Book Review: Anna dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

AUTHOR: Kendare Blake
PUBLISHED: August 30,2011
PUBLISHER: Tor Teen
PAGES: 316
SERIES/STAND ALONE: Series
SOURCE: Won from Rachel at PaperCuts
CHALLENGES: 2011 Debut


OUTLINE:
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 THOUGHTS:
First off, I have to say complete and total cover love. I absolutely love this cover and it represents the book perfectly. I've always been interested in ghosts, and stories about them. Whether they're real stories or made up.  So it's no surprise that I would come to love Anna Dressed in Blood. When you first read the synopsis you're thinking (or I was thinking) this is going to be a gory, dark, horror/thriller driven book. I mean with Cas going around killing ghosts. You know people who are suppose to be ALREADY dead? How can it not be a horror story, or a thriller? You never know what might pop out at you.

Kendare Blakes writing is to die for. (I know, I know I couldn't help myself) I love how descriptive she was with the ghosts, and Anna (and her dripping blood red dress). I fell in love. I know it's kind of hard to imagine falling in love with a book like this because it definitely did not hold anything back. When someone died a horrible death it described it perfectly. I'm not sure how I would know what a perfect horrible death is, but it read well. When an author can make you look over your shoulders while your reading that is a sign of awesome writing in my opinion. I kid you not I was sitting in my moms apartment building parking lot at like 10:30pm (I was waiting on my brother) and I started reading this, and I maybe got a chapter read and quit because I kept hearing things and looking in my backseat. Can we say chicken? (There's a shed and an old camper sitting  across the way which made it worse.) I loved the way it made a complete 180 or is 360? Anyways, I like how it went from one thing to something else. I was like okay this is not what I was expecting, but it worked for me. I like being completely wrong about things it makes it that much more fun to read.

 I loved pretty much each character: Anna, Carmel, Cas, Thomas, even the cat Tybalt.  I enjoyed how one of the main characters was a teenage boy named Cas. That's not something you see very often in YA. There were parts when I was like just stop being an ass and let people help you, make friends, be a teenager, but then I can see why he acted the way he did. I guess moving and killing ghosts isn't easy on the friend and life department. Anna, oh Anna dressed in blood. I think she was my favorite out of all of them. Despite her ghostly-ness she seemed more real then some of the others. We got to learn more about her and what made her the way she was. She just had this sadness to her. I wanted to be able to help her. Thomas was the geeky boy that quickly attached himself to Cas. You always have to have that sidekick, and he was one that enjoyed reading about.Then there was Carmel, the queen bee, at the high school yet she seemed down to earth. Then of course you have the jocks, but I won't bore you with them. :) Tybalt was Cas' moms cat. This cat reminds me of mine. This one hated pretty much everyone but the mom, and mine is the same way she hates everyone but me. Cats are so picky! it's weird though because this cat could sense when a ghost was around and he's stare off into space or do other weird things, and I'm like my cat does the same creepy stuff. Does that mean I have a ghost?

Quotes:
-I don't like the idea of you using these girls all the time. (Cas' mom)
You make it sound so dirty (Cas)

-Completely, She's bruce lee, the hulk, and Neo from The matrix all rolled into one. (Cas)
Yes, thank you for the entirely incomprehensible pop-culture reference. (Gideon)

-Yes, smashing you'll be just like those four chaps in the movie. You know the one, with the over-sized marshmallow. (Gideon)
-You've got to be kidding me. (Cas)

I can't wait for Girl of Nightmares (Anna #2) and it doesn't come out until next August.