Tuesday 25 November 2014

Book Review - Anna Dressed in Blood

Anna Dressed in Blood
Author: Kendare Blake
Series: Anna #1
Genres: Paranormal, Horror | Young Adult
Release Date: 5th July 2012
Publishers: Orchard Books
No. Pages: 373
Source: Borrowed
Rating: 
Buy From: Amazon | Book Depository | Barnes and Noble | Waterstones
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. They follow legends and local lore, destroy the murderous dead, and keep pesky things like the future and friends at bay.

Searching for a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas expects the usual: 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.

Yet she spares Cas's life.

Anna Dressed in Blood, how the hell do I describe Anna Dressed in Blood? It is a book that until recently, was on my to be read list for so long I never thought it would ever jump off it, however when I saw it my local library I just knew that I had to take it home with me. Maybe it was because of how long I've been meaning to read it, maybe it's because of the cover or maybe its because I completely skipped the Halloween reads and I wanted to read something spooky to make up for it, the fact is whatever the reason it ended up in my bag and on my bookshelf, it was one book I was so pleasantly surprised by that I would have literally kicked myself for not reading it sooner if I didn't think I would look like a crazy person.

Want to know my absolutely all time favourite thing about the story? CAS!! reading a story from a male point of view was just such a breathe of fresh air. Although it was something I really loved I think that because of some of the aspects of the story, I may not have liked it as much if it was set from a females. Another thing? It reminded me so much of early season's of Supernatural and as I was proper obsessed with it when I was a teenager, it's not exactly a bad thing. There was just something so similar about Cas and I just kept thinking about Dean for most of it.


Who is Cas I hear you ask? Well Cas, or Theseus Cassio Lowood is a ghost hunter, his dad was before him and his dad dad and so on, its pretty much the family business (see what I did there.. did you? Hahah..) He only stays in one place for long enough to gather intelligence, learn what he can about the spirit he's come to send to a better place, never forming attachments and uping and leaving the minuet it's done, always with something new lined up. His next case is none other than Anna Korlov aka Anna Dressed in Blood, who was murdered in 1985. They never found her killer and as the legend goes she's still wears the white dress she was killed in, only now it's stained red and dripping with blood. Anna seems like your typical ghost, and should be easy to kill but Cas soon finds out that it's going to be more difficult than he first anticipated.

As far as the character's in the book go, they were really well written and developed perfectly. Cas was funny and clever, he had heart and was driven but never let his need for revenge or his need to make his father proud get in the way of what was right and wrong. Anna was...so wonderfully spooky, she was the perfect mix between crazy and sane and she was instantly likable, her back story was so compelling that it was impossible not to feel sorry for her. The sub characters where just as good and unique in their own way and I really feel like Kendare Blake done such a good job creating so many different characters with completely different personalities but all relatable in one way or another.

Perhaps my only dislike for this book is how quick some feelings seemed to come out of no where, I didn't dislike the relationship as such because even though at times I couldn't understand it, it was still beautiful in its own way. It just wasn't.. I want to say realistic about how fast the feelings happened, but given the circumstances not much would be realistic about it anyway.


I love how book was so unpredictable at times,  and it really did a good job of keeping me on my toes, I loved the characters and the friendship that shined through, I loved loved loved how gory it was, I got exactly what I was promised in a horror book and I'm so happy I finally read it. I'm not exactly sure if I will read the next one before next year because of how much I have yet to get through, I also have heard it's not as good as this one and to me, this book was enough for me. I don't need to read the next one to get closure to feel like I've finished the series.I would highly recommend this book for anyone who is looking for an easy book, that isn't boring but fun and exciting and scary at times. It's such a good book, so read and enjoy it.

4 comments:

  1. Yayayayayay! Glad you liked it as a whole, I can see the issues, really, many people shared it, I think I was just won over so much! So pleased you read it! :D

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    1. Haha well like I said, the fact that it reminded me of Supernatural and the main character was a guy really helped, because honestly if it was a female ghost hunter who fell in love with a ghost I don't think I would have liked it.

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  2. This truly does sound fantastic...I received the duology last Christmas and haven't even taken Anna off my shelf. I think I'll have to change that soon. Glad you enjoyed, Stacie, and thanks for the wonderful review! :)

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    1. You should Ebony, it's not the most fantastic book you will ever read and you might find flaws but it was a really fun book, it was spooky it made you laugh and had just the right amount of back story. It was a decent book and I think you could like it :)

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