Author: Kendare Blake
Series: Anna #1
Genres: YA, Paranormal, Fantasy
Publisher: Tor Teen
Source: Kindle Edition (Spanish)
Pages: 251
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SYNOPSIS: 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.
I saw a lot of people reading this book for Halloween and I thought the summary sounded really good and creepy and ghostly (is ghostly even a word? I think haunted makes more sense...). It was actually supposed to be a December read but I had already finished the November reads and I couldn't resist...
THE WORLD: The story takes place in Thunder Bay, Ontario (CA). It is a real town and somehow I imagined it to be quite small and creepy like old towns look but it actually has more than 100.000 inhabitants and most of the houses look new on the pictures... probably the old houses are more towards the center, the "old town" district.
CHARACTERS: The main character is Theseus Cassio Lowood (his parents are crazy as you can see) but everyone calls him Cas thanks goodness. He is a ghost hunter and his father was one as well before him, we can say he took over after his father was killed by a ghost. Family business. He is a 17 year old boy living with his now widowed mother and they move around a lot in order for Cas to kill ghosts until Cas receives a letter telling him about a haunted place in Ontario, Canada, where a ghost has killed at least 27 people since 1958 when she was murdered... the place? Thunder Bay, the ghost? Anna Korlov best known as Anna Dressed in Blood. Cas moves there with his mom thinking it will be an "easy" job, that he will go there just for a few weeks gathering information about Anna by utilizing the popular kids in high school because they will be the ones to know everything but he actually ends up getting in trouble as he and and one of the popular kids enter Anna's house just to find out that Anna is stronger than any other ghost Cas has ever seen (or killed) before and she kills the popular kid but for reasons unknown she spares Cas' life. As the story progresses he befriends the high school's queen bee, Carmel Jones, and the awkward telepathist kid, Thomas Sabin. With their help he would like to unravel the mystery of Anna's death and ultimately discover her source of power to defeat her.
LOVE: This must be one of the strangest love cases I have ever read... besides, they had no connection or none I could see and really it wasn't necessary! It took away all the creepiness!
PLUS: I enjoyed the story a lot. It reminded me of Supernatural (the TV show) and actually I knew the ending! How did I know the ending? Like with actual details... I either saw a very similar episode on Supernatural or read this book already but didn't remember itnot likely or someone told me Anna's story? I don't know how but I knew the ending chapter and verse. WHY? I need to know!
I also like Anna's character and how she was described, as a Goddess of Death until the cheesiness kicked in and ruined everything. I would've liked a cliffhanger or a plot twist as the ending but didn't turn out to be not any of those... well, there was a revelation thingy but it was quite easy to guess.
MINUS: The biggest minuses were, in my opinion, the love and the way Anna's reasons to kill and spare Cas' life unfolded.
(I can't go deeper in here because I would spoil you but I will put it on Goodreads under a spoiler tag.)
PLUS: I enjoyed the story a lot. It reminded me of Supernatural (the TV show) and actually I knew the ending! How did I know the ending? Like with actual details... I either saw a very similar episode on Supernatural or read this book already but didn't remember it
I also like Anna's character and how she was described, as a Goddess of Death until the cheesiness kicked in and ruined everything. I would've liked a cliffhanger or a plot twist as the ending but didn't turn out to be not any of those... well, there was a revelation thingy but it was quite easy to guess.
MINUS: The biggest minuses were, in my opinion, the love and the way Anna's reasons to kill and spare Cas' life unfolded.
(I can't go deeper in here because I would spoil you but I will put it on Goodreads under a spoiler tag.)
OVERALL: 4 stars. Despite my issues with the romance and the predictable and cheesy outcome I really enjoyed the book. The first half was specially good with all the ghost stories and Anna's mystery and creepiness oh, yes I did like it very much. I have the feeling that the cheesiness will continue in the next book, Girl of Nightmares, but I will read it nonetheless.
What do you guys think about ANNA DRESSED IN BLOOD?
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