Proceed With Caution:
This book contains blood, gore, death, murder, mind control, cancer, and mentions of rape.
The Basics:
This Side of the Grave picks up about a year after the events of Destined For an Early Grave and soon after the two spin-off books. Cat and Bones are investigating the disappearance of some vampires, reported to have been killed by ghouls. Of course, this pulls them into the vampire-ghoul war, which is being centered around Cat and her freaky abilities. Or at least, the potential for her freak abilities.
My Thoughts:
I read This Side of the Grave for the first time six years ago and remembered exactly one event, which doesn't even happen until the final page. And I didn't even remember it was in this specific book, just that it happened, until near the end. Add that to the fact that I didn't even review this one, even though I reviewed all of the other books, including the spin-offs, and well, that shows how much I think about this installment.
This Side of the Grave isn't bad. Not at all. It's just the ultimate filler book. I may have liked it more than Destined for an Early Grave, but it does suffer from some of the same issues. There's a lot of interesting and exciting things that happen here, but that's exactly what they felt like. A string of interesting and exciting things, not a cohesive story. In fact, the plot doesn't really kick in until more than half way in. It's just Cat and Bones going from place to place and doing stuff and learning stuff.
I also just don't like the villain. Apollyon is boring, honestly. At least Gregor was interesting, even if he came the heck out of nowhere. Apollyon is just...there. He's trying to incite a war between the vampires and ghouls, but when it comes down to it, he's a nobody. He doesn't even make an appearance until the last handful of pages! He had potential, but he was just a puppet to get the series' overarching plot kicked into gear.
And that's why I still liked This Side of the Grave despite it feeling like filler. The big plot has been hinted at for awhile now. First it was because Cat was the freaky half-breed that no one knew what to do with. Now, she's the freaky vampire that no one knows what to do with. They've always been worried about her gaining ghoul abilities, and now that she's shown that she has full vampire abilities plus retained some of her humanity, well...it's not out of the realm of possibility.
This Side of the Grave is a fine read. It's important because it really starts pulling all of the little things together and sets bigger things into motion. I just wish it had come together better as its own story in this universe.