frost
Narrated by Tavia Gilbert
Book 4 of the Night Huntress Novel series
Genre: urban fantasy
Format: paperback, audiobook

About Destined For An Early Grave:

Hopes for a perfect Paris holiday are dashed when half-vampire Cat Crawfield begins having visions of a vampire named Gregor who's more powerful than Cat's undead lover, Bones, and has ties to her past that even Cat herself doesn't know about. Original.

Source: Info in the About Destined For An Early Grave was taken from GoodReads at http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5604848-destined-for-an-early-grave on 04/03/2012.

Review:

That's it!! I swear this would be the last book in this series I would ever read or listen to.... until I get over my major annoyance at Cat's stupidity... however there is a big probability that I might get tempted to read/listen to the next book though given that I already got the rest of the books in this series... Cat is just over the top, ridiculously, unforgivably too stupid to live (TSTL) in this book. It's super annoying!! On top of that, for someone who survived battles aplenty, this particular heroine has a stunted survival instinct. Enemy passed by giving her a headache and she chose to ignore it... WTF!! *sigh*

The narrator... I like the french, english, southern creole and other various accents that Tavia Gilbert gave the French, the English, the Creole, etc. characters. A major plus! The plot however, is dependent on the heroine's TSTL to give the story the conflict necessary to have something to resolve in the ending. Plus it's holey to boot! Though I have to admit that the world building is superb and the story arc for the series is intriguing! For that alone I cannot give this book a less than 3.

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 3.5
Character development = 3
Story itself = 2.5
Ending = 3
World building = 4.5
Cover art = 4
Pace = N/A (9.5 hours/8 CDs)
Plot = 2
Narration = 4.5

Overall Rating: 3 out of 5 cherries


Book Trailer:

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.

Review: ONE FOOT IN THE GRAVE

One Foot In The Grave by Jeaniene Frost
Narrated by Tavia Gilbert
Book 2 of the Night Huntress Novel series
Genre: urban fantasy
Format: audiobook

About One Foot In The Grave:

You can run from the grave, but you can't hide.

Half-vampire Cat Crawfield is now Special Agent Cat Crawfield, working for the government to rid the world of the rogue undead. She's still using everything Bones, her sexy and dangerous ex, taught her. But when Cat is targeted for assassination, the only man who can help her is the vampire she left behind. Being around him awakens all her emotions, from the adrenaline kick of slaying vamps side by side to the reckless passion that consumed them. But a price on her head - wanted: dead or half-alive - means her survival depends on teaming up with Bones. And no matter how hard she tries to keep things professional between them, she'll find that desire lasts forever and that Bones won't let her get away again.

Source: Info in the About One Foot In The Grave was taken from the back cover of the CD box set on 17/02/2012.

Review:

I wasn't looking forward to this book really... but I want to give this series another go after my disappointment with Halfway To The Grave. Another book blogger, Michelle, has me convinced to give this series another chance. It took perseverance to get through the halfway mark of this CD set audiobook. Then it got easier to listen to after that. It also got more interesting. The story telling quality seems to have improved thereafter, until the end. So much so that it now starts to make sense to me why people seems to be addicted to this series. However, Cat, the main protagonist got even more stupider in this book than in Book 1. Majorly annoying! Plus, the plot seems to be rather weak. Forced. Not much realism in it that I find it difficult to suspend disbelief. Safe to say that I would not be rushing to read the rest of the books in this series, good story telling quality or not.

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 3.5
Character development = 4
Story itself = 2.5
Ending = 3
World building = 4.5
Cover art = 4.5
Pace = N/A (10 hours/8 CDs)
Plot = 2.5
Narration = 4.5

Overall Rating: 3 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.

Review: HALFWAY TO THE GRAVE

Halfway To The Grave by Jeaniene Frost
Narrated by Tavia Gilbert
Book 1 of the Night Huntress Novel series
Genre: urban fantasy
Format: paperback, audiobook

About Halfway To The Grave:

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.

Source: Info in the About Halfway To The Grave was taken from GoodReads at http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1421990.Halfway_to_the_Grave on 10/02/2012.

Review:

I picked up this book for three reasons. One, because this book is in my genre. I am an urban fantasy geek! Second, there were so many glowing reviews and recommendations on this series that I just need to at least try it out. Three, the cover art is so gorgeous!! I would have bought the book even without recommendations, synopsis and genre, but just based on the cover alone!

I started reading this book in paperback format. It took me sometime to get to the halfway mark and stopped... until I got my hands on the audiobook format from the library. The story telling quality is good but the heroine is just this side of stupid and I found it irritating! Audiobook is my way of cheating and finishing a book I find difficult to finish. However audiobooks tends to be expensive so I only go for the cheap ones or library copies like this one. So I finally managed to finish this book. It wasn't as bad, the second time around, with the audiobook. Maybe because I could hit the "forward" button and didn't have to listen to Cat being stupid. Because for a kick-ass heroine, she sure does act stupid sometimes. She behaves in such a manner that goes against all description of her that she becomes unrecognizable. Not very endearing in a main protagonist. There are books where the story telling quality is so good that I could marginally tolerate the stupidity and it might just happen with this series... However I tend not to blame Cat's "stupid" moves on the character development because everybody else in the story were well developed characters. It looks to me like it was the author's attempt to fill the plot to conveniently fit the story and give the book a bit of drama. So the author made Cat and Bones act stupid so that the bad guys seems to be winning and then the protagonists could show off and save the world. Weak plot! Not to mention irritating to read! If this book is a sample of this author's work, I would not be buying another book by this author. I now regret buying the paperback edition of this book!

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 4
Character development = 4
Story itself = 3
Ending = 3
World building = 4
Cover art = 4.5
Pace = 1
Plot = 1
Narration = 4.5

Overall Rating: 3 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.