Review: This Side of the Grave (Night Huntress #5) by Jeaniene Frost

Description (from Goodreads)

Danger waits on both sides of the grave.

Half-vampire Cat Crawfield and her vampire husband Bones have fought for their lives, as well as for their relationship. But just when they've triumphed over the latest battle, Cat's new and unexpected abilities threaten to upset a long-standing balance . . .

With the mysterious disappearance of vampires, rumors abound that a species war is brewing. A zealot is inciting tensions between the vampires and ghouls, and if these two powerful groups clash, innocent mortals could become collateral damage. Now Cat and Bones are forced to seek help from a dangerous "ally"—the ghoul queen of New Orleans herself. But the price of her assistance may prove more treacherous than even the threat of a supernatural war . . . to say nothing of the repercussions Cat never imagined.

I never did managed to read all of the previous books before this installment came out, as was my plan. I had to stop half way through Destined for an Early Grave, when book 5 was delivered to my kindle via Whispernet at 12:06.

I was so excited. My stomach was doing somersaults. I did what I said I wasn't going to do and started to read it (i didn't want to binge read it so told myself I wouldn't read it until the morning). Then I remembered that I'd already read the first 2 chapters on Jeaniene's website so, I re-read them, then forced myself to go to bed. I'm glad to say that Cat has grown. She didn't make those stupid snap decisions she usually make which was a relief. There was less action than usual, though. Usually lots of things happen, but it seemed like not a lot happened. I think this was the reason I was able to take my time and read it slowly, which I don't usually do. I binge read then regret it later. Yet it took me two full days to read this book. Unusual.

I debated giving it a 6 but I couldn't decide if the edge was taken off due to all the anticipation, or it was because of there was less action. I really want to give it a 6 because it's Cat and Bones for God sake, but I can't, it doesn't feel right :/ I'll definitely read it again soon though. It was great, just not amazing.

I really did enjoy reading it. It's a great series.

Rating 5/6 - Really Liked It

Review: Torment by Kate Lauren

Description (from Goodreads)

Hell on earth. That's what it's like for Luce to be apart from her fallen angel boyfriend, Daniel. It took them an eternity to find one another, but now he has told her he must go away. Just long enough to hunt down the Outcasts - immortals who want to kill Luce. Daniel hides Luce at Shoreline, a school on the rocky California coast with unusually gifted students -Nephilim, the offspring of fallen angels and humans.

At Shoreline, Luce learns what the Shadows are, and how she can use them as windows to her previous lives. Yet the more Luce learns, the more she suspects that Daniel hasn't told her everything. He's hiding something - something dangerous. What if Daniel's version of the past isn't actually true? What if Luce is really meant to be with someone else? The second novel in the addictive FALLEN series . . . where love never dies.

I'm not going to lie, my hopes where high for this book. Even though I knew it was going to be different from its predecessor due to the 'mystery' being solved. I just hoped that it wouldn't lose it's edge.

It did. It lost everything that made me like it in the first place. I didn't like Luce for most of this book. She was annoyingly brat-like. All she did was moan and whine and she just did too many things unexpectedly. I didn't get her. I didn't understand her motivations. I tried I really did.

I never really bought into Cam in Fallen, but it was Daniel who I felt let me down the most here. There didn't seem to be anything left of him that I liked. He seemed as desperate and as needy as Cam had been in book 1. Luce's friendship with Callie seemed pointless as well. We didn't 'know' who Callie was, we hadn't 'met' her so why have Luce talking about her all the time. Miles and Shelby were annoying replacements for those at sword and cross. Miles was annoying, and Shelby, well she was just dull.

I started to struggle halfway through. I was bored but then Luce fenced. It wasn't a spectacular fight scene but it was enough to suck me back in -It really helped that one of my twitter friends encouraged me to keep going for the twist at the end, so I began reading with more interest. It was slightly better second half than first, but I was not impressed with the ending; how Luce-like. It didn't feel like the end of a book, it felt more like an end to chapter. I feel that the story could have been told in half the amount of pages it actually took. In fact, torment and passion should have been one book. I'll still read passion. I have to, I'm already 2 books in and Daniel has to redeem himself, because seriously, he so didn't drop to the ground and bury his head in the grass, did he?

Rating: 3/4 - It Was Okay