Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

Overall: 5 Stars

Description:

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....

My Thoughts: 

Ok so this book was just down right amazing...I got it almost a half a year ago and hadn't bothered to read about it tell now.  I hadn't really heard much hype about this book until lately and all of it has been about how amazing the story is and let me tell you all the hype is true. This is probably one of the best stories I've read in a very long time.  I never really liked horror novels and that's what made me avoid reading this book for so long but this book is much much more then a horror story.

The story is told from the point of view of Cas Lowood.  Cas kills the dead, spirits that still wander Earth even after they died.  Cas inherited the job from his Dad who was murdered by ghost he was hunting.  Cas, his Mother, and their cat hunt ghost in legend and lore across the country.  Then Cas hears about the ghost called Anna Dressed in Blood. She was murdered 1958 her throat slit. Anna is said to kill anyone who enters the home, and gets her name from the white dress she wore on the night of murder is now covered in blood.


This story is told in amazing detail I was competely engrossed from the first page.  Cas at the beginning of the book seems very distant and cold, his jobs is his life, its all the matters.  He wants to be the best at what he does so he can kill the ghost who took he's father life.  He sees the case of Anna no differently then he does any other kill the ghost.  Cas moves to the town haunted by Anna and enrolls at a local high school to gain information on to the legend of Anna and soon catches the eye of Carmel the most popular girl in school. He also catches the eye of the guys in school but not in the best way. Cas is invited the party later that week at a local hot spot in town.  Later that night him Carmel and two other guys go to the house haunted by Anna.  They beat Cas over the head with a broad and drag him into the house.  Cas awakens shortly after the blow and sees Anna her dress dripping in blood just like the legends say, he prepares to die he doesn't have his athame to kill Anna but something happens he doesn't expect Anna doesn't kill him.

The characters and scenery are created by Blake so well it feels like I'm there.  The way she taps into your senses and goes into such detail to describing the things in Cas's life and his feeling you can connected with him and whats around him so well it's what makes this book so addicting. Also what makes this book even better is the love Anna and Cas have. Anna is described as this dark horrible monster by most people and its even how she See's herself, but in truth she has no control of what she turns into and can't control it, she is really just a scared girl with a very bad past.  Cas at first doesn't understand why Anna doesn't kill him but still wants to kill her so he goes back to the house repeatedly to try and kill her and soon realizes its impossible unless they cast a spell to see into Anna past and figure out why shes this way.  That's when Cas's learns Anna's terrible past and he begins to fall in love with her he even saves Anna from one of the boys killing her Cas's then becomes willing to and do anything to break the curse on her.

Anna and Cas's love is one beautifully told in this story on how love can conquer any obstacle and what a person will do for the one they love.  Blake tells this story beautifully in a mix of horror and romance that makes the reader never want to put the book down.  The ending of this book broke my heart and I'm jumping up down waiting for sequel Girl of Nightmares to be release I cant wait tell I get to read what happens to Cas and Anna next