Monday 5 May 2014

Anna Dressed in Blood (Anna, #1)Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Just you'r average boy-meets-girl girl-kills-people story.

"By the time i had gotten off the phone, i knew i was going after Anna. My gut told me that she wasn't just a story. And besides i wanted to see her, dressed in blood."


I waited soo long to read this book with it only recently being released in the UK. I saw all my GR friends giving it all these amazing reviews and i got more and more impatient. But my patience paid off when i finally read Anna dressed in blood the other week. Boy-oh-boy was it ever worth the wait!


The thought makes me reach back for my knife, my sharp throat-cutting security blanket as i look around."


Eveyrone meet Theseus Cassio Lowood, better know as Cas. As soon as i started reading all i could think was Damnnn he's like a mini Dean Winchester! Now i am a HUGE Supernatural fan and as i was reading the first couple of chapters i was giddy with excitement at the similarities. Ghost hunter with a sarcastic attitude who's hot travelling around the world hunting spooks. True he travels with his mom and her cat and not a droolworthy brother, but hey, his mom's awesome and i loved that she's not pushed aside and ignored which is the case with most YA parents.


I peek over the back of the couch and there she is, my goddess of death, her hair shaking out in a great black cloud, her teeth grinding hard enough to make living gums bleed."


Anna is from Cas's point of view and it's not often we get a male POV especially in YA. Cas's narrative is what made this book truly spectacular for me, his attitude and sarcasm are truly awesome and so enjoyable. I do love me some banter! So yeah.. he hit all the right spots for me. ;)


Yes. Smashing. You'll be just like those four chaps in the movie. You know the one with the over sized marshmellow."


Cas is a ghost hunter, as his father and those before him were. His dad's killed by a ghost he sought to kill prior to the story and Cas has been preparing and training for his revenge ever since. So off he goes travelling around the work with his kitchen-witch mother and their Cas-hating-spirit-sniffing cat and Cas's deadly mysterious and trusty athame. The story kick straight in to the good stuff throwing you straight in to acompany Cas on one of his hunts, Cas's slaying of "the hitchhiker". And well it all pretty much goes down hill from there.. The three of them make their move onto the town of Thunderbolt Bay where Cas's next target waits. Anna Korlov. Anna dressed in blood.

To Cas's displeasure he meets Carmel and Thomas who insit they help him kill Anna. Carmel is the schools prom queen, teachers pet and queen bee. Which is the main reason why Cas talks to her after starting at his new school, to get the gossip on Anna's story knowing the most popular girl would be the easiest source. Thomas is a misfit, a scrawny kid with glasses and terrible dress sense. Oh and he can read minds, did i mention him and his Grandfather and witches, right? Well they are so before long Cas's and his band of merry followers soon come to realize the Anna's not his typical everyday serial killing ghost.

So the three of them, a ghost hunter, the local mind-reading-witchy-misfit, and the towns Queen Bee, form an unlikely friendship based on the common goal of killing Anna.


"Anna, my strong terrifying Anna."


Ohh Anna, where do i start? She's terrifying and enthralling, homicidal yet sweet. Anna was killed in 1958, i wont tell you how or why 'cause i couldn't freakin' breathe while reading her terribly tragic and totally devastating story. I swear i think i started hyperventilating. I loved Anna, she's two totally different opposites all rolled in to one dead teenage girl. The mystery of Anna keeps you hooked and i was eagerly awaiting the next time she'd grace us with her presence on the page.


She's standing above me the goddess of death, black lips and cold hands."


Anna and Cas oh lordly, i don't normally care for romance between ghosts and the living cos it's just like how is the even meant to work!? Bus as i fell for Logan and Aura in Shade. I fell hard and fast for Anna and Cas. The romance wasn't the main focus of the book which was nice and it wasn't the hard and fast all consuming love, you know the usual..."Oh i don't know you or why i love you but i just look at you and that's it BAM. I'm in love with you so pleaseee don't leave me!!" You know the usual petty, pitiful, needy, cringe-worthy YA romance?

No Anna and Cas it was slow gentle and didn't really raise it's beautiful head till the end of the book, it was just so real and cute and lovely.. and well that's when everything just has to go tits up isn't it!


You know what you are don't you? She asks. "You're my salvation. My way to atone. To pay for everything i've done."
"Anna." I say. "Don't ask me to do this."


This book was original and i don't just mean yeah it's not like anything iv'e read before i mean like... HOLY SHIT why haven't i had anything like this in my life sooner!! It's a total creep fest, it's not scary but party gave me the wiggin's with a shiver and goosebumps tossed in for good measure. It's eery, freaky, creepy-crawly-freak-fest. But it's got humor and action and keeps you'r mind churning, i was constantly thinking "Oh shit whats gonna happen next!?" It's also incredibly heartbreaking, that ending oh Lordy!! I felt my heart tear at how tragic it all really was.

Read it. Read it. Read it.It's one of a kind, it really is and it's all kinds of crazy awesomeness! So just do yourself a favor and read it, 'Kay?

Damn the UK i have to wait so love> for Girl of nightmares What a bloody suck fest!! (Sorry about the crazy ass long review just cant contain myself sometimes!>

"You fuck- you ate my cat!"




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