Denis Melnik Melnik itibaren Mungalli QLD 4886, Avustralya
*THIS REVIEW IS A TAD SPOILERISH-TREAD CAREFULLY!* I liked This Side Of The Grave more than the previous 2 books, for sure. However, it was not exactly my favourite, either. I know that Frost can write magic but for some reason I feel like she's almost there every time, and in the end she doesn't deliver. That's what happened in this book too, in my opinion. The story in This Side Of The Grave derives from book 4, pretty much. Cat has to deal with Apollyon's army of ghouls. He has them brainwashed into believing that Cat will be the next badd ass in town, claiming she has both vampire and ghoul powers. Thus, she must be annihilated immediately because she poses a huge threat to the ghoul community. Now I wasn't very clear on that, to be honest. I was with Cat when she was innocently wondering "I am full-fledged vampire now. I cannot become a ghoul nor yield their powers.Why, Apollyon?" Why, indeed. Ghoul's need to start a war against vampires is understandable but why they thought they could easily win them, is still a head-scratcher for me. Granted, ghouls have awesome super powers, no doubt about it. But with the exception of super chick Marie, I don't see how a ghoul's power can equal a vampire's. Speaking of Marie, her "ghost juju" was wicked! I like Marie a lot and I hope we get to see more of her in the following books. Also, the scene with Vlad "teaching" Cat how to control her ghost power, was very good. Vlad FTW :) What I didn't like about this book was the ending. It was like Frost set out to write the most anti-climactic ending in the history of literature on purpose. And she succeeded. Through the whole book Cat and Bones, Vlad, Mencheres, everyone! makes this whole freaking deal about Apollyon and the war that's coming, extermination of both races, impending doom, blah blah blah. While you know that won't happen of course, you except at least some kind of fight made of awesome and epic. Well, don't hold your breath. Apollyon turned out to be this sad, sad, little man who did not worth a single nightmare. Needless to say, the long anticipated battle, was non existent. As for the infamous Chapter 32 mirror...it was good. Chapter 32 was way better, in my opinion, but Ch.21 was good also. I thought it was over the top just a little bit, but then again, I always knew Bones was hard to please ;) I know that you're probably going "OK, so why the 4 stars?" 4 stars because Frost's writing is still amazing and it makes me laugh. I know that will never change, that's why I'll keep reading Night Huntress books no matter what. Despite all my objections and complains above, I know that when it's all said and done, I will always enjoy reading yet another one of Cat&Bones adventures!