Review : Anna Dressed in Blood

Posted by Kay on July 16, 2012 1:44 am in 4 stars reads | 5 comments

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake
Pages : 316
Genre : YA, Horror
Series : Anna, Book 1
My Rating : 4/5

What it’s about :

Cas isn’t you typical teenager; his main occupation isn’t high school but getting rid of the dead. If you have a ghost terrifying your cat in your attic, he’s the guy you call. With the help of his dead father’s weapon and his mother witchy abilities, there is no ghost that can resist him.

That is until he meets Anna. Anna is different and scarier, and Cas has a hard time figuring out what curse is keeping her in this world. She’s a ruthless killer and yet, when she has the chance, she let Cas leave with his life intact.

Intrigued by her story, Cas starts working on the hardest job of his life, trying to keep his new friends safe while developing a surprising affection for Anna…

My Thoughts :

I started reading Anna Dressed in Blood with a lot of expectations; most reviews said the book was horrifically great, keeping one up at night with visions of terror, chilling your blood while you turned the pages. It had been a while since I read a good, terrifying ghost story and so I was excited to maybe have found one.

As I turned the pages, I could see why so many readers had loved it and had found it chilling; the setting is dark, Anna is creepy and Cas’ story has its own unsettling elements. And yet, I can’t say that the horror aspect had me shivering and turning on the lights in the night; there was something too quick in the way the story unveiled itself, and a few moments with gore that, while yucky, didn’t scare me. For ghost stories to work well on me, the pacing has to be slow and the ghostly elements have to be revealed in small drops; I need atmosphere more than I need bloody scenes to be scared, and while the author definitely created a sinister atmosphere, it was just a tad short of raising the hair on my arms (but very close, though!)

That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy Anna Dressed in Blood. It was, in fact, a really good ghost story. Anna wasn’t your ordinary ghost, and her relationship with Cas was strange to say the least. As Cas discovers more and more about Anna and her past, his curiosity almost seems to turn to obsession, and for a while, I wasn’t sure if the author wanted it to be a relationship of love or of haunting and possession. I liked where it went and how it ended, but you’ll have to read it to find out, as I am not about to spoil it for you! And as for Anna’s personal story, oh my! That was horrible, and far darker than I would have imagined. The poor girl, you can only feel for her.

So I really liked the story, and it was refreshing to have a male as a main character. For someone with such an extraordinary profession, Cas really felt like an ordinary teenager. He was a bit full of himself at times, but I kind of liked that (you know I don’t like my characters being too clean and too perfect!). I do wish the author had spent a little more time on the characters of Carmel and Thomas; they felt a little unpolished, but since there is a sequel coming soon, I don’t mind it too much. 316 pages in big font isn’t very long to put in place a scary ghost story, and I think the author did great by focusing on Cas and Anna rather than on the secondary characters.

My verdict; I really enjoyed Anna Dressed in Blood and I am so looking forward to the next book. It’s definitely a different and stronger ghost story than most YA novels; it will keep you hooked with its intriguing premise, and maybe even give you a scare or two.

Series Reading Order :

1. Anna Dressed in Blood
2. Girl of Nightmares (coming August 7th)