Review: Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

Hardcover, 316 pages

Published August 30th 2011 by Tor Teen

Book description:

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. Together they follow legends and local lore, trying to keep up with the murderous dead—keeping pesky things like the future and friends at bay.

When they arrive in a new town in search of a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas doesn't expect anything outside of the ordinary: 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.

But she, for whatever reason, spares Cas's life.

My Review:

Wow, what a story. After a chapter or two I knew how exciting this book would come to be. It may have major similarities to the hit show, Supernatural, but with that and it's originality, it was keeper. I've always loved the idea of good looking guys fighting off bad ghosts for humans sake and when I heard Cas was in town, I had to buy this book. The story never really gets boring; it's got action, horror, thriller, a little romance and that cringe feeling you get when someone's nail scratches the school chalk board. *tremble*

As I and many readers would agree, a story needs good characters. At first, I was a little bi-polar with the characters but then they came together like a puzzle that I came to appreciate.

Cas was a good leader for the story, a good fighter. I was happy to find that that story was told from his point of view; YA fiction should learn from this...men can tell a story. As Cas moves from place to place, he's shocked to find himself having a little more than acquaintances in the place he currently lives. There were a good amount of teens involved that balanced the story admiringly...they weren't all over the place as I had feared. Anna was my favorite character though. Very close tie with Cas but Anna fascinated me from beginning to end. I felt like I needed to push a button with Cas in some parts and yell "Shut up and focus!"

As for the author, Kendare Blake gets full credit. The writing shows the best kind of effort which made reading Anna Dressed in Blood a great experience.

I say get this book. It fist-pumps with bustling horror and wicked thrills that's perfect for Halloween to come. All that with that bit of romance made it difficult not to enjoy.

4.5/5