The Other Half of the Grave (Night Huntress, #1.1)

by Jeaniene Frost

[Berls]

I was so excited to read this and the timing could not be better, since I'm (re)reading the series for Anne's Readalong this year. It was really great to get the story from Bone's perspective. Funny enough, even though I had JUST read the book from Cat's POV just a few month's ago, there were still details I had forgotten! My memory was quickly jogged though, as opposed to when I was utterly shocked about things with my reread, so that's something.

I think there are two great things about getting the story from Bone's POV.

One: you have access to understanding the paranormal world so much more thouroughly and earlier than in Cat's POV. I don't know how much good it did me, since I've read the oher books. But if you were a new reader to the series and read this directly after reading the first book, that could be a real treat.

Two: You get to see his impressions of Cat. I wonder if the Cat haters would be softened by his impressions? IDK, I'm not a Cat hater, as I've always been a lot like Bones in loving her BECAUSE of her flaws, rather than despite them. And he sees her so clearly. His patience with her, his compassion and understanding... whoa. They just make you fall even harder for him.

I did have two disappointments:

1- since we're getting things from Bone's POV I was really hoping to see some filling in of gaps from the end of book 1 / start of book 2 and that was glossed over (maybe it's coming in a future book?)

2 - If you were reading the series for the first time and decided to read this book after book 1 (which you would expect to make sense with the numbering as well as content), the end of this book would really spoil a part of book 2 that doesn't happen for quite a ways in. I don't know how that would have impacted my reading of book 2.

Perhaps the BEST part of this book was the change in narrators! I do not enjoy Tavia Gilbert's narration for Bones in the series -- so much so that I really avoid listening all together. But I am a SLOW reader and that makes getting these books read very challenging for me. Thankfully this book was narrated by Will M. Watt and he delivered a very solid Bones. Such a different personality comes through with his voice in comparison. I hope he continues to narrate (as I understand there will be a book 2 from Bones's POV as well).