Review : Anna Dressed In Blood by Kendare Blake

Summary (from Goodreads)

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.

Personal Thoughts

I'm one of those readers who's absolutely scared to start reading a book when there's a lot of hype surrounding it in fear of being the black sheep. Anna Dressed In Blood was one of those books. Having finally read it, I can say that the book deserves all the praise!

Cas, is a ghost killer. His job is to basically exterminate ghosts that gruesomely murder human beings using a special knife know as the athame, passed along from generation to generation in his family. Along with his mom, Cas travels to find and finish off these ghosts. His new assignment is Anna. Anna Dressed In Blood. Anna is believed to be the ghost of a 16 year old who was heartlessly murdered while on her way to a school dance. Her ghost is also a ruthless killer who's murdered more than twenty teenagers. Cas soon realizes that Anna is unlike any other ghost he's ever met.

Initially, I found Cas' character to be utterly bland. Because of that, I didn't really feel much for him. However, as the plot unraveled, his personality started to shine through the pages and he ended up growing on me. I love his sarcasm and wit. He said some really funny stuff throughout the book and I liked that he knew how to have balance between seriousness and humor. Cas was unlike any other male protagonist in that he was confident, but not overly confident so that he never bordered on being arrogant. The life that he lived had molded him to be an independent and self-reliant kind of guy. Plus, I loved that he really cared for his mom. Their relationship was just too sweet. Even though, male POVs have mostly been a miss for me, Cas' one was a definite hit. Now, Anna was a character that I instantly liked. I loved the legends surrounding her and I was yearning to get to know why she was in such a situation. She was very different from the usual YA heroine. She viciously ripped people into half and was pretty much very freaky, but guess what, that's why I adored her. I haven't come across any YA female character who so brilliantly and fearlessly slashed people into bits. Even if she seemed totally demoniac from the image she projected, there was a part of her that grieved the deaths of the people she murdered. Anna might have been a psycho ghost, but she also had a very humane side to her. In a way, Cas brought out her humanity to the surface, because he was the only one whose presence she could tolerate without wanting to tear him to pieces. What she did at the end of the book was raw, genuine, unselfish and totally altruistic. Although I didn't think I could love her character more, her actions at the end deepened my admiration for her. Personally, I thought that the secondary characters were masterfully given life to. Carmel was your typical blonde, beautiful and popular kind of girl, bur that's where all the comparisons to all other YA mean girls end. The girl actually had a personality beyond the above mentioned. Thomas,too,was a character I enjoyed with his shyness. One other noteworthy character is Cas' mom. I loved loved loved the fact that she was so prevalent in her son's life and that Kendare Blake didn't just toss her in a corner. 

What I loved most about Anna Dressed In Blood was the fantastic mythology. The legends behind Anna and the ghost hunters were striking. The plot itself was different from usual YA books and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Kendare Blake managed to keep her story creepy, gruesome and horrific without overdoing anything. Some of the scenes were so vividly described that I kept picturing these grisly images in my head. The book had the element of suspense running throughout the book that keeps you on the edge wanting to find out what on earth is going on. On numerous occasions, the author stupefied me with unforeseeable twists and turns that drove me crazy at times. I'll admit ,though, that the first few chapters were hard to get into since they didn't really manage to hold my attention. Once I was introduced to Anna, the book pretty much exploded and entwined me in its breath-taking and action-packed plot line. It is very clear that Kendare Blake is talented author with a vast imagination. I can't wait to see what she has in store for us readers in the next installment, Girl of Nightmares. Hopefully, I'll be as charmed, if not more, as this book.

Anna Dressed In Blood was different, but in a good way. The book, in general, was outstanding, albeit, a little slow in the beginning. Creepy Anna and her band of friends will positively charm you. If you,like me,haven't read this book yet, then rest assured that you're missing out.

Rating

Cover : 4/5
Plot : 4/5
Characters : 4/5
Writing : 4/5