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

Title: Anna Dressed in Blood

Series: Anna Dressed in Blood #1

Author: Kendare Blake

Genre: YA, horror

Publication date: August 2011

Published by: Tor Teen

Source: Borrowed from library...then bought a hardcover copy ;)

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Synopsis:

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.

My rating: ★★★★★
"Just your average boy-meets-girl, girl-kills-people story..." Heh, I love this quote...It totally describes Anna Dressed in Blood perfectly!

Cas hunts down ghosts and kills them. Yeah, as weird as that sounds, he kills the dead. His next target? Anna Dressed in Blood. But this ghost is different. Sure she kills people who dare enter her house, but she spared Cas's life! He doesn't know why, but he feels protective of her. Cas needs to find out what happened to her and why she spared his life.

Oh my gods, this book was AMAZING! I don't know how else to describe it my love for this book. I knew it would be great...but wow! One thing you should know about me, I love horror stories, especially ghostly ones. I don't know why but I like being frightened. Horror movies? Love those too. And let me tell you, if Anna Dressed in Blood were to be made into a movie, it would be the best horror movie ever! It's so creepy yet beautiful at the same time!

I really like the relationship, although almost impossible, between Cas and Anna. Cas is such a great, strong, leading character. Love him! The story line was awesome and, in my opinion, very unique too. I really liked all the mythology references (me being a mythology junkie and all ;))

This was such and awesome book; Kendare Blake is definitely an author to keep an eye out for!

Have you read this book? If so, what did you think about it? If not, what do you think? Does it sound like something you might want to read? Leave me a comment! :)