October 24, 2011

Anna Dressed in Blood

It's time to get your spooky on with my review of Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake.
Summary:Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead.

So did his father before him, until he was gruesomely murdered by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father's mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. Together they follow legends and local lore, trying to keep up with the murderous dead—keeping pesky things like the future and friends at bay.

When they arrive in a new town in search of a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas doesn't expect anything outside of the ordinary: track, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he's never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, now stained red and dripping with blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home.

But she, for whatever reason, spares Cas's life.

My review: This is one of the scariest books I've read. Ever. It shocked me. It horrified me. And I loved every minute! It was wicked awesome!

First things first, I love ghost stories! They are freaking awesome. And there has been so much buzz about this, I just knew it would be great! And, I was (for once) not wrong. If you're looking for a scare this Halloween, this book is #1!

One of my favorite parts of this novel was the characters. Cas was pretty badass and cool, and his narrative was hilarious! He was perfect at putting things in perspective.

But if Cas was cool, Anna was godly. She was so awesome! Blake did a very good job of making you feel her pain and understand why she murdered people. Though she was a killer, it was clear she was no villain. She was such a great character though, and I need to know what happens, thankfully there is a sequel in the works!

Besides Anna and Cas, Caramel and Thomas, the two side characters added a lot to the story, and I liked them a lot. Basically all the characters in this book are awesome!

The setting in this story is very vivid. And I loved each lush little detail. Blake paints a picture like few others can. I can't believe this is her debut!

Anna Dressed in Blood is an extraordinary novel that will make you sleep with the lights on, and grown men jump at things like the telephone and alarm clocks. The best book to read this Halloween!

5/5

Cover Comments: Best. Cover. Ever. So. Freaking. Awesome. And. Scary.

Source: Bought from Amazon.

Reading Challenges:

October Paranormal Reading Challenge: 4

111 in 2011: 87



20 comments:

  1. I'm in love with this cover, in fact I did a Cover Crazy post on it. Your review nicely explains the bloody, tattered dress. I was curious about that...

    Sounds like this one is a fantastic read! I can't wait to have a chance to read it myself. My only questions are is this one written in first person narrative or third? Does it alternate between different characters perspectives?

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  2. Gina- Me too! It was a totally fantastic read! It's in first person narrative and the only narrator is Cas.

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  3. Sounds good. I like the cover.

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  4. WOOOOOO! I LOVE ghost stories as well. LOVE THEM!! They scare the sh*t out of me though and then I can't sleep for days. But I can't stop reading them either. Glad you enjoyed this I really did too.

    Giselle
    Xpresso Reads

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  5. Giselle- SO DO I! I'm glad you enjoyed this one, I can't wait for the sequel!

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  6. Well, if I didn't want to read "Anna Dressed in Blood" before (which I do), I certainly do now! How can you pass up reading this after that "enthusiastic" review??!? "Ya' dun the author proud!!" And I love this cover too!

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  7. Loved this book too! I actually JUMPED at one point. So spooky!

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  8. Great review. I'm really looking forward to reading this book now.

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  9. Great review Benji! I cannot wait to read this book...I feel like everyone has bought/received/won it except for me! lol

    Following your blog now...I could have sworn I followed you when you signed up for the Paranormal Reading Challenge...I'm blaming Blogger! haha

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  10. Loved this book so much. I'm really looking forward to Girl of Nightmares! :D :D :D Great review!

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  11. Great review, I have this one on my wishlist. After reading this I want it NOW!!! :P The synopsis sounds really different.

    Jenny :D - Chocolate Chunky Munkie

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  12. "This is one of the scariest books I've read. Ever". Now, I'm not sure if I want to read this book, but you make it sound really good. :D

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  13. I've been wanting to read this book for a while, but I wasn't sure I was going to like it. This review has just convinced me! :)

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  14. Sounds like a good book. I can't wait to read it!

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  15. Nice review! Sounds like a good book. :)

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  16. I have to admit, I've been wanting to read Anna Dressed in Blood from the moment I saw the cover. Course, I did read the synopsis too. LOL Still, I haven't really read any scary stories yet but I've always been a sucker for scary movies so I imagine that I would enjoy this very much. Besides, the idea behind the books sounds very interesting.

    Thanks for the great review!

    Pam

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  17. Great review! I want to read this book now! :D

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  18. I have heard good things about this book, but have not read it yet. I will now be adding it to my TBR. Thank you for the great review!

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