Anna Dressed in Blood (Anna #1)

This is definitely a different kind of read. I don’t think I’ve read many ghost stories but I like that this one is told from a male’s POV and that it’s about a ghost hunter and a ghost who obviously develop feelings for each other. How they meet and fall for each other is pretty interesting and definitely not a “love at first sight” kind of deal. What I was a bit disappointed with was that there wasn’t any of the eerie, creepy, scariness that I was expecting. People made it out to be this crazy, intense & chilling story, but it was kind of mild-mannered to me. Sure there were some vivid moments where Anna unleashed hell, and Kendare does a great job at writing details and painting a picture, I guess I was expecting more gore and horror.

Her characters were well-made and I was surprised at the significance of a few of them, but in a good way. I especially loved Carmel. She’s a fun character and you will definitely learn to love her. Anna was nice too, although there wasn’t much of her actual presence in the story as I would’ve liked until practically the end, but you still get to know the girl and see why she is the way she is. Cas was a great male lead and it was interesting being inside his head.

One thing I will also mention is this book is nothing like it seems. There is a darker mystery behind Cas’ past that plays into the story and Anna’s death was certainly a tragic one that left me shaking my head, going “WTH?!?! Seriously?!?”. But that was in a good way, like “Whoa, I can’t believe that happened!”, lol. You definitely haven’t seen anything like it before.

Anna was a great debut and I can’t wait for the sequel!

Oh… my God!!!

Oh my freaking God!!!

You have no idea but I’ve read this book almost in a single night. And what do I mean with “almost”?! I mean that I was in page 130-ish and finished the book in a night. Oh yeah baby! It was 6 in the morning when I finally closed the book and whispered (because I couldn’t scream): “WOW!!! That was AWESOME!!!”

Anyway, moving to the review which is being really difficult for me to write ‘cause I still can’t believe I’ve finished this book. But I’ll try, I promise I will.

So, Anna Dressed in Blood started as a very creepy story I just couldn’t read at night but couldn’t also stop reading. When I finished the first chapter, I was looking everywhere, terrified that a ghost would jump out of thin air and scared the hell out of me. It was such and just the perfect and smart way to introduce you to the book and its content I bow to Kendare Blake.

Cas Loowood’s job is killing the dead. Yah, you’ve read it right; he kills the dead. Basically, he hunts down those scary stories told by generations around the country about ghosts who are still walking among us killing people and finish the unfinished job: he sends the ghosts to where they belong, or where they should be. It’s in his blood; his father used to do it so he feels it’s his legacy to follow his footsteps. But, he also has a reason for killing the dead. He’s planning on re-murdering the man who, literally, ate his father.

Cas is sent off to Thunder Bay after a ghost known as Anna Dressed in Blood. And if I thought chapter one was creepy, I was wrong. His first encounter with the ghost of a young woman, whose death is a mystery, was something rather spine-chilling. Plus, the death of Mike was disturbing… a lot disturbing.

But I admit that the most disturbing bit of the book that had be cringing all over the place was Anna’s murderer. You see, Anna’s character wasn’t as evil as people in Thunder Bay thought. Sure she was a death goddess as Cas named her, but behind all of that was an innocent girl robbed of her innocence by her own mother. And that was revolting and frustrating. Knowing that Anna’s life has been miserable for quite a long time and when she finally takes a step forward to do something to change it, she’s murdered and cursed to remain in her house for all eternity by her own mother! That was simply cruel and had me wished for Cas to kill her mother (even though she’s already dead).

Cas character had me by my heart right in the beginning. I admit I have a thing for guys who hunts down the supernatural, and Cas is a troubled soul with a heavy heart full of sorrow. I just wanted to cuddle with him and let him take all of his secrets and pain off his chest. And then, he begins to have these strange feelings towards this killer ghost, Anna, and you find yourself happy for him ‘cause he found someone to talk to about his job. Yah, it sounds pretty lame but it’s a love which you want to end up good knowing it’s rather impossible. I mean, how can a ghost and a human be together in the end?!

Oh God, I really have to stop mumbling about this book. I absolutely loved it and the copy I have was lent to me by Carla from O Livro que Deu um Pum so I’m saving money to buy this for myself.

THANK YOU SWEETIE :)

This was a good scary book. But don’t go wandering around thinking this is a horror book. It does have some eerie scenes and some gorge and stuff but it turns into a soft romance. Okay, perhaps not that soft since ghosts are always creeping around. But it’s a good book to read in this time of the year with Halloween and everything happening.

Now, I need to have Girl of Nightmares, which is the sequel of this one ‘cause I need to know how the hell will Cas save Anna… like, right NOW!!!

I liked Anna, the badass villain! I disliked though Anna, the ghost involved in an out of place romance and whose role changes drastically throughout the story! Could have been much better indeed! Still her backstory was amazing and the horror truly terrifying!

Three things about Anna Dressed in Blood.

1. I like Cas and I don't like him. His character is good, but sometimes annoying (at least to me) and I feel that in some instances he ruined the scariness of the book. He had such a straightforward attitude to scary things in general that his descriptions though normally terrifying had an air of "This is normal, everything will be fine." That made it not as scary for me. Which disappointed me, I was so looking forward to getting scared by the book!

2. The plot was...odd. Not bad, but not spectacular. At parts the flow didn't make sense, but when I got to the end I got the reason for the way it flowed. I missed a lot of foreshadowing and that made some parts of the end super confusing.

3. I wished it had more atmosphere. Looking at the cover I felt that the book should be steeped in setting and atmosphere, and yet it wasn't. The town could have been anywhere, there was nothing special about it. The only place that got any real atmospheric description was Anna's house (granted that place was done superbly!). So yeah, I was kinda disappointed about that aspect of the book.

However, despite these mixed feelings I truly enjoyed the book. I loved the secondary characters and how they developed and the story was enjoyable to read and the writing engaging. I liked the romance, but I wish it had been better developed (I guess I should have added that to my list of "Three Things"). Still I liked it a lot and am eager to read the sequel!

Soundtrack: Wood by Second Person (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILo1v6Y7IB4)

Lately I’ve been on the hunt for unique YA reads that promises an interesting story. Anna Dressed in Blood filled those criteria, and skimming through, it seems to have gotten high ratings from my friends. And as an added bonus, it was on sale. So I was really happy that, for the most part, Kendare Blake delivered what I was looking for.

First off, I was really excited because Anna Dressed in Blood is narrated by a guy. The YA genre is heavily dominated by females, so this was a nice change. And I liked Cas as a protagonist. He was realistic, likabale, had an appropriately sardonic sense of humor, and was in general just a nice kid.

Blake’s cast of supporting characters was good, too. Cas had a couple of Harry Potter-style sidekicks who ended up dating, Cas’s mom was thankfully not an annoying dysfucntional YA parent, and everyone else was really interesting.
Now I was slightly disappointed in Anna herself, just because I was expecting some ferocious teen ghost or something, while in reality Anna was actually really sweet and shy and mopey. Of course, I can’t at all blame Blake for my misconception, and it really wasn’t a big deal in the long run.

I also really liked the world of ghost hunting that Kendare Blake created. The Wiccan and voodoo elements were really interesting for me, and I think the author explained them without sounding too info-dumpy. The spell the gang used in the middle of the book was pretty cool. I’m not well learned in magic or witchcraft, but it all seemed pretty realistic to me.

The big problem I had with Anna Dressed in Blood was the plot. If you take a knife and cut this book exactly down the middle, you will find two very different conflicts. The first half of the book is about Cas’s need to stop Anna from killing people/haunting her house. Halfway through, Blake almost entirely resolves that issue and then the book moves on to an issue having to do with Cas’s athame (ghost killing knife) and the person who killed his father.

In my opinion, it would have been better to split this book in half, flesh both sides out a bit more, and then present them as separate novels. There is nothing wrong with either of the two conflicts presented—they were well executed and not tediously boring, I just felt that having them both shoved together under one title isn’t the best plot construction choice.

Oh, and can I just briefly say that Malvina is the silliest bad guy name ever? Come on, it’s practically the same as Maleficent.

While not as creepy or gory as I was expecting, Anna Dressed in Blood is still a very good book. I enjoyed the storyline (even though it was bulky), and thought the characters and paranormal elements meshed together really well. Blake left things wide open for a sequel, and I’m definitely anticipating Girl of Nightmares. Bottom line: I recommend this to…well, anyone.

I loved the whole idea of this book! I couldn't wait to read it.. And When I did I was disappointed! I couldn't really relate to the main character which made it so hard to enjoy! When writing a book the most important thing is to make a relatable chracter that readers can understand! One thing I did like were the horror scenes.. It had me looking under my bed && inside my closet before I could even open the book or look at the cover! I also liked the forbidden love that Anna shared with the main chracter! I know when I like a book when I remember mostly all the chracter's names.. But unfortunately the only name I remembered from this book was Anna.