Frost, Jeaniene: Halfway to the Grave
Halfway to the Grave
Writer: Jeaniene Frost
Genre: Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance
Pages: 358
I resisted this book for a long time. So what if it was getting blurbed about EVERYWHERE I looked? It had vampires damn it, and a vampire slayer for a heroine, and since I never got into Buffy, I can't say I wanted getting hooked on a possible Buffy-wannabe either. Besides, vampires (like dragons) are something I'm getting rapidly tired of, and I'm trying really hard to kick the habit of buying books that have vampires in them.
But I caved, as I inevitably do when a book manages to snag my interest despite all resistance otherwise. It didn't even have to languish unread on my shelves for too long either thanks to my current (and now satiated) urban fantasy kick.
The premise: Our protagonist/narrator is Cat Crawfield who's in her early twenties and spends her weekends going to clubs and killing unsuspecting vamps. Why? Because her mother was raped by one, and Cat's the result. She's half-human, half-vampire, and by all rights, she shouldn't exist (because the dead can't reproduce, yo). She kills vampires hoping to one day bag the one who raped her mom, but then she meets Bones, and learns very suddenly that she's in for more than she bargained for. And it's not just her heart that's on the line.
Is this truly a Buffy-wannabe? Hell if I know: I never watched the show, and I don't care to. However, I enjoyed this book quite a bit, and the ending sent me straight to the sequel, which I bought before I even finished this one.
Spoilers beneath the cut.
You'll have to forgive me, because I was a bad devil and rather than posting this review right after I finished reading the book, I plowed through the sequel and finished it too, so I'm afraid my brain is more focused on the sequel than this one, but I'll try and talk about this one without referring to the second.
Clear as mud? Good.
At the start I was a little concerned. Frost has a habit of telling, which is common to first-person POV, but her telling would summarize events in such a way that I wasn't sure of the timeline of things happening. For example, the book opens with Cat getting pulled over by a cop because her tail light's out. But she's got a dead-body in the back, so naturally she's nervous. She manages to squick by, but then all of a sudden, we're talking about her scoping out another vampire. I wasn't sure if that was a flashback or what, and it took me a moment to realize we were jumping forward in time, not back. Maybe it's logical that when I read, I should expect things to move forward, but I don't, and there were several instances where I felt Frost's telling pulled me out of the book and I had to reorient myself.
The good thing is that the further you get into the story, the less that happens. No doubt, it's a fast-paced read, with conflict after conflict in the form of action, sexual tension, or emotional turmoil. And I've got to give Frost credit: Cat is certainly a conflicted character. She kills vampires not just to find her father and kill the bastard, but to atone for what she is. The tension between Cat and her mother is fantastic, and the sad truth that her mother is never prouder than when Cat's putting her life on the line to murder vampires is as chilling as it is poignant. The mother's a piece of work, let me tell you. Cat hates vampires with a fierce passion, but that means she also hates that part of herself, and in this book, that's one thing she has to finally face.
Bones is pretty much the reason Cat has to grow up. Both seriously--she has to start seeing herself as someone who deserves to be loved, someone who isn't a monster, and for that matter, that not all vampires are monsters either--and humorously. Bones has way too much fun tormenting Cat with sexual remarks and innuendos during her training, driving her prudish sensibilities right out of her in more ways than one. It's also telling, because her mother is viewed by the townspeople as a slut (nobody believed Cat's mom was raped, so they think Cat came from a one-night stand), and therefore, Cat's looked down upon as well, because most people believe the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. To make matters worse, the one time Cat did have sex, back when she was sixteen, the guy dumped her right after like a sack of potatoes.
That she initially uses her body as a means to lure vampires out of clubs and bars is ironic then, but humorous when Bones pushes the envelope and really encourages her to turn on the allure (via slutty clothes, dirty talk, and all that jazz). Some readers might take offense to this, because it borders on the idea that women aren't "real" women until men make them sexually aware of themselves, but on the other hand, while Cat was forced to make a choice: work for Bones or die, she did MAKE the choice, and she's only ramping up what she was doing anyway. She hasn't MET a vampire she hasn't tried to kill first, and she's always using her body (never letting it get to touching or sex) to nab her prey.
And there is something to be said about the acceptance of one's sexuality as a rite of passage. No matter what your sexual preferences, I personally don't think a person is mature until they've accepted themselves as a sexual "animal" and know what they want and who they are on that level. Sure, in this case (as is with MANY romances) it's a man (vampire) teaching a woman to get more comfortable with her sexual nature, but if the positions were reversed in this book, the importance of the sexual rite of passage is still the same.
This is a romance, in case I haven't stressed that enough already. I have yet to find this book in the SF/F section of a store, so don't pick this up thinking it'll go light on the sex and romance. It won't. And it shouldn't. This is a story about Cat growing up, learning to accept herself for who and what she is, both as a vampire and a woman that deserves to be loved. The relationship between her and Bones is a little frustrating, because she's always second-guessing her feelings for him, but then again, that's so true to life. You spend so long telling yourself that you don't want something because it's wrong, but you really DO want it, and when you finally get it, you feel guilty, even though you shouldn't. Cat feels guilty working with Bones, and later, having a relationship with Bones, and can't come clean with her mother because she knows her mother will never, ever accept Bones, but even worse, her mother won't accept her either.
And, despite the over-arcing plot of kidnappings and slavery, the book boils down to Cat's choice: Bones or her mother, and believe me, it's a hard choice to make, and a very fantastic one at that. By the end of the book, you can't help but see these characters as human, and you hurt for them as well.
My Rating
Must Have: It was a fine line between "must have" and "worth the cash" because there are flaws in this book that did distract me. But by the end I was so engaged in the characters and their choices that I promptly picked up the sequel and read it in five hours flat. In truth, it's the second book that bumps my rating for this one to "must have," but Frost does a really great job with characterization and tension, as well as action and conflict. There's plenty of meat on the bones (pun intended) for both urban fantasy and romance readers alike, and like I said in the review, this is a romance. Just not your typical one, for reasons that'll become obvious once you read it.
I'll also note that the action scenes were particularly well-done, as I never felt slowed down by them at all. The plot was also compelling as it unraveled. Though to be honest, I was more concerned about the character relationships than anything: Cat and Bones, Cat and her mother. This book definitely leaves you wanting to read the next, so trust me when I say that you'd better have it on hand, especially if you even remotely THINK you'll like this title. And if you're an urban fantasy fan, you should. I can't tell you how cliche it is or isn't in terms of vampires, but they didn't bore me or annoy me in this book (which in general, they usually do), and the heroine might get herself into trouble, but in the end, she's no damsel in distress.
Next up: One Foot in the Grave by Jeaniene Frost