**** Review*** Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

Anna Dressed In Blood by Kendare Blake

Released: July 5th 2012
Publisher: Orchard Books
Series: Yes # 1 in the Anna series
Format: Paperback
Source: From the Publisher for review
Find At:  Goodreads | Amazon UK | Amazon | The Book Depository
Author Website:  Kendare Blake

 

 

 

Goodreads Synopsis:

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:

Cas Lockwood has an unusual gift that he inherited from his father; he is basically a ghost killer. He has a blade that can send the most scariest spook to another plane. Not all ghosts are nice; some are killers and have been known to bump people off in the most horrible of ways. So Cas does a very noble job. He is given information about a scary and menacing ghost called Anna Dressed in Blood. She is truly terrifying and there have been tales of people who have gone into Anna’s house never to come out again..... well not whole anyway. Cas gets to meet Anna but things don’t go to plan and he finds that he can’t get rid of her quite so easily. Are his emotions getting in the way? Sometimes things are not always what they first seem......... I’d seen this book nearly everywhere.

 It was the name and the cover that first made me think about requesting this one for review. I was a little sceptical about this book, because after reading the blurb I wasn’t sure how it was going to pan out. I thought it was either going to be really spooky or find it a really naff read, but to be honest it was neither of these. I was really pleasantly surprised how much I liked it. I did really really like it.

I wouldn’t say that I was scared at all and found I could indeed read this at night. I also gave this to my thirteen year old son to read and he found he was ok with it too. Mind you he does read Darren Shan and that can get a little more on the gory side. So it was indeed a good test.

 I thought the story flowed nicely and did pick up pace at the end. It didn’t quite make it to five stars for me as even though I did enjoy the story it wasn’t a gripping and unputdownable book. There were a nice bunch of characters and they were all relevant to the story. I think my favourite character would be Anna, there was so much mystery surrounding her and also it was good to see how she progressed in the story. I really did sympathise with Anna and it was really easy to forget that she had actually killed people in the mostly grisly of manners. Cas was a close second, I really did think he was lovely. I’m sure he would be good to meet in real life.

 I would certainly read more books by this author, I did like her writing style. I would also recommend this book.

Story Rating: 4/5 – This was a ghost story with a difference.
Cover Rating: 5/5 - I think this cover is brilliant, it is so eye catching. I would buy this book for the cover alone! I think it has to be one of my top covers of the year :D

*** Many thanks to the publisher for supplying me a copy of this book for review.***

About The Author:

Kendare Blake is an import from South Korea who was raised in the United States by caucasian parents. You know, that old chestnut. She received a Bachelor's degree in Business from Ithaca College and a Master's degree in Writing from Middlesex University in London. She brakes for animals, the largest of which was a deer, which sadly didn't make it, and the smallest of which was a mouse, which did, but it took forever. Amongst her likes are Greek Mythology, rare red meat and veganism. She also enjoys girls who can think with the boys like Ayn Rand, and boys who scare the morality into people, like Bret Easton Ellis.

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