Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

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. 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: 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.

But she, for whatever reason, spares Cas’s life.

Ohhh, Anna. I don’t even know how to write this review without gushing a lot. Yes, it was that fabulous. I encouraged Bex @ Kindle Fever buy it before I even started reading it. Seriously, if you haven’t you should also consider ordering it or hunting it down now…after you read my review, of course!

Cas is a ghosthunter, but don’t call him that. He receives letters from various people all over the world who have dangerous ghosts and goes to eliminate them with his trusty athame. (Think knife.) Anna is a very violent ghost. (Don’t want your head, bowels, etc? Enter her home.) For whatever reason Cas is very drawn to Anna, despite of or maybe because of the fact that she is the most violent and strongest ghost he’s ever encountered on his own.

Let’s just say Anna is a bit gruesome. Nothing that some people can’t handle, but definitely express caution going in. I love gruesome though, so..you know, no big deal there. (I make myself sound like I’m crazy in most of my reviews. I’m also in a fiesty, slightly sarcastic mood this morning as referenced by this review. And I seem to love parantheses today too.) But, yes, people die very violent horrible deaths. One death scene/flash back left me reeling in horror.

There is some fun random pop-culture and an awesome cat! This is definitely NOT your ordinary Casper-friendly tale. The characters are filled with rage and pain – Cas over her father and Anna over her life/death. It’s brilliantly written, Blake is definitely an author to keep an eye on!

If you enjoy ghosts and/or horror. Run out and buy Anna ASAP! I’m going to eagerly await book 2 and hope that at some point a R-rated ADiB movie exists.

I received my copy in exchange for my honest opinion from the publisher.

 

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