Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

Anna Dressed in Blood (Anna #1) by Kendare Blake

Synopsis:

Just your average boy-meets-girl, girl-kills-people story...

Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead. 

So did his father before him, until his gruesome murder 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: move, 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, but now stained red and dripping 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.

And she, for whatever reason, spares his life.

My Review:

The first thing that came to mind as I began reading this book was Supernatural (If you haven't watched the show then go, it's the best thing ever.) Cas was like the younger version of the Winchester brothers. He's dedicated his whole (short teenage) life to hunting ghosts and can be quite cocky sometimes. So when he hears about Anna Dressed in Blood, he's all over it thinking he can deal with that ghost like he's done before with little trouble. Boy, was he wrong. 
Oh, and did I mention how much I love his name? No, well, I love it. I mean, c'mon, it's Theseus Cassio Lowood. Sexy. :) 
One of the things that I liked about Anna is the fact that it's narrated from a boy's POV. There aren't many of those out there. Moving on to the story line. With quite a few books out there about ghosts and doomed romance and all, this one was pretty unique. It was easy to fall in love with each and everyone of the characters, even Anna. Her story was so tragic and heart-wrenching, readers will sympathize with her right away.
Oh, yes. Anna. It completely blew me away. Just thinking about what happened to her, it makes me want to do something about it! I had to put the book down for a few seconds before I could finish the story. It was that shocking. The writing was descriptive enough to make you feel what Cas was feeling and to bring characters to life so instead of telling you, the writing showed you every sordid detail. It sure as heck left my emotions all over the place when I was done with it and looking forward to a sequel. 
It will grab readers with bloody hands and won't let go until the last page. So, if you like ghost stories and Stephen King, this is the book for you. Hauntingly good!

Trailer:

Rating: 5.0

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