Author: Kendare Blake
Series: #1 - Anna
Format: Hardcover
Release Date: August 30th, 2011
My Rating: 5.0 out of 5.0
Just your average boy-meets-girl, girl-kills-people story...
Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead.
So did his father before him, until his gruesome murder 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: move, 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, but now stained red and dripping 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.
And she, for whatever reason, spares his life.
My Review:
Anna Dressed in Blood, where do I begin? I... I frankly don't know. I hadn't heard a lot about this book and was really interested in the book by the way the book's synopsis sounded. There was just something about this book that I couldn't get rid of and it always ate at the back of my mind; so when I got it, it didn't take long for me to open it and in a few days finish it with ease and want more. This book had every bit of perfection in it. It's one of those books you just won't forget.Cas and Anna they make such a great pair, and even their dialogue together is so fantastic. Cas has this sarcastic, almost egotistical, attitude that pairs well with the free spirit (literally) of Anna. I don't know why but when Anna isn't her normal scary-kill-you ghost apparition, I just feel like she's a sweetheart, and much like Cas, she didn't deserve what happened to her.
The story and the plot here was by far the most original and well constructed story I have read so far. There was one issue I had with the book, but it worked out in its favor; the book started to head off in one direction and I really thought he would kill Anna by the end of the book, well the twist in the book turned the whole story and relationship upside down and made for a much better ending. I didn't see the twist coming, and was by far a great twist and even made me yearn for Cas and Anna to be safe. I still do, while I wait on the next book.
Now, I wouldn't say this book is for everyone, because face it, there are some people out there who won't by the whole Dead-Girl-Falls-For-Mortal-Boy story. I however bought it, enjoyed it, and want more. Now would this work for every type of story that follows this genre or style, frankly I don't believe so. The relationship was perfect the two fed into each other and overall the story surrounding them was captivating. If anything had been done less, the book would have crumbled very very fast. I don't think there will ever be a good ghostly love story like this one.
Finally if you are looking for an original book; this is it. Anna Dressed in Blood will take your breath away, I guarantee you won't want to put it down and frankly you shouldn't. The world that was built, even if it is based in reality, was fantastic. Even the morbid scenes where Anna is trying to scare Cas off, with the dead bodies floating in the water as it rushes in the basement, the bobbing arms and head on the waters surface PRICELESS. I absolutely cannot wait for the next book, and I have already pre-ordered it! Please, give the book a chance, you won't regret it.
