Anna Dressed in Blood (Anna Dressed in Blood #1) by Kendare Blake

Publishing Details

Release Date: September 30th, 2011
Publisher: Tor Teen
Age Group: Young Adult
Recommended For People Who Enjoyed: Ashes by Ilsa J. Bick

Rating: 5 Stars

Synopsis

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.

Review

Anna Dressed in Blood is the ultimate ghost story, but its also the ultimate love story. Going into it, I thought I would be dealing with a stupid teenage guy who falls in love with a ghost, and going out of it, it still was dealing with a stupid teenage guy who falls in love with a ghost, albeit in a Percy-Jackson-in-a-slasher-horror-movie type of way. With a lot of swearing. 

But man, was it to die for GOOD. (Pun intended.) 

At first, I wasn't all that impressed with Kendare Blake. Her story skills were all right, but it was hard for me to delve deep into her style of writing. I started this like, a month ago, peeps. That's right. But then I realized that wasn't the point-it was the action, the gore, and most importantly, the romance. Blake keeps the tension between Cas and Anna tightened so perfectly that I could feel the chemistry in Anna's undead heart. They would totally win this year's annual Forbidden Love awards. 

Another thing that won me over was Blake's ability to write so well in a guy's point of view. The young adult market is dominated by females who write books for females with females as the main character, so I was impressed that Cas turned into such a readable and relatable person. 

And last of all, I was just blown away by the sheer HORROR of this book. It made me afraid to read this at night. Seriously. 

So if you want a book with a witty (and hot) main character who wields wicked athames along a couple of trusty sidekicks, a ghost seeking cat, a witch mother, and a ghost girlfriend...

THIS IS FOR YOU!!!

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