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September 05, 2012

Review: Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake - Farah

Title: Anna Dressed in Blood (Anna #1)
Author: Kendare Blake 
Publication date: August 30th, 2011
Publisher: TorTeen
Genre(s): Young Adult (Ghosts)
Challenges: A-Z
Source: Publisher
Format: Hardback
Pages: 316
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.
Spooky, thrilling, and full of excitement. That was Anna Dressed in Blood.  Being the first ghost book I ever read, it was everything I hoped for. The books started with Cas on the hunt of killing an already dead man, in other words, a ghost. Cas Lowood kills the dead, and has always been doing it since his father died. Living with his witch mother and her black cat, Cas always travelled around the world to kill specific ghosts. That's when he travels to Canada in order to kill Anna. Anna being called Anna Dressed in Blood already has a reputation around the town. Cas already thinks of it as a challenge to hunt and kill Anna. This book being from a male's POV wasn't so bad! I always prefer girl protagonists than boys, but I actually really enjoyed this book, even though it was from a guy's POV. 
It was nice to see how Cas normally went to school to do his research on Anna. That's where he met some people, and hung out with them to find out more. All the characters were likable, and felt real. I really don't know how to describe this, but the characters seemed whole and genuine. At first I thought I wouldn't really enjoy reading about Anna because she's a ghost, but somehow I really liked Anna! I understood her, and her pain, and I was able to know why she acted the way she did. I really liked the flow of how Cas and Anna met, and how everything else happened. The relationship, does sound ridiculous, but it felt good. I highly enjoyed reading how Anna and Cas got to like each other, even though it's between ghost and human. Definitely different and heart clenching!
Overall, Kendare did a great job in writing this book. It showed that she did her research, because it really felt like I was living the moment with them. It felt very spooky, and so many times I was so scared while reading the book at night! I was actually scared I'd have nightmares! I have to say the ending killed me, so I really cannot wait to get my hands on the sequel of the book, Girl of Nightmares.

17 comments:

  1. I loved this one too! I thought Cas was awesome and it was so creepy! I grew to like Ana and felt really bad for her and what happened to her. I was to get the sequel too and see what happens next!

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  2. i have not frakkin read this book yet . i know i will love it . gr8 review

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  3. Great review Farah. I've had this on my shelf FOREVER and now I just got book two for review, I better get reading. Glad you loved it.

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  4. Gahhh....I still need to read this! It seems everyone had read it except for me! LOL ;p But I am intrigued by the idea of this book, and can't to get my hands on this! Lovely Review! :D

    New Follower! :)

    ~ Maida @ Literary Love Affair 

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  5. Great review, Farah! I'm glad this was the first ghost book you read. It's one of my favourites! I can't wait to read the sequel either. :)

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  6. Ohh, there are so many more wonderful ghost books for you to discover then, Farah! I'm excited for you. I prefer femail protagonists as well, but I do think Blake did an amazing job. :)
    Lovely review.

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  7. I've been wanting to pick up this book for awhile now, it's been sitting on my shelf for FOREVER. I should really get on that so I can read the new one as well!! Great review, I'm extra excited now :)

    Anna @ Literary Exploration

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  8. Great review. I loved this book too. The story really came to life and all the characters felt so special. But unfortunatelly for me the second book was not as good.

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  9. Awesome review! I'm glad you loved Anna, it was one of my favorites of last year! And I hope you'll love book #2 as well! (Girl of Nightmares) it's a bit different from the first, but it was great none the less.

    -Jac @ For Love and Books

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  10. Wow, I'm so glad you liked this one! I need to check it out soon for sure since I want to start this series, so wonderful review! :D

    ~Keertana
    Ivy Book Bindings

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  11. Oooh, Farah, this is such a wonderful review! I've been hearing amazing things about this book left and right and I am SO excited to read it. I'm glad that you liked Cas and Anna and that their relationship actually worked for you (I am EXCITED for it already!!!). Hope you LOVE Girl of Nightmares! :)

    Sonia

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  12. Thanks for the review! I haven't read Anna Dreased in Blood yet but with all the fantastic things I've been hearing I have to check this one out ASAP! I'm glad the characters were really good too :)

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  13. I've seen so many good reviews for this one but haven't read it yet. I love that it's set in Canada though :)

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  14. I loved this book :) It was amazing! And I read the sequel last month, which was just as awesome! I'm so glad you liked it Farah :) I can't wait to see what you think of the sequel.

    Janina @ Synchronized Reading

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  15. Aah, I can't wait to read this book! Reminds me of the show Supernatural. And Ghost/Human relationships are okay with me after reading the Ghost and the Goth trilogy.

    Awesome review Farah! Got me excited!

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  16. Lovely review! It was simply amazing, wasn't it! It was one of my favourites last year, and will probably be one of those that I'll love forever, it was just fantasic! I have Girl of Nightmares burning a hole in my shelf, I'm dying to read it, but have to finish a few things for uni and other books first! Hope that you can get your hands on a copy soon!

    -Kate
    Nomalicious Reads

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