Halfway to the Grave (Night Huntress, Book 1) (edition 2007)

by Jeaniene Frost (Author)

Series: Night Huntress Universe (1), Night Huntress (1)

Members	Reviews	Popularity	Average rating	Mentions
3,534	190	3,891	(4)	102

carol.'s review

Two and a half stars.

If you love this, great. I'm happy you and Frost have found each other, and I wish you many hot and heavy installments. But I suggest moving on to another review, because I'm going to be very blunt: I remain unimpressed by paranormal romance, and Frost's Halfway to the Grave seems a rather mediocre example of the genre.

I occasionally get tempted to try paranormal, searching for that one story to surprise me. In this case, a number of friend reviews, particularly Mimi's review and the fact that [a:Ilona Andrews|21748|Ilona Andrews|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1219436898p2/21748.jpg], co-author of one of my favorite UF series, is besties with Frost, inspired me to give her a try. Unfortunately, Frost has done nothing to change my opinion of the genre.

Writing a Paranormal Romance

Characters
1) Alienated but speshul female lead who is insecure about her looks, inexperienced with dating, and trying to build identity away from her family. Preferably has under-developed magic or physical power
2) Sexxy, hawt (other modern adjective) arrogant male lead who dresses well.
3) Dull/clueless boy-next-door admirer (of the female lead)
4) Vampires (sparkling optional). Should include a hawt-but-naughty vampire and an Evil vampire
5) Clueless government representative (evilness optional)

Plotting, romantic
1) Female lead needs to learn to trust rakish male lead while male lead needs to fall in LOVE with female
2) Traditional sex scene
3) Female needs to discover her sexual identity
4) Semi-scandalous sex scene (if you are thirteen)
5) Couple challenged by immortal vs. immortal issue

Plotting, external conflict
1) Evil versus good

World-building
1) Substitution of 'real world' for world-building

Halfway to the Grave is best summarized with an equation: Blade meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer, minus Buffy's compassion, intelligence and self-esteem.

Writing was about average for the genre. Family backstory took a vaguely interesting angle on the heroine's background. Heroine had normal to above average amounts of TSTL moments. I did enjoy one scene with a disagreeable ghost, and even laughed out loud at the end of it. I can't say that I recommend it any more than any other PNR books. Worth noting it kept me awake on night shift, so not a waste of time. (

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carol. | Nov 25, 2024 |

All member reviews

English (186) Italian (2) Swedish (1) Hungarian (1) All languages (190)

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Showing 1-25 of 186 (next | show all)

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carol. | Nov 25, 2024 |

Catherine 'Cat' Crawfield's mother was raped by a vampire newly turned and still able to impregnate her, resulting in Cat (half vampire) and a deep hatred of vampires. When Cat is 16 she begins luring and killing vampires. But the last vampire she lured was a bounty hunter named Bones who kidnaps her. They agree to work together to eliminate bad vampires. Bones will train her in exchange for helping to locate the vampire who created her. Romance is hot, action is gory, and Cat has lots of angst surrounding her whiny mother. Good start to a series. (

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Linda-C1 | Sep 26, 2024 |

see if youre gonna write trash then at least make it not boring. (

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BeanieBeanie | Jul 19, 2024 |

Ein grandioser Start in die Serie. Cat und Bones. Von Anbeginn weiss man, dass die beiden zusammen gehören, auch wenn sie es vielleicht noch nicht wissen.

Die Storyline ist simple, ohne viel Schnickschnack. Aber das ist völlig ok.

Leider stören mich die vielen Rechtschreibfehler in dieser Ausgabe. Ich hoffe,in Zukunft wird man besser Fehlerlesen. (

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RoXXieSiXX | May 20, 2024 |

This was a re-read from years and years ago. *sigh* I totally forgot how good it was, even now I'm like... I HAVE TO READ MORE!
That's what Cat and Bones do to you ;)

Worldbuilding:
A rich (and volatile) present-day urban fantasy, what more do you want? We have sentient ghosts, English vampires and who knows what else out there.
While Cat is part of the supernatural scene, she doesn't know much about it, so we get all the info alongside her. There never is an information dump, but we slowly and steadily get to know what's going on in the vampire world and how close it is tied to our own.
Scenes and environments were very well described and detailed enough to stay fully immersed in the story.

Character development:
Our cast is amazing, seriously. Prepare to get emotionally invested and enjoy the wild ride.
Catherine, but call her Cat, is a hybrid: half-human and half-vampire. She has been hunting and killing vampires for the last 6 years until one fateful night she met Bones. Ahhhh where to start... I really like that he's so different from the usual vampire stock (as in not dark and broody). I mean, he's English! :D
Both of our main characters are well fleshed out, with a colourful past, their own fears, hopes and dreams for the future.
I don't know, but Cat and Bones just make such an awesome pair. Yes, they kick ass and protect each other, but it goes way deeper and that just makes me sigh with a grin on my face.

Pacing and flow:
As I've said before, it's a wild ride, but sooooo worth it! There is a lot of action going on but perfectly balanced by the conversations that drive the story forward.
There wasn't any part that I felt took too long or felt rushed. The story was told at its own pace and that was perfect.

The book:
The book itself was well written with no (noticeable) errors. There is sex described (if that is important to you).
It's 358 pages long, spread over 27 chapters and told from Cat's point of view.

Final thoughts:
To hell with it, I'm reading the next book immediately afterwards! I can't recommend this series often enough, even if you're not sure, read a sample and you'll be as hooked as I am ;) That just leaves me with one more thing to say: enjoy ;) (

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Nemerith | Oct 30, 2023 |

This was mostly a decent 3 star read for me but there is something at the very end I found so infuriating I subtracted a star and never even considered reading the second volume for a long time.
The entire forced break-up (I guess you can't really call it that) made no sense. There was not a shread of logic behind it. The only reason it was there was as enticement to read the second book. It was incredibly blatant and cheap. I am still mad about it a year later. If you deftly craft your first book to end in a place which lures the reader to continue by leaving something unresolved that will be relevant in the next book that is fine. But just blatantly adding something that makes no sense and goes against the characters personality just to force such a situation that is a huge no-go for me. (

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omission | Oct 19, 2023 |

audiobook 7/29/2013

There is something about this book that really turns me off (aside from Cat's immaturity and her horrible mother). Unfortunately this unnameable thing is really highlighted by listening to the audiobook. The narrator is good and I'd give the audiobook 4 stars just for the narration. (

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aeryn0 | Jul 23, 2023 |

This was alright. Pretty big focus on sex, sexual inneundo and romance though and I'm not sure it really added anything to the story. The 'I love you's' came out of nowhere and felt insincere, farfetched and unrealistic. Would have been a stronger story if they had just liked each other and dated and let the emotions grow. I didn't really feel like I connected to any of the characters, they all fell like of flat. I liked Bones but Cat was kind of boring. The story itself was average. There were some great lines that had me chuckling but overall lacks depth. Not sure if I'll pick up the next one. 2 stars. (

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funstm | Jan 24, 2023 |

I’ve had this on my list for a while, and I’m glad I finally got to it, but I think it will be one of those that improves further into the series. Cat was an annoying character for a good chunk of the book, and when the narrator is annoying, it’s tough going. But the story is as much about Cat growing up and overcoming her upbringing as it is about vampire hunting and conspiracies, and she did grow on me as she wised up. I loved Bones, and I will probably read the series for his sake, if nothing else.
Sometimes I find I need to give a series a few books—I didn’t fall in love with the Dresden Files until book three—before I decide yay or nay. I wasn’t swept off my feet by this one, but I liked it enough to give the next book a try.
The author’s notes at the end about how the series came about and why certain scenes had to be edited out were fun to read and won me over. (

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Harks | Dec 17, 2022 |

I'd give this 3 1/2 stars and round up to 4. There were a few things that made it not quite an 'OMG, this is awesome' book. But there was a lot to like. It was a funny, dark little tale of romance that was so bittersweet. I definitely laughed and very nearly cried. I need to get the next book in the series to see how the adventures of Bones and Cat continue to unfold. (

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NickyM96 | Nov 21, 2022 |

Paranormal romance is one of my go-to genres when I want something light to read. This is book one in the Night Huntress series and it sure checked all the boxes for me. I got the romance I wanted and a good plot that contained enough drama to pull the story along. Already looking forward to book two. (

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purpledog | Oct 31, 2022 |

Dear god, the writing. I weep. WEEP. (To be fair, it is a first book. And the writing is not *bad*, it's just very first-book-ish. I wanted to groan and roll my eyes way more than the story deserved, as it's not the world's most original story, but it was nicely different from most of the similar books. (

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tanaise | Jul 17, 2022 |

I think this is a perfectly fine paranormal vampire-centered romance. It has an interesting plot, characters who clearly need to develop over time and do, and a high amount of kicking ass.

I can't decide if my somewhat meh attitude towards it is because I've outgrown this type of book, or because I prefer werewolves, or if I just didn't love it. There's a lot of violence and generally terrible behavior towards women. There's an over-the-top romance. There's a certain amount of slut shaming. Neither character is particularly likeable, but they do grow on you over time. So is it first in a series blues, or something else? Don't know, nor sure if I want to find out. (

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jennybeast | Apr 14, 2022 |

Smart, funny, totally unlike the skanky cover. The best urban fantasy I've read in a while.

Recommended to you, Laura P. (

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Cerestheories | Nov 8, 2021 |

OK, sono ufficialmente entrata nel fandom di Cat e Bones (

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Sara_Lucario | Oct 19, 2021 |

Trigger warning: sexual assault, offensive language
I’m going to admit something tragic. I only chose to read this book because I was curious to see how the author would write the story past the premise. I knew full well I wasn’t going to like it, but I read it anyway.

The main character is Catherine “Cat” Crawfield, a 22-year-old who lives at home with her single mother and elderly grandparents in the backwards, little town of Licking Falls, Ohio. She has put off going to college initially to take care of her grandparents, but she spends most of her time killing vampires as retribution for the vampire who ruined her mother’s life. You see, Cat is a vampire hunter who’s also a half-vampire.

“How can someone be a half-vampire?” you, a reasonable reader, may ask.

Read more at https://theparanormalreview.blogspot.com/2021/07/halfway-to-grave-by-jeaniene-fr.... (

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Katie.Loughlin | Jul 30, 2021 |

Rating 4.5/5

Well, *clears throat* that was something quite… different. The oh-my-god-that-was-freaking-fantastic and give-me-the-second-book-right-now kind of different.

Review not finished yet.. (

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Ash600 | Mar 19, 2021 |

Good fun fluff. (

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wetdryvac | Mar 2, 2021 |

I LOVED this series: in 3 days I finished both books and now I can't wait for the 3rd (dec, 30th)!!! If you like a kick-ass type of girl as the main character, an handsome vampire as her partner on the job (...and out of it) and a good dose of mystery & humor (sex is there too) then you can't miss Cat's adventures. (

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Lara-IT | Feb 3, 2021 |

Read my full review here. This was really fun. It kind of reminds me of what a YA paranormal series would be like if it were written for adults. My main sticking point for this one is Cat's mother -- oh my God, woman. Just nope on so many levels. (

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littlebookjockey | Sep 15, 2020 |

After reading 50 Shades I didn't really care for shy girls, so when Cat turned out to be inexperienced and shy I almost lost the desire to read the book. Fortunately the story started out with a murder, so I knew there was more to her than shyness. And luckily it was true. She's really cocky and quick-tempered ones you get to know her.

Cat is generally a wonderful protagonist. She has a hard time accepting that part of her is vampire, but chooses to exploit the benefits it gives her. She is still very human and she (often) overestimates herself and experiencing the consequences of it. She is also really fun and fresh.

Bones is nothing less than amazing and I have to admit that I have quite a crush on him. He's just provocative and cocky enough to make it work and it never seems annoying.

Although it's quite clear from the beginning how Cat and Bones' relationship will evolve, it's still great to follow developments. Their chemistry is perfect and even when they quarrel you can feel the love.

Jeaniene Frost' writing is fluently and easily read. The only really bad thing I can say about the book is that the ending makes me want to read the next one SO badly, but I don't own it (yet) (

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Hyms | Aug 9, 2020 |

Reread for the nth time, this time via Audible while walking and knitting.

Still a fun, interesting kick-ass book! (

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avonar | May 27, 2020 |

I bought "Halfway To The Grave" a year ago because I was looking for new series and this got positive, "Nice Girls Don't Have Fangs" kinds of reviews. I'm reading it now as part of my Thirty Firsts TBR Reading Challenge.

I'm abandoning it at 25% because it's a little too light and too slow for me.

The conceit the story is based on is fun: Cat, a young woman, born half- vampire (no, I've never heard of that before either), as a result of rape, grows up to seek out and kill vampires and then gets entangle with Bones an old vampire who hunts his own kind.

Some of the dialogue is witty and the tone stays light, despite the often unpleasant content. I think a lot of people could have fun with this.

I recommend avoiding the audiobook version if you're English. Bones is English and Tavia Gilbert, who otherwise does a good job on the narration, seemed to me to be channelling Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins every time Bones spoke. It kept throwing me out of the story.

I was also put off by Cat's innocence and easy embarrassment. It was just a little over-played and my suspension of disbelief cord kept snapping and hitting me in the face.

Given that I've only read the first quarter of the book, I'm not attempting a rating. It could be great by the end but I'm not having enough fun with it to continue.beyond the 25% point.

If you want to assess this for yourself, listen to the SoundCloud extract below. Bones appears just before the end.
https://soundcloud.com/taviagilbert/halfway-to-the-grave

MikeFinnFiction | May 16, 2020 |

Halfway to the Grave feels very Buffy-esque and I LOVED EVERY SECOND OF IT.
After listening to the first two books of the Night Prince series I decided to give this series a try and I am so glad I did because not only do we have a badass female lead but we have a VERY swoon-worthy male lead!

Looking forward to reading the rest of this series! (

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maebri | Mar 10, 2020 |

Great book! So loving this couple...shitty ending though. (

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hixxup79 | Feb 23, 2020 |

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