REVIEW : Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

Anna Dressed in Blood - Kendare Blake

Publisher : Tor Teen

Release Date : October 17th 2011

Genres : YA, Horror

Pages : 320

Rating : ★★★★☆

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.

If you've read my Chicken Challenge TBR, then you know I had a very bad feeling about this book. A ghost-hunter falling in love with the ghost he's supposed to kill. That's not the most original plot line out there, right ? Well, guess what ? Anna Dressed in Blood surprised me . 

We're not just following a ghost-hunter, we're following a teenager struggling to balance and live his life. 

I loved the main character. Cas is not a teenager acting like an adult. He's a reliable teenager whose maturity is superior to his classmates because of what he's been through but he's not acting out of character. He's impulsive, down to earth and witty. 

His relationship with Anna is not what expected. To be honest, I expected insta-love. But fortunately, that's not what happened. 

Anna is scary and I loved it. She acts like a ghost and Cas genuinely wants to kill her. He's not like some assassin who doesn't even try to do his job (*cough* The Kiss of Deception *cough*). 

Then, there is the whole coming of age aspect. Cas was forced to be a loner his whole life because of what he does but through this experience he learns that he can't do everything alone. He has to open his heart to other people and I loved this aspect of the story because I could completely relate to him.

The writing was on point. I needed a fast-paced story and Kendare Black gave me even more than I wanted. I flew through the pages and I didn't want it to stop. It's not surprise that I'm probably going to read her other books.

Overall, I really liked it. I think Anna Dressed in Blood is my biggest surprise of the year.