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Anna Dressed in Blood (Anna, #1)

Kendare Blake

Start date: October 2, 2013

Finish date: October 31, 2013

Discussion: Group Read

Why we're reading this: Scavenger Hunt Winners' Pick…more
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What Members Thought

Jun 19, 2012 Cassie rated it liked it

Shelves: own

I'm not usually a paranormal reader, but Anna Dressed in Blood received rave reviews. People kept saying how creepy and awesome it was, but I have to admit that I was disappointed.

Anna Dressed in Blood is the story of Cas. He makes a living of killing ghosts and sending them back to...wherever they belong. He doesn't really care about what happens to the ghosts, so long as the living are kept safe. It's a job that once belonged to his father, and ever since he died at the hands of a ghot, Cas in I'm not usually a paranormal reader, but Anna Dressed in Blood received rave reviews. People kept saying how creepy and awesome it was, but I have to admit that I was disappointed.

Anna Dressed in Blood is the story of Cas. He makes a living of killing ghosts and sending them back to...wherever they belong. He doesn't really care about what happens to the ghosts, so long as the living are kept safe. It's a job that once belonged to his father, and ever since he died at the hands of a ghot, Cas inherited this strange vocation.

It's a pretty unordinary life: move to a new town, find the ghost, kill the ghost, and move on to the next target. I had slight issues with his mother allowing her son to live this kind of life. Even a mother as strange as Cas's. Nevertheless, it's his job, and he's never had trouble killing ghosts before...

Until he meets Anna.

Anna Korlov died decades ago, but her spirit still lives int he house, killing any and every living soul that steps in. Cas enlists the help of a few friends from school to find information on Anna's past and her recent activities. And when Cas and Anna meet face to face, she proves to be a ruthless killing machine. Somehow, though, she spares Cas. And, in the days the follow, Cas is consumed with thoughts of the ghost girl.

Which leads me to my two biggest issues with Anna Dressed in Blood...

What makes Cas so SPECIAL that Anna spares his life? And how I am supposed to believe that Cas is "in love" with Anna? The romance lacked chemistry and spark, though others might disagree. Luckily, Anna Dressed in blood is not about the romance. It's about the mystery, the suspense, and a ghost with a tormented past. The characters were entertaining and the writing was funny and morbid enough to keep me engaged.

As for the ending, I have mixed feelings and a lot of questions. It was confusing, but at the same time refreshing. Kendare didn't go for a cliched ending, and for that, I thank her. Regardless of my rating, I AM eager to read Girl of Nightmares. Hopefully, it will resolve all my unanswered questions.
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Aug 14, 2012 Katie_la_geek rated it really liked it · review of another edition

For this review and more visit my blog

This book sat on my shelf for months before I finally got round to reading it. I had heard so much hype about it and hype I find quite off putting. I always build the book up to highly and generally end up disappointed. In the end Anna Dressed in Blood was not what I was expecting why is probably a good thing.

To be honest this book and I did not exactly get off to a good start. I found the first quarter to be quite boring and it dragged but as soon as Anna m For this review and more visit my blog

This book sat on my shelf for months before I finally got round to reading it. I had heard so much hype about it and hype I find quite off putting. I always build the book up to highly and generally end up disappointed. In the end Anna Dressed in Blood was not what I was expecting why is probably a good thing.

To be honest this book and I did not exactly get off to a good start. I found the first quarter to be quite boring and it dragged but as soon as Anna made an appearance all that changed. This story might be told from Cas’ point of view but the book belonged to Anna. She was by far the most exciting and interesting part of this book. I did like Cas quite a lot, he was brave and sweet. He has an awesome personality and a great sense of humour which I really enjoyed, but Anna stole the show.

Anna is both terrifying and lovable, her story bought tears to my eyes, and it was not hard to see why she was so angry and lost. I loved her protective streak, when things start to go wrong she is fierce and powerful.

Another thing a liked about this book is its refusal to hold back, it is really grim and gruesome. If you have a weak stomach or don’t like blood and guts then this is not the book for you, seriously stay far, far away. I do quite like blood and guts, I like to stray a little into the dark side so this worked for me.

My problem with this book was the romance; I just couldn’t buy into it like a lot of people did. It all seemed a little stubborn and unrealistic. I struggled to believe that Cas could make peace with what Anna had done so quickly and easily, and didn’t understand why he never seemed to question the fact that he was in love with a ghost, it was just accepted. That was not the only thing I questioned, I would have liked more about how Anna got her powers and why she let Cas in the house and no one else.

Anna Dressed in Blood is a good book with great characters and an awesome ending. For the most part it impressed me but didn’t manage to blow me away. Still, I cannot wait to read the next and last book in the series.
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