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. They follow legends and local lore, destroy the murderous dead, and keep pesky things like the future and friends at bay.
Searching for a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas expects the usual: 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.
Yet she spares Cas's life. (Description from http://www.amazon.com)
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. They follow legends and local lore, destroy the murderous dead, and keep pesky things like the future and friends at bay.
Searching for a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas expects the usual: 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.
Yet she spares Cas's life. (Description from http://www.amazon.com)
My thoughts:
Usually I am not a big fan of the horror genre; book or movie! This all goes back to 7th grade and a sleepover and The Exorcist and having to call my Mom to come and get me. I had never been that scared in my entire life. Talk about embarrassing. I still cannot watch that movie. Even the music creeps me out.
So a ghost story is not something that I naturally gravitate to. I cannot remember the last time I read a really great ghost story; adult or young adult. I had seen this book reviewed by other bloggers and I put it on my list. I absolutely loved this book and cannot wait to read the sequel.
It had the perfect combination of ghost story and love story. It had violence, gore and even a little bit of humor. It had a strong male lead character who had a completely developed back story. The main female character was Anna and I wanted to hate her and protect her at the same time, which shows how great of a writer Kendare Blake is. I mean, she is a ghost! I liked the fact that Anna and Cas's "relationship" was unconventional and real. I almost forgot what Anna really was.
I also liked that the supporting characters were a little different than usually portrayed in Young Adult novels. For example, when Carmel was introduced, I thought she was going to be just one of those fluffy girl characters who stands there and screams or gets killed. Not so. She was pretty strong and kick-ass.
The book was a page turner and I finished it in a few hours yesterday. Nice plot twists to keep you reading. I could not put it down.
The book is marketed as a YA, but I would say that it is for older YA's, not the 13 year old crowd due to the the f-bombs and fair amount of blood and gore.
The sequel is called Girl of Nightmares and it was published in August 2012. Hoping to get my hands on it soon.
Also read that Stephenie Meyer is producing the film version of Anna Dressed in Blood.
Happy Reading!
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