Showing posts with label Anna Dressed in Blood. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Anna Dressed in Blood. Show all posts

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?