Anna Dressed in Blood (Anna, #1) in Pick-a-Shelf

Dec 30, 2011 Erika rated it it was ok

Shelves: horror, ya, meh, wont-continue-series, supernatural

Oh God, what a great disappointment...

After reading so many reviews of how awesome this book is, i couldn't help but feel an urgency to go read it as soon as possible... This is what high expectations do, i guess.

This book started with a great premise, you had a ghost, Anna, who was murdering and dismembering everybody who entered to her house. And you had this kid, Cas, who was a ghost killer as his father once was. You start imagining what a bloody story you may have here, and it doesn't disap Oh God, what a great disappointment...

After reading so many reviews of how awesome this book is, i couldn't help but feel an urgency to go read it as soon as possible... This is what high expectations do, i guess.

This book started with a great premise, you had a ghost, Anna, who was murdering and dismembering everybody who entered to her house. And you had this kid, Cas, who was a ghost killer as his father once was. You start imagining what a bloody story you may have here, and it doesn't disappoint... in the beginning...

Now, i need to say something about the main character, Cas. When i started to read the book i had no idea he was a "he" i thought it was a "she". I just, for some reason, never figured out he was male, maybe i wasn't paying that much attention, but after i read here on goodreads someone saying something about Cas like he was a male, i couldn't believe it. I went to the first chapters and look for any evidence that Cas was male and couldn't find any. i don't know if there's something wrong with me, but if it wasn't for this site i would've gone all the way through the book thinking Cas was a girl, and would've been really "shocked"(shocked is not the word, I've been thinking for the word i want to use, but can't find it...) perhaps, later on in the book.

Ok back to the story. So, this book had potential. This male, Cas, traveled with his mother, to another city looking for Anna. He was looking for her because she is really dangerous, she's like the urban legend in that city, at parties, young people like to tell her stories to scare everyone else, and it is said that she's killed over 60 people already, in very gory ways. So it's Cas' duty to kill her, so she won't hurt anyone else.

**I think i should say now, here are possible **SPOILERS**, so continue at your own discretion.**

So this kid, immediately goes to school and makes friends with the queen bee and the popular ones, to gather all information he could from them, and help him with this Anna case.

There are some very bloody scenes, that make this book really interesting in the beginning but after that, starts what made me upset and made me start knocking stars off... Cas starts developing feelings for Anna...

This made me lose interest in the book and my enjoyment level dropped drastically. By the way, this is the reason why i say i would've been "shocked"(i still haven't found the right word to use here) of thinking Cas was female. a human-girl on ghost-girl story would be so... i don't know, strange?

Anyway, i don't think i would recommend this book, even though i seem to be in the minority of people who didn't like it. And I'm most likely not continuing this series. ...more

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Jan 04, 2014 Jirrine rated it really liked it · review of another edition

More reviews on www.jirrinereads.wordpress.com

This was the first time that I ventured into the world of YA Horror. I must so that it thought it was good book to begin with.

This book is about Cas. I am happy that this book features a boy as the main character as YA is female POV heavy. Cas lives with his mom and his job is to kill murderous ghosts. He does nothing to the good ghosts that just hang around doing whatever they do. No, he only kills those ghosts that threaten humans. One of his jobs More reviews on www.jirrinereads.wordpress.com

This was the first time that I ventured into the world of YA Horror. I must so that it thought it was good book to begin with.

This book is about Cas. I am happy that this book features a boy as the main character as YA is female POV heavy. Cas lives with his mom and his job is to kill murderous ghosts. He does nothing to the good ghosts that just hang around doing whatever they do. No, he only kills those ghosts that threaten humans. One of his jobs is to kill Anna but there everything changes. I really liked Cas. When we meet him he has this castle build around him. He moves so often for his job that making friends or getting attached is just not worth it. But Thunder Bay is different. Slowly, Cas’ walls break down and he gets friends: Thomas and Carmel.

The side characters were really interesting. Thomas and Carmel started out as cliché characters. The sulky, nerdy boy and the popular high school queen. They proved me wrong. With each page Thomas became more confident and Carmel was despite her position as a popular girl, really likable. The three of them grow really close. At first I though that there were some hints to a love triangle but luckily there wasn’t. Yeah!

Back to Cas and his job as a ghost hunter. As a precaution I read this book during the day, because I know myself and I am a chicken when it comes to scary stuff. I must say that his was not as scary as I thought it would be. There was one scary bit about 50 pages from the end, but that turned much less scary that anticipated. There were however some gory parts, so this is definitely not a book for younger readers, the warning on the cover is there for a reason! I thought the description of the ghosts and creepy things was done very well. Kendare Blake created a chilling atmosphere, but for me it never became downright scary. That turned out for the best because know I actually want to try some more horror, although I except that there are going be scarier books in the genre.

I was however not entirely sure about Cas’ relationship. It felt a little rushed. It wasn’t exactly insta-love but the attraction was just too sudden. And the object of his affection was just a little weird. I don’t know.

All in all this was a solid intro to YA horror. I already bought The Girl of Nightmares, book 2 in this duology, which I hope to finish soon. Want to know what happens next! I give this book 4 stars. ...more

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