On Ghouls: A Review of This Side of the Grave by Jeaniene Frost

This Side of the Grave is book 5 in Jeaniene Frost's Night Huntress books. I found book four to be deeply frustrating for a number of reasons (listed here), and so I approached this one wearily.

The main plot of this book involves the threat of a war between vampires and ghouls. Cat's unique abilities and position in the supernatural world place her in the middle of the conflict. In an effort to minimize the bloodshed, she and Bones go to the ghoul queen of New Orleans for help. There Cat learns that her abilities have only just begun to show, and she must fight to keep from being overwhelmed by power even as she tries to end the oncoming war.

Positive Comments

Cat showed a maturity in this book that I didn't see in the previous books. She's come a long way since book one, and it's nice to finally see all of that development realized. Cat's relationship with Bones has likewise matured. And there's still a lot of sex, which I understand might be a negative for some readers, but it's a positive for me.

I like the mythology. You don't see ghouls in too many books. It seems like they fall in line with zombies--second class monsters that are often the villains but rarely the heroes. Frost's ghouls are a little more multidimensional. As a result, the plot engaging.

Critical Comments

My main criticism is just that after 5 books, Frost has ceased to surprise me. Even on the first read through, this book felt familiar, and just shy of predictable. I think the problem stems from having a character evolve over 5 books and so many years, and having many of the changes that she goes through be so drastic. You hit a point where you really don't have anything left to do to that character that readers won't see coming, and where the outcome is not totally apparent from page 1. And that was how this book felt to me. In each book Cat goes through a big trauma, but Frost is running out of things to traumatize her with.

 Overall, this is still a great series. I enjoyed this book, and I do intend to read the next one. 4 stars.

On Retconning: A Review of Destined For An Early Grave by Jeaniene Frost

"Retconning" is defined simply as altering the plot or history of a work of fiction after it's been established. It's one of those plot devices that can be massively annoying and confusing, as well create plot holes. Because of this, the term carries a negative connotation. This is the first time I've felt the need to use the term "retcon" in a review, but it happens to be the most accurate term to describe the plot of Destined for an Early Grave.

In this story, the fourth novel in the Night Huntress series, Cat has begun to dream of a mysterious vampire named Gregor. She finds out that Gregor is known as the Dreamsnatcher, possessing the ability to kidnap people in their dreams. Gregor claims to be married to Cat, according to vampire law. He spent a month with her when she was sixteen, and according to some witnesses he was able to marry her, right before he was imprisoned for his misbehavior. The kicker is, Cat can't remember any of it, because her memory was tampered with. One way or another, Gregor's pursuit of Cat puts her relationship with Bones on the rocks, and all of her friends' lives in jeopardy.

Positive Comments

I know the plot sounds...stupid, and yes, I'll get to criticizing it in a minute. But it does one thing really well: It creates and brings to light all of the internal conflict between Cat and Bones. It forces them to fight, break up, and eventually figure out why they love each other all over again. Frost builds all that turmoil up so effectively that I felt like I was living through a break up in real time. They went from characters that I like and respect, to people who's heads I wanted to knock together. It takes talent to get readers that emotionally invested in a story, kudos to Frost.

World building happens in this book--some of the existing ideas are expanded on, new concepts are introduced, and all without bogging the book down or jumping the shark. The overarching plot (namely Cat's) actually moves forward. There's real character development, and real relationship development. These are all great things, and all things that are really hard to do once you get 4 or 5 books deep into a series.

Critical Comments:

Retconning: It's not always bad, and sometimes it might even be necessary, but overall it's something authors should really avoid doing. One of two things lead to the awkward clunker of a plot device that is "Gregor the Dreamsnatcher". Either the author planned this all along, but failed to foreshadow it so that her readers wouldn't be blind-sided by it, or she made it all up on the spot while writing book 4. Either way, I'm inclined to be annoyed by it because it feels contrived. It creates this great conflict, and it leads to a lot of emotional development for Cat, but it also creates plot holes and weakens Cat's back-story. Couldn't Frost find another way to build the same kind of conflict?

The characters' actions are maddening. Cat has a chance to kill Gregor fairly early on, and her reasons for not taking it are beyond weak. I guess there would have been consequences for his death, but there were huge consequences for letting him live anyway, so she gained nothing. As her primary reason for mercy, she sites residual feelings for him from when she was sixteen. I just don't buy that line of reasoning--he was a manipulative vampire that she knew for a month and had a crush on. Stack that against her bond with Bones and it should be no contest. This was the one time when I really felt like she was betraying Bones, and it honestly damaged my opinion of her. Bones proceeds to make some equally asshole-ish calls, so it evens out in the end. Like I said, I wanted to knock their heads together.

Overall, it was a hell of a book. I was grinding my teeth in frustration throughout most of the middle, so I can't say it was a pleasant reading experience. But again, any emotional reaction is better than none. Obviously, if you're reading the whole series, you'll have to read this one eventually. I don't think you'll be too disappointed, but I wouldn't call this a high point in the series. 3 stars.

On Cat and Bones: A Review of At Graves End by Jeaniene Frost



These days the market is flooded with so many vampire series that no one can possibly keep up with all of them, and frankly, I have no interest in trying to. There is a short list of series I actually think are worthwhile, and The Night Huntress series is on it. It isn't so much because they are unique and original (because they aren't), it's more that they manage to deliver what I want in a vampire book: action, gore, creepiness, a touch of romance, and some vamp politics--in just the right doses and without a lot of filler. At Graves End is book 3 in this series (see my review of book 2 HERE). There may be some book 1 and 2 SPOILERS from here on: you have been warned.

The better part of this book is devoted to a so-called war that has sprung up between two vampire lines: one which Bones is leader of, and one that belongs to an ancient Egyptian princess vampire. It seems like no vampire author can resist making a few historical royalty into vamps. In any case, Cat is currently a full time bad vamp slayer, but she is also Bones' wife. That both makes her a target and makes her partly responsible for taking out the murderous vampire princess.

Positive Comments

When it comes to main characters, Cat and Bones are pretty much everything that I could ask for. Cat is loyal, tough, and smart. Bones is powerful, devoted, and sexy as hell. I like both characters as individuals and I like them as a couple, and to me that's the most important aspect of a book like this.

The cast of secondary and background characters keeps growing, but it still doesn't feel too crowded (I'll admit that it comes close sometimes). For the most part, everyone fills a role and helps the story to feel more complete. I'm intrigued by many of them and eager to learn more about them.

Critical Comments

The plot, while fairly engaging, is not what you would call concise and to the point. In fact, it gets off track quite a bit, especially early on. I'm not saying that there is a lot of filler, because most of the details seem at least somewhat important. It's more a matter of organization, which could have been fixed with a bit of tighter editing.

This book was sufficiently satisfying for my vampire mood. There is a lot to love about it, and while none of The Night Huntress books (so far) have been 5 star read in my opinion, they are still worth a try. 4 stars.

On Undeath: A Review of One Foot in the Grave by Jeaniene Frost

A year ago I read Halfway to the Grave by Jeaniene Frost, and I liked it fairly well. If I had to label it, I would say that it was a very traditional vampire/vampire slayer urban fantasy. There's nothing wrong with that. While I often complain that there are too many vampires in romance and fantasy these days, there are still vampire books that work for me. Happily, the Night Huntress books seem to be among them. The following review contains spoilers from book 1.

Despite the fact that its been a year and many books since Halfway to the Grave, I found One Foot in the Grave easy to pick up and get into. It takes place four years after the first book ends. Cat and her team of human helpers track a master vampire and Cat discovers that this vampire has connections to her former lover, Bones. Cat still loves Bones, but believes that they can never be together for a variety of reasons. Still, her loyalty to him presents a conflict because her job is essentially to wipe out as many vampires as possible.

The world building in these books is so simple, and I mean that in the best way possible. The vampires are presented in a way that's familiar to fans of urban fantasy--they're old and slick and slightly amoral, they have select powers as well as weaknesses, and there's a hierarchical system of government. That's it. Nobody has incomprehensible, complicated powers. They don't have wings. There are ghouls and ghosts, and a hint of a few other things. But no long list of creatures. No glossary or list of vocab words to learn. For me, this is quite refreshing.


Though she's lost most of the naivety she showed in the first book, Cat is still a highly conflicted character. Her duel nature and abilities make her lonely. She doesn't go through a dramatic development in this book, but rather makes a few adjustments to her worldview. Mainly this involves her deciding whether to attempt to manage a relationship with Bones, and how to manage her team of human hunters. I didn't mind the very linear and simplistic character arc, because I felt that the big development had already taken place in the first book.

I'm a fan of Bones. He's intriguing and sexy, and has a lot of interesting history to delve into. I was happy to see him front and center in this story. And oh my, the relationship between Cat and Bones gets STEAMY. I liked the secondary characters as well: Tate, Juan, etc. It made me smile to see Cat acting as their leader. The friendships were oddly heartwarming. I'm hoping to see each of them fleshed out more later in the series.

The plot doesn't flow very smoothly. At times it seems like a series of loosely related events, some of which connect and make sense in the end and some of which were pretty unnecessary. There's a subplot where Cat dates a human named Noah that pretty much goes nowhere. She doesn't feel much for him beyond not hating his company, and their interactions are weak and limited. He could have been removed from the story entirely without any real effect. I thought this was a wasted opportunity, since actively dating a human guy might have showed an entirely different "human" side of Cat. There were a few other half baked little subplots that I think may or may not be addressed in future books. The bottom line is, the story lacked somewhat when it comes to focus.

I think if your in the mood for a vampire story, the Night Huntress series is a pretty good bet. Interesting characters, lots of action, and plenty of romance. 3.5 stars.