Search

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

BOOK REVIEW: Anna Dressed in Blood (Anna #1) by Kendare Blake


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
Rate: 4 out of 5 stars

My thoughts:
     I'm gonna start of by saying that this cover is really amazing. Except for the fact that, in the book, it says that Anna's dress is completely drenched in blood. In the cover, you only see blood on the end of the dress, and on her legs, though. Don't get me wrong! It's still beautiful!
     Anna Dressed in blood is the first book in the "Anna" series. The story is about a 17 year old boy, Theseus Cassio Lowood (aka Cas), that travels all around, from place to place, killing ghosts. With a witch for a mother and a ghost sniffing cat, he kills ghosts for a living. Ever since his father was brutally murdered by one. Then Cas is given another mission. To kill another ghost. Anna dressed in blood, they call her. The girl in the white dress who was on her way to a school dance, but never made it in 1958.  She was murdered that very night. She is now a ghost, who ruthlessly kills anyone who dares step inside the house she lived in. All except, Cas.
     NOW....to the review!  Lets start off with the characters. Cas was a pretty good character, but he did have alot of flaws. He was brave and very confident, but I often found that his confidence went over the line. He was just plain cocky sometimes. Mostly in the beginning of the book. But you still sortta see it in the whole book.
      Anna was by far my favorite character. At first, you meet her as a horrible monster wanting to kill Cas and a group of teens. I don't want to spoil anything, but......SHIT GOES DOWN! (sorry for my language) Like I said, stuff goes down, and she starts acting like her normal self. She's actually really nice, and brave, even though she has a tortured past.
     You also meet some characters that slowly become Cas's friends. Like Thomas, Carmel, and Morfran. I thought they were pretty funny. And they brought a bit more action and comedy to the story.
     This book kinda freaked me out. I don't know if it was because I read it at one in the morning in complete darkness (except for my trusty book light), or because I'm a BIG. FAT. CHICKEN! But the plot was pretty solid. And the book wasn't too fast or slow. But i couldn't help but think that it was missing SOMETHING! I don't know what, but that was my gut feeling.
      What kind of confused me, though, was the ending. Anna is gone, and Cas is supposed to be in love with her, but he acts totally normal about it. Like it's a casual Tuesday (or your preferred weekday). And the ending was a cliffhanger, yet it wasn't at the same time. All theses issues made me deduct a star.
     To sum this review up, this book was really good, with a few minor flaws. I'm sure most people would love to read this book, as long as you like the whole killing and murdering aspect of the book. I certainly can't wait to read the next book. WHICH is already out in stores!

Quotes:

“You make me want things I can't have.”
Kendare Blake, Anna Dressed in Blood

“You fuck - you ate my cat!”
Kendare Blake, Anna Dressed in Blood

“But hey, at least we’ll have this strange story to tell, love and death and blood and daddy-issues. And holy crap, I’m a psychiatrist’s wet dream.”
Kendare Blake, Anna Dressed in Blood

“Yes. Smashing. You’ll be just like those four chaps in the movie. You know the one, with the oversized marshmallow.”
Kendare Blake, Anna Dressed in Blood

“I think of her again. Anna. Anna Dressed in Blood. I wonder what tricks she'll try. I wonder if she'll be clever. Will she float? Will she laugh or scream?
How will she try to kill me?”
Kendare Blake, Anna Dressed in Blood
 
“I come in all big and bad, and you use me for a game of handball.” I grin. “Makes a guy feel damn manly. She grins back. “It made me feel pretty manly.”
Kendare Blake, Anna Dressed in Blood

No comments:

Post a Comment