Review : Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake

Posted by on October 23, 2012 2:39 am in 4 stars reads | 9 comments

Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake
Pages : 332
Genre : YA, Horror
Series : Anna, Book 2
My Rating : 4/5

What it’s about :

Anna is gone, and yet Cas can’t forget her.

When he starts seeing her again in unexpected places, Cas first thinks he might be going crazy. But what if he wasn’t? What if Anna needed him?

As his quest for answers takes him and his friends on the other side of the ocean, Cas discovers he knows very little about his special abilities, and the world beyond ours. Saving Anna might prove to be more difficult than expected…

 

My Thoughts :

I know the reviews for Girl of Nightmares have been mostly raving ones. Many readers said it was even better than the first book, Anna Dressed in Blood. Therefore, I went in with some expectations, and I am not sure they were met – even though it was a deeply captivating, creepy read. It’s true that I read it over a longer period of time than I usually do for books of this length (about 3 weeks), and that I read it in a really busy time of my life; it might have dimmed my enjoyment of the book slightly.

This being said, I still had a good time and would read more by Kendare Blake in a heartbeat. Girl of Nightmares is as creepy as its predecessor.

Scratch that; Girl of Nightmares is even more creepy than its predecessor!

Which is a good thing if, like me, you enjoy dark, twisted and eerie environments (in books – in real life, I prefer my hallways very, very well lit).

Blake really excels at creating a dark, oppressing atmosphere without losing sight of the characters’ intentions or the plot. She lightens the scenes with dark humor, and makes her characters even more complex than before. It’s not often in YA paranormal fiction that I feel the characters are realistic, but Cas, Thomas and Carmel all felt very real to me.

I thought the story had a bit of an uneven pace, but it was intriguing. I wasn’t sure what would come out of Cas and his friends’ adventure. Once they were on the other side of the ocean, it was much more entertaining to me. It felt good to meet new characters, and to see what was happening in the ghost-hunting world somewhere else than in America.

I felt the conclusion was just right. Anna is only a two books series, which gave the story enough place to develop, without too many lulls or unnecessary secondary plots. When it finally ended, it had just enough emotion, horror and surprises. It was both expected and unexpected, which is the best kind of ending.

In the end, even though Anna didn’t blow me away, I would not hesitate to recommend it to fans of horror, ghosts and dark humor. Blake certainly is a talented writer who knows how to take the readers on an incredibly creepy journey!

Series Reading Order :

  1. Anna Dressed in Blood
  2. Girl of Nightmares

9 Comments

  1. Yay! I liked it too and found it more creepy as well. Perfect for October, right? 🙂

    I like that this book got me reading something borderline horror. I never do that.

    • Yes, perfect for the season! I’m glad I waited until October to read most of it.

  2. I must have missed your review of the first book, but I think I’m going to have to keep this series in mind for next year’s RIP!

    • It would make a perfect RIP book, definitely!

  3. I haven’t read either of these books, but they sound creepy and weird, and I like those kinds of books for October! I clearly need to see what these are all about, after all the wonderful raving you have shared! Thanks for giving me your take on this last one. I will be searching for it!

    • They are definitely good reads for the fall, especially around Halloween time. Very dark and creepy.

  4. I loved the Anna series. I’ve always liked horror movies and never thought I’d enjoy it as much in writing, but Blake really made the reading experience fun and creepy. 🙂 I also loved your review <3

    • Thanks! I found Blake to be really great at writing the horror scenes. Definitely creepy!

  5. I haven’t even managed to read the first book yet. Must crack on!

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