Review: Halfway to the Grave by Jeaniene Frost

GoodReads Description:

 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.

My Review:

Why, oh WHY didn't I start this series sooner?? I feel like Squidward when he discovers his love for krabby patties after never trying them before..."ALL THE WASTED YEARS!!!" I just want to smother myself in this series for how awesome it is. I will now immediately go to the library and check them out all at once, have a mini marathon, and get caught up on the series. I was shocked when I realized that this was Jeaniene Frost's debut novel. It is definitely on a very high caliber and reads like shes been in the game for years. Good for her!!

Halfway to the Grave provides a kick ass heroine in the form of Cat, a half vampire hybrid. Cat is amazing! She independent without being annoyingly so, and at the same time she is so naïve...but then shes spunky and spirited and snarky and I just have a total girl-crush on her. Then there's Bones :D My like for Cat is NOTHING compared to my new obsession with Bones. He's British (hot accent, check), A vampire (undead immortal, check), has an awesome body( awesome body, check) and is pretty much my dream guy :D One of my favorite things about the book was his and Cat's interactions. Their relationship builds through forced interaction, and of course a lot of fights. You can't get down and dirty with someone without getting...well...downa and dirty ;) One of my fave scenes was when Bones was trying to get Cat to be less uptight about dirty talk and forced her to sit there and listen to him talk so filthy that even I was blushing.

The plot of the book was full of action, adventure and getting hit on by hot vampires. Awesomeness!For the first half, theres a lot of sexual tension and a lot of funny scenes.Then it was like as the book went on, the plot "grew up". It progressed from innocent flirtations and a few kills here and there to full blown murders and kidnappings. There was also some deep thriller/horror kind of action due to the slave trafficking, many rape implications and lots of violence. I LOVED it. It was gritty, but snarky. It was gruesome, but really enthralling at the same time. In addition...Ms. Frost's vamps are neither angsty, melodramatic loners, nor are they (typically) vicious, blood-thirsty monsters. They seem way more real than many vampires I've read because they simply seem like they are humans who happen to have a penchant for drinking blood.

I found it kind of odd that Cat was 21 and acted the way she did. 21 is a weird age to portray in general...it's the time between when you are an awkward teenager and a confident, professional, sexual adult. Cat was very innocent and so naïve...if that can be said for a girl who has been hunting and killing vampires ever since she was 16. But the way she spoke was very...young. This was fine, because at 21, most people STILL haven't grown comfortable in their own skin. They might be slightly less awkward than their teenage selves, but most haven't come into their own yet.Cat's growth is particularly difficult because her mom has raised her to believe that she is half demon and has to constantly fight the evil in her nature.(FYI this REALLY made me hate her mom) I found Cat's innocence to be rather endearing, though it tended to get a little weird combined with the graphic sex scenes. It wasn't pedophile-esk...but it came kind of close...

The ending of the book was a definite shocker for me. I didn't expect the government to be involved in this, especially with how secluded Cat and Bones are at the beginning of the book. I also didn't like that Cat left Bones...maybe it's just the romantic in me, but I would NEVER let the love of my life go. Especially if he was a vampire. I would always trust in his supernatural abilities to keep himself safe from the evil government fiends and come find me. I guess I understand Cat's decision though, she doesn't want to cause her mother any more harm, and she is currently carrying a lot of guilt around for her grandparent's deaths and her mother's kidnapping. She wants to make sure her mom stays safe and she thinks she's doing what's best...that doesn't mean I have to like it thought...

Rating: I LOVED this book :D I give it a 9.5/10 because of how interesting it was. This isn't the same-old same-old urban fantast. The characters were great, plot was great...loved it. I can't wait to get my hands on the next one.