Thank for NetGalley and the Publisher for providing an e-arc of this much anticipated release in exchange for my honest review.

Let's start with the undeniable fact that I love Jeaniene Frost. I don't believe that I've ever read a book written by her that I did not enjoy, and this book did not break that cycle.

In the early novels of The Night Huntress series we only got to enjoy the stories from Cat's perspective. Later on as more books were added to the main storyline and the spin-off series took off, we got to enjoy multiple POVs. But a glimpse into those early "days" by Bones eyes was missing. Not anymore.

After Midnight Sun was published I've started to secretly hope that this might just happen to our beloved Bones too.

I very much enjoyed how the writer updated the technology present in the story to keep up with current advances and to make sure that readers joining in now would understand the plot just as well. It was also borderline scary how much of the original conversations did I remember. e
Even with that I was still surprised on many occasions how the events actually unfolded and how soon feelings and love sparked in the hearts of both Bones and cat.

This series will forever be one of my favourites, and this new addition only made it better (if that was even possible).

3 out of 5 stars. I really wanted to love this one but could not get back into this world. Seeing Bones point of view during the 1st book was great; however, Cat annoyed me. And this troubled me greatly. I loved Cat during the series but in this viewpoint I didn't. Just so-so for me but others will enjoy it.

THE OTHER HALF OF THE GRAVE is the story of how Cat and Bones first met and began working together, this time told from the perspective of Bones, it had been so many years since I had read Halfway to the Grave, that I honestly thought it would be like reading a completely new book. In many ways it was; but more often than not, it was the same scene told from another point of view. That’s okay, though, it was great to jump back into Cat and Bones world since the series ended. Fun read.

I just finished The Other Half of the Grave by Jeaniene Frost. This book is my first book in the Night Huntress Series. We get to read Bone’s version of how he and Cat met. The spicy scenes were not overly detailed with vulgarity but enough to let us know he’s a hell of a lover. Yeah, we will all take a Bone’s...
I enjoy having the opportunity to read their beginning story from both points of view. I am now curious about her inner thoughts during this time. I would imagine her struggles with who she is and what her mother raised her to believe makes her view things differently.

A nice walk down memory lane. Super nice to see Cat from Bones' point of view! It was a bit too insta-love-y for my taste, so I prefer the original story from Cat's point of view when it comes to that. Would have been nicer if Bones had bonded with her a bit more before realizing he's in love with her. While I appreciate the peek inside Bones' head at the beginning of his relationship with Cat, I think I would have liked a new short story from Bones' POV set after the last NH book or maybe just a compilation of key scenes from the books from his POV.

The best part was the epilogue! Bones scheming to see Cat again was so funny and him noticing how much she's changed over the last four years really reminded me how heartbroken I was when I read the end of book for the first time.

A NOSTALGIC TRIP BACK IN TIME

The one thing I loved the most about this book was the nostalgia. I read Halfway to the Grave way back in 2016. And I have not forgotten the Night Huntress world, event though I haven't been the best at keeping up lately. So it was nice and nostalgic to get a glimpse back at the way it all started. This time, of course, getting Bones' point of view. I have always been a Bones fan. He was the paragon of Paranormal Romance heroes for me when I first got into the genre. And he still holds sway over me. Even though this was more instant-love-y than I remembered the first book being (for obvious reasons, I would assume) Bones still has a place in my heart. While I will not declare this a piece of great literature nor an essential book for the plot of the series, it was still enjoyable and filled with nostalgia (one of my favourite things).

Jeaniene Frost is one of my favorite authors and Night Huntress one of my favorite series, so I was ESTATIC to be given the opportunity to read this ARC and Bones' point of view in this retelling of Halfway to the Grave, book 1 of the Night Huntress series.

I will just start by saying I LOVE BONES and I LOVE THIS BOOK. I actually just finished re-reading the series recently, so Halfway to the Grave was still somewhat fresh in my mind, but that absolutely didn't matter one bit as I still enjoyed the story all over again. I felt like even though there were familiar scenes, Bones' point of view made the whole story feel fresh. Yes, there are "modern" updates and it's not EXACTLY the same as the original, but I think that's why I actually liked it so much. It's not just a retelling from someone else's POV - it's a bit updated and fills in a lot of the blanks from the original. There was so much going on in Bones' life when he meets Cat that you don't realize when you read the story from Cat's POV. Speaking of Cat, this book also gave me a whole different view of her character. From Bones' POV she is way more vulnerable than she realizes. It's amazing she was able to kill so many vampires on her own before Bones came along! I also realized how much Cat had to mature and change her entire way of thinking in such a short period of time. Overall, this story was just fantastic to re-visit in a whole new way.

I probably am already a bit prejudice in my opinion, since I knew going into this review that I was already going to love the story and it absolutely did not disappoint. This is one of those rare times when you're actually able to re-live the first time you read a book and falling in love with the story. Bones' POV makes you realize just how different he and Cat really are as people and that is what makes them (and this book!) special.

Thank you SO MUCH to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the chance to read this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion (even if a bit biased in this case!).

I was so excited when I saw that »The Other Half of the Grave« exists because II love the Cat & Bones series. I first read it seven years ago I think and every two years or so I'm in the mood to reread it. I know it's not perfect and I definitely read more critically now than I read then, but I still love the whole series a lot and this book here wasn't an exception. To be fair, it isn't necessary to read it, but it was lots of fun. If you've read the first book from Cat's POV you know exactly what happens and Bones' POV isn't bringing that much new insights but it was still cool to see what he thought of Cat when he first met her and how he fell in love with her. The story itself is fast paced and fun and made me realize that I miss vampire books like this. This is such a typical paranormal romance (in the best way, I mean this fondly) and so typical for the time it was published in. Even though the author made some changes in regards of the technology that I appreciated, the source material is classic paranormal romance from around 2010 in the best way possible.
I just have so much fond memories of reading this series over the years and reading »The Other Half of the Grave« reminded me of my love for Cat and Bones and for that I am super grateful.

I will always love Jeaniene Frost and her spicy vampire books 🤩🤩 and this book is no different, although it diverts from the typical format, being told from Bones’ POV rather than the FMC. Even though there’s not a lot of new content, being a retelling of Book 1, it was still really interesting getting a glimpse into one of our fav Vampires 🥵.

I’ve reread the Night Huntress world twice already, yet each re-read (and this retelling) always provides more insight into the fuller story. And when Jeaniene started publishing this as a short serial on her blog, I WAS SO EXCITED FOR BONESSSS. I remember reading each chapter as it came out, comparing it to the corresponding content in Halfway to the Grave. I was devastated when Jeaniene stopped, but SURPRISE, we get a FULL book of Bones!!! WOOOOO!

So it’s been a year or two since I last re-read the series, and I’ve definitely forgotten a few details. But since this is a retelling of the first book, I decided to judge this book both inside the context of the Night Huntress world and as its own work. In this book, I really enjoyed Bones’ voice (oh, Brits 😫). However, insta-love almost never does it for me and this book was no different. I simply don’t believe in love at first sight, and it’s hard for me to envision it, especially as a motivating force for most of the book’s action. Knowing Bones fell in love with Cat almost immediately was a lot easier to hear about in his confessions rather than seeing a play-by-play.

Also, when told from Bones’ POV, Cat is lowkey a dislikable character 😬. She often acts in a too stupid to live manner, charging into this Vampiric business when she clearly doesn’t understand the gravity of the situation or the consequences of her actions. Also, knowing the vampire world through this series, the bigotry Cat has is really hard to read. When this was told from her POV, it was a lot easier to understand the way she thinks and the way her family and community has twisted her perception of vampires and herself. And this makes sense in her overall character arc throughout the series. Cat definitely grows and learns a lot throughout the series, but her flaws just didn’t seem as apparent and clear when told from her own voice (which makes sense I guess). However, from Bones’ POV, it does just seem quite strange(?) that mans falls in love with a girl that’s SUPERRRR discriminatory against people (vampires) like him—I mean girl literally murders every one she sees. This is just a Thing that I would probably blame on the faults of the OG story (it was Jeaniene’s first book 🥲), but just seeing it expounded upon through Bones’ words is just a weird out-of-body experience to me.

As always, Jeaniene is able to bring in the S P I C E. Told from Bones’ side, we get an added little detail of a little fist pump action we didn’t get to see in book 1 👀👀👀👀. But even though I know I’ve read the smut from Cat’s POV, it’s still so hot from Bones. I’m definitely going to go through and read these side-by-side at some point to get the ~full experience. *evil cackles 😃😃*

Overall, for fans of Jeaniene Frost, this is a great book to further explore the nuances of the NH world and to fall back to a story we loved long ago. For readers who haven’t been introduced to this world, I definitely would not start with this book. It’s definitely a lot weaker as a stand-alone than as extra context. Alas, it does feel a bit like Jeaniene is trying to milk out the money from NH without providing anything ~that new BUT IT’S OK BECAUSE WE LOVE JEANIENE!!!! As a NH die-hard stan I will consume all content, but tbh I’d much prefer some more Vlad or Ian up in here 🥵🥵.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the free eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Review will be posted to my blog at https://textualenergy1.wixsite.com/home/post/the-other-half-of-the-grave-by-jeaniene-frost on the published date

Oh, Jeaniene Frost! It felt SO GOOD getting to read about Cat and Bones again-and from his POV! Loved it.

Honestly, this is Must Read if you're a fan of the original series. We're in his head and learn things we never could from Cat's POV. It was a ton of fun to read from start to finish.

Thank you Netgalley and Nyla for allowing me to read and review this book! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

After years of waiting, asking, wondering, and many other books later in the Night Huntress series: we FINALLY get a Bones POV of the first book.

I was very excited to get back in to the world of Cat and Bones, of when they first met and their struggles of being partners while taking down the bad vampires. Bones is a 250 year old vampire and was created by his master, Ian, when he was about 24 years old, with his friend Charles/Spade. Bones doesn't want to be under Ian's hand anymore but continues to bounty hunt vampires who are killing human women. Catherine/Cat is half vampire/half human, which is coincidentally rare. When she was sixteen she took down her first vampire and has been luring unsuspecting vamps since then due to a story of how her mother was raped by a vampire and left her mother afterwards to care for the child. Cat has dealt with being ostracized by her family and school mates for years, for being different. Bones sees Cat take down a vampire one night and decides to recruit her as a partner to teach her how to be a better vampire killer and to take down one bad vamp at a time.

I love the Night Huntress series and Bones is one of my first adult paranormal romance boyfriends. While I was super excited to read beforehand, my excitement started to dwindle with each chapter. It feels like there is something missing from here verses when I read the first book. Everything is done in a quick succession and feels like the pacing is almost too fast. The character development suffers from "long time reader of series" syndrome. I get this was honestly made for the fans and I greatly appreciate finally reading Bones' side of things but if you didn't already know of Bones and Cat beforehand, you might feel a bit lackluster.

I do love that we get more of Bones' side of how he felt/feels for Cat. I loved reading more about his backstory but Cat's development suffers. I really couldn't care less about Cat in this one. While I did enjoy her POV in the original series, she comes off as almost bland and a blend of other bada** female characters.

Overall I'm very happy Jeaniene Frost wrote this book. I did like reading from Bones' POV but I do feel a bit disappointed I couldn't love the book more. I do highly recommend if you've already read the Night Huntress series or just book one, but I wouldn't recommend to those who don't have prior knowledge.

4 stars

I love Cat and Bones. I am a huge fan of the original series and all of the spin offs. I always did lament not knowing Bones thoughts and now my dreams have come true. This book is a fabulous retelling of the start of their love story from Bones point of view. There are slightly little changes from the original but most are just updating and modernize the story. This is a great book that makes me fall in love with them all over again.

This book was a great way to get me back into a series that I love! The Other Half of the Grave is a similar story as Halfway to the Grave however it is from Bones perspective. I was a little worried that I would know everything and wouldn't be surprised by what was happening. This was NOT the case. I was thoroughly engaged in this story and it felt completely fresh and new. In fact it made me want to go back and reread all of the other books in the series. This book is for anyone and you don't have to have read any of the previous books to enjoy this story.

Bones, a 200 year old vampire, comes across Kat at a bar. He is immediately intrigued by her looks but he is enraged when she kills someone he has been hunting. He seeks her out and her only thought is to kill him. Bones needs to find out what she is, what she knows, and how to deal with his unbelievable attraction to her. There were lots of steamy scenes but also lots of action and drama. This was a fresh look at this wonderful series and I feel extremely lucky to have been able to read it.

Thank you to NYLA and NetGalley for this advanced copy.

First off, I want to say how much I adored this book and am so glad that Jeaniene Frost decided to return to Cat and Bones's story. I'm often cynical when the same story is told twice from a different POV. This time it 100% works and gives so much depth to their love and the start of their journey. I saw both Cat and Bones in new lights with both their strengths and flaws highlighted and it made their journey all the better.

If you've read any of this authors books and enjoyed them, then you'll love this one! I think I liked this better than Cats perspective and that's saying a lot. You actually get to see and feel how Bones felt and how soon he fell for Cat. I love these stories and would really like some more from his point of view. It's been years since I read one of these and this brought it all back!

I loved this just as much as Halfway to the Grave (maybe more). Bones is quite possibly the best character in the history of novels. I don't love Cat, but viewing her from Bones' perspective made me appreciate her more. Very enjoyable read. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

Bones is one of my favorite characters, so I was very excited to finally see Jeaniene Frost’s Night Huntress world from his view.

Everyone who reads this series knows Bones was completely mad for Cat, but I never realized how quickly it happened until I read this book. It was amazing to see inside his head and to see how quickly his previous centuries ceased to mean anything in comparison to meeting her. Plus this entire book is filled with Bones’ typical sarcasm and murderous ways, so it is a fabulous read! Definitely worth the wait it took for him to start speaking to Jeaniene. 🤣

5 stars - I loved it!

FYI there have been some slight changes in the details of this story compared to the original. The author updated the technology to fit more modern times, like Bones doesn’t have a beeper for the panic alert button and Cat now has a cell phone, which she doesn’t have in the original.

While Bones was a huge part of the first book, we never got his POV on the events that happened. This book changes that. Bones finally gets to tell his story of falling in love with Cat and how he slowly helped her overcome her prejudice of vampires.

I actually enjoyed this book more than I did the original. Bones is a snarky, devious, and wonderful character and I loved seeing these events from his POV. He falls for Cat almost instantly but slowly works at building her trust and overcoming her prejudices so she can see the real him. One of my issues with the original was that I got a bit annoyed by Cat’s constant prejudice towards vampires, and while it is still present during this book, it's not as obsessive since we don’t get her thoughts.

This book also gives us a lot of the story that we don’t get to see in the original, like his tracking of Cat in the very beginning and the fight at the end with Switch. It was just great getting these extra details of what is going on while Cat is away at school or with her family. We also get to see his anguish at being left by Cat and how it just makes him even more determined to find her, which the epilogue shows.

Overall, this was a wonderful addition to the series and just makes me want more stories from Bones POV. While Cat is definitely one of my favorite heroines, Bones is definitely my favorite character in this series and I just can't get enough of his snarky charm.

Trigger Warnings: human trafficking, kidnapping, date rape drugs, toxic mother

The Other Half of the Grave is the story of how Cat and Bones met through Bones's point of view. We get to follow Bones and find out what he was up to when he wasn't with Cat. We also get some scenes that weren’t in Halfway to the Grave. 



I think this book is a must for Cat and Bones fans. I loved it. Hearing Bones thoughts and motivation as well as little bits of back story here and there were great. I was worried I would find this story boring because I’ve already read it in Halfway to the Grave; but it wasn’t like that. There was still enough story to tell to captivate the reader and hold interest throughout. AND THAT EPILOGUE- YES! When I finished I wished there was more of Bones perspective for me to read.