Review: Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

Title: Anna Dressed in Blood
Author:  Kendare Blake
Format: Kindle
Genre: YA Paranormal
Source: Personal Copy
Published:  August 30th 2011
My Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

From Goodreads:


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.

 I was really anticipating this book, and I definitely was not disappointed! Kendare Blake has landed herself on my "Must Read Authors" list with this one!

Every town has ghost stories, and many have a haunted house too! Mine happened to be right next door to where I went to high school, and this house fit the image of Anna's house perfectly! (I was glad that much of the book occurred there because I could picture it so vividly! (Though I was never brave enough to go beyond the driveway of this particular home - so the inside got to play tricks on my imagination!)

Cas was the perfect protagonist for this role! His character was so vivid and strong, I felt like I could slip into the role of Carmel and follow along for the ride! (Carmel is the school "it girl" who happens to latch herself onto Cas immediately on his first day of school.) Coming from a family of Ghost Hunters (and with a Witch for a Mother) Cas follows a lead to hunt down Anna - who is a stronger than average ghost living in her own personal Amityville Horror house killing anyone who manages to step inside her house. Yet for some reason? She doesn't have the desire to tear Cas to shreds the way she does all other living things.

I loved nearly every minute of this book! (There was one scene in the basement of Anna's house that I didn't much care for - more because I'm a giant wimp than anything.) I loved the characters - even the annoying high school jocks (the Trojan Army) were well written and believable. The book was griping and packed with action (and gore) right to the final page!

I do have to say, if I could have made one thing a bigger part of this story? I'd have loved more time with Tybalt the cat! (I'm a cat person, really I am! But I just loved this little guy.) 

I cannot wait for the second installment of this series (due out sometime next year!) and I give Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake 5 hearts! ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥