Frost, Jeaniene: Destined for an Early Grave
Destined for an Early Grave (2009)
Written by: Jeaniene Frost
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Pages: 355 (Mass Market Paperback)
You all know how much I love this series, right? After all, I named it my favorite paranormal romance series when I hosted my giveaway back in June. So you know, beyond a doubt, that when a new title is released, I have to have it ASAP, and I must read it ASAP as well.
So, have it and read it ASAP I did. And now, here's your review. :)
The premise: Cat and Bones simply aren't meant to find peace. In the fourth book of the series, Cat starts getting strange, recurring dreams about a blond vampire named Gregor who insists that Cat is HIS wife instead, not Bones's. She's never met him before in her life, but the vampire is determined to have her, no matter what the cost. Cat must do everything she can to defeat one of the most powerful vampires she's ever known, not just to save hers and Bones's relationship, but to save Bones's life as well.
Review style: Stream of conscious variety, though earlier, I did try to break it down into two sections. It just didn't work. Definite spoilers.
I've already stressed how much I love this series, which is why this book was such a shock compared to what I'm used to. And I do have to be fair. From around page 200 on, the book gets a good smack in the face and does what it needs to do, but up until that point, it was a little painful for me.
The thing is, and this is personal, I really dislike the whole forgotten lover from the past storyline, because the only reason such a storyline EXISTS is to cause trouble for the couple in question. It makes them doubt each other, doubt their love, and blah, blah, blah. Once you've seen it, you've seen it over and over and over, and when I saw the trailer for this book? I sighed. Because while I hated the plot on principle, I would be reading the book regardless.
And what we learn changes everything we knew about Cat's past, and I'm still not sure how I feel about that. I don't believe we ever got any hints that part of Cat's memory had been erased (but I could've missed them), and I'm not sure I believe that NO ONE in the vampire community wouldn't have recognized her before now and say, "Hey, aren't you Gregor's wife?" or something to that effect, especially when she married Bones. And what about those little twinges of pain when she tried to remember a repressed memory, or something triggered it? Never once did we get the idea that not all was right in Cat's mental world, so to have it so suddenly foisted on me, well, I rather resent it.
There was a part of me that was hoping this whole past with Gregor was a hoax, but of course it wasn't. It couldn't be a hoax because it had to mean something, so instead, we get the true fact that she did marry Gregor, but she did it out of fear of what her future would be, as well as the fact she wanted to please this very beautiful man who made her feel special, but whom she was terrified of sleeping with. In short, Gregor was a sleaze and an ass, and frankly, I can't imagine any reader wanting Cat to choose him over Bones once the truth was revealed.
On the other hand, as much as I hate this plot, how different would it have been if Cat had truly loved him, and he truly loved her? Obviously, that's the road not taken, but that might've been more angst-inducing in a way that would've presented all the characters involved with some seriously tough choices, and that might have been interesting, if done right.
Instead, we get Cat and Bones acting like kids, neither one communicating with the other. Admittedly, they do talk about this when they're together again, but the 200+ pages before they talk about their own personal flaws are kind of painful. Cat wants to fight, Bones won't let her, Bones keeps her out of danger for her own good but she has to do something so she does the one thing Bones doesn't want and goes to Gregor, and then when she comes back, he flies off the handle. *sighs* Admittedly, some of the stuff he said to her did need to be said: that chapter hurt because what he said was true, though the manner in which he said it was incredibly shocking and painful, as it was meant to be.
However, I kept wanting Cat to snap out of it and say, "I'm not going back you asshole, he tried to rape me!" or SOMETHING to make him listen to her. But she was shocked to do so, so I suppose her reaction made sense. Which was, of course, to do nothing but stand there in shock.
Transforming her into a full vampire has its perks: on the up side, I think it was handled well, though I would've liked to see Bones push her more, especially earlier on in this book, if not in the previous one, to take that particular plunge, so we could see the opposite of the TWILIGHT effect, and that's a heroine who DOESN'T want to turn to be with her man forever. But falling back into that effect--though that series wasn't the first to do it, once Cat is turned, she's a SPECIAL vamp. Of course she is, she's the heroine. But haven't we seen this already? I've not read Laurel K. Hamilton, but don't we see this there? And Bella too in the last Twilight book? And I'm sure there's more out there.
However, I'm willing to give Cat (and Frost) the benefit of the doubt. After all, Cat was unique anyway, so it makes sense she'd be a freak of a vampire. And I am interested to see where this takes us. I'm hoping she doesn't keep the powers, because I don't want to see her become all powerful, but rather have to make due with what she's got, you know? Kind of like Rogue from X-Men (the movies, not the books, because somehow, she ends up keeping her powers in the books, I hear): she has to think on her feet.
Though, did we ever get the question answered of why, when she was in Paris with Bones, she was able to make the leap she did?
There ARE good things in this book. Bones and Cat working together is far more fun than when they're apart, and I hope Frost knows this. I loved Fabian the ghost more than I can articulate, so there. Also, there were some serious consequences in this book, namely Cat's mother turning into a vamp and Rodney's death. Both were heartbreaking, and I'm really looking forward to seeing where this goes. Also, what's up with Don? He's obviously sick, and it's obviously not normal. And Marie, also an interesting addition to the overall cast. This book, more than others, I felt like Frost was poking gentle fun at other popular vampire series. She does at Charlaine Harris by having the Queen of New Orleans be, not a vampire, but rather a ghoul. Then there was a line, page 16, where Cat refer's to Bones's "glittering gorgeousness" and I had to giggle. Though that wasn't poking fun, so I'm not sure if that was intentional or not in terms of nodding to Twilight.
And nitpicks (I know, the audacity after being so unhappy with the plot!): I'm so tired of Tate it's not funny. He's a broken record, and something interest (good or bad) needs to happen with him, stat. Also, I'm concerned seeing SO many (but not all, I know) vamps mooning after Cat for whatever reason. She's treading dangerously close to the Mary Sue line. Also, I had some trouble in this book with the names of Cat's former team, because we saw them so rarely that I couldn't remember their roles in the previous books (except for Juan. Gotta love Juan). Also, Bones doesn't cheat, WHICH IS GOOD, but I'm so very tired of that whole kind of misunderstanding, you know?
My Rating
Worth the Cash: but barely. With all due respect to Frost, I find this to be the weakest book in the series so far, mostly because it takes 200 pages before I don't want throw the book across the room in frustration. I even stopped at one point to dig up any spoilers I could just to make sure that if I read further, I wouldn't get ticked off. Not a good sign for a series that I normally devour without coming up for air. Though, to be fair, I did read this book in one day. Frustrated as hell or not, it reads fast and you want to know what's really going on, and you want Cat and Bones to snap out of it and be the characters you know and love. And don't get me wrong, this remains my favorite paranormal romance series, but I hope that this book remains the weakest of them all. I didn't care for the plot at all, so I hope something super-awesome and super-epic comes out of this. It has the potential to, and I'm looking forward to seeing what Frost does in the future. And I'm interested in Frost's spin-off series as well, though I didn't read the excerpt so the whole thing's fresh when it comes out next year.
At any rate, for fans of the series, you're going to want to read it, but you may find yourself having more trouble than you did with the previous books. If you don't, great. I wish I wasn't so jaded that I could've enjoyed this more, but I am so I didn't. Still, the last third of the book is worth the price you pay for it, so if you do find yourself frustrated like me, just make it to chapter 20. I know, I know, a long time to wait, but by time chapter twenty is over, the story is actually MOVING towards something, and that's a good thing.
Oh, and for those of you who are new to Frost's work? DO NOT START WITH THIS BOOK!! These titles aren't stand-alone, and the series, on the whole, is more than worth picking up. Start with Halfway to the Grave.
Cover Commentary: also not my favorite of the series, though I am loving the inner cover showing Cat and Bones in the lovely angsty but so-very-hot pose. I will give credit to the artist and design department for consistency though, we've got the same model and same overall look to the covers, so that's a good thing.
Next up: a very, very, VERY interesting post, but not entirely of the book review nature. Stay tuned!