Monday, December 23, 2013

Review: Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

From Goodreads: Cas Lowood, armed with his late father's athame knife, kills ghosts. In Thunder Bay, Anna, forever 16, drips blood on her white dress from a throat slit in 1958, and rips apart anyone who enters her house - except Cas. He makes new friends - high school queen Carmel, jock Will, admiring nerd Thomas and Tom's voodoo grandpa Morfran - to fight this demon. 

My Rating: 4.5 hearts 

Thoughts on the Novel: One of the reasons I didn’t read Kendare Blake’s Anna Dressed in Blood until now is because I’m a scaredy-cat and generally avoid horror movies and novels. I finally decided to muster up the courage to read it though … and want to kick myself for not having read it sooner!

Blake’s descriptive writing makes it so easy to imagine the ghosts that Cas kills. I was especially delighted by the way that the reader meets Anna and the terrifyingly gruesome way that Cas’ father and certain other individuals are killed. I was equally horrified and disgusted, and then had to quickly look around to make sure that there was no vengeful ghost coming after me.

I haven’t read too many novels with male narrators, but Cas came off like a teenage guy to me. I also enjoyed his interactions with Thomas and Carmel. Despite doing his best to isolate himself, I liked how their friendship sort of snuck up on Cas.

I think my only complaint about Anna Dressed in Blood is the romance. Although I understood Cas’ fascination with and pity for Anna, I found the idea of him falling for a ghost a bit forced.

Anna Dressed in Blood was released in September 2011 by Tor Teen. 

Comments About the Cover: I love it! It’s bleak and haunting, and absolutely perfect for the story!

*Sidenote: I love that the setting for Anna Dressed in Blood is Thunder Bay. Can more authors set stories in Canada, please?

7 comments:

  1. I loved this book, too! :) I really have to re-read it some time.

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  2. So glad you loved this, Z! I liked this one though there were some parts that I found way too unrealistic and contrived. I also love the part where Cas and Anna met for the first time! It creeped the hell out of me.

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  3. Yay! So glad you made time to read this one, Z. I'm not a horror fan at all but I devoured this one. I loved Cas and his gang. Anna terrified me but loved her. Be sure to read book 2 too. :)

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  4. I agree, I tend to stray away from male narrators because they usually are written kind of sexually for some reason but Cas was great. I really enjoyed this one too!

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  5. YAY Z!!!! I loved this book so much! I thought I wouldn't because normally anything scary or gory is a fail for me since I'm a wuss, but I loved how Anna came across both horrifying and vulnerable. I'm so glad you were a fan of this one too, I'm looking forward to your thoughts on the next one:)

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  6. I've been meaning to read this book for the past two years and just haven't gotten to it yet, so my goal for 2014 is to finally pick this one up. I've heard only good things about it and am thrilled you enjoyed it too. Lovely review! :)

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  7. Hooooray! One of my favorite horror YA books, I'm so glad you finally read and enjoyed it. And yeah, that cover is to die for.

    Wendy @ The Midnight Garden

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