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sean1994's review against another edition
5.0
It is a quick read I could not put the book down I always needed to find out what was going to happen next and to see if she was going to be able to be saved from hell
exorcismemily's review against another edition
3.0
"You always put yourself out there. Hell-bent on ruin."
Girl of Nightmares is the sequel to Anna Dressed in Blood, which I read last year & really enjoyed. Anna Dressed in Blood was more of a horror story, and Girl of Nightmares felt like a fantasy story with horror tones (which is fine; I think I just expected the tone to be more like the first one).
This book has more of a focus on grief, but it was hard to feel sympathetic for Cas after a while. The journey he went on was completely illogical, and I was frustrated by it. He dragged other people into danger for a pointless cause. I can get behind stories if the character's purpose makes sense, but I had a hard time with this one.
There was a creepy scene in a suicide forest that I enjoyed, and I wish there would have been more spooky stuff in Girl of Nightmares. I would love to read another story set in this world one day - it would be really cool to read some novellas or short stories about other ghosts, or from some of the other characters' POVs.
Girl of Nightmares is the sequel to Anna Dressed in Blood, which I read last year & really enjoyed. Anna Dressed in Blood was more of a horror story, and Girl of Nightmares felt like a fantasy story with horror tones (which is fine; I think I just expected the tone to be more like the first one).
This book has more of a focus on grief, but it was hard to feel sympathetic for Cas after a while. The journey he went on was completely illogical, and I was frustrated by it. He dragged other people into danger for a pointless cause. I can get behind stories if the character's purpose makes sense, but I had a hard time with this one.
There was a creepy scene in a suicide forest that I enjoyed, and I wish there would have been more spooky stuff in Girl of Nightmares. I would love to read another story set in this world one day - it would be really cool to read some novellas or short stories about other ghosts, or from some of the other characters' POVs.
slowpoke's review against another edition
4.0
4 Stars
Review will be added later as it is 11pm and I have school tomorrow.
VERY GOOD though.
I think I liked this book better.
Review will be added later as it is 11pm and I have school tomorrow.
VERY GOOD though.
I think I liked this book better.
jmariecapdem's review against another edition
4.0
Buddy read with lilsis Mishma :)
Girl of Nightmares continues on after Anna dragged the murderous ghost-voodoo monster a.k.a Obeahman to the 'outside' saving Cas and his friends six months ago.
Cas, the owner of the athame as he's always been, goes on too with his life sending murderous ghosts to where the athame sends them. Thankful for finally settling in Thunder Bay with his mother and friends, he's finally ready to face more risks.
In this sequel, Cas has been braver to fight and stronger in his decisions. He's even got more guts to discover what Anna is after the second time around. Meanwhile, his friendship with Thomas and Carmel became deeper and more connected which made the encounters more fun as well, kudos to the humorous dialogues.
Morfran, Gideon and Cas' mother still gave their fair share of support and mysteries, I can't say more to that. But I admired the presence of new characters especially Jestine. She can make a kick-ass lead character because of her fighting skills and voodoo training.
The pacing was slower than the debut but it was tolerable because it developed the characters and their relationships. Another point too for a setting in London. Then the ending - it's a relief! I felt exhausted for what Cas has done and sacrificed. He already proved himself a great warrior and wielder of the athame, thus he deserved to move on.
Bottom line, it was a great story of love and friendship, and horrifying souls - not too dark and gritty yet can still bring crazy imaginations into the reader's head.
Girl of Nightmares continues on after Anna dragged the murderous ghost-voodoo monster a.k.a Obeahman to the 'outside' saving Cas and his friends six months ago.
Cas, the owner of the athame as he's always been, goes on too with his life sending murderous ghosts to where the athame sends them. Thankful for finally settling in Thunder Bay with his mother and friends, he's finally ready to face more risks.
In this sequel, Cas has been braver to fight and stronger in his decisions. He's even got more guts to discover what Anna is after the second time around. Meanwhile, his friendship with Thomas and Carmel became deeper and more connected which made the encounters more fun as well, kudos to the humorous dialogues.
Morfran, Gideon and Cas' mother still gave their fair share of support and mysteries, I can't say more to that. But I admired the presence of new characters especially Jestine. She can make a kick-ass lead character because of her fighting skills and voodoo training.
The pacing was slower than the debut but it was tolerable because it developed the characters and their relationships. Another point too for a setting in London. Then the ending - it's a relief! I felt exhausted for what Cas has done and sacrificed. He already proved himself a great warrior and wielder of the athame, thus he deserved to move on.
Bottom line, it was a great story of love and friendship, and horrifying souls - not too dark and gritty yet can still bring crazy imaginations into the reader's head.
crystalstarrlight's review against another edition
3.0
“She crossed over death to call me. I crossed through Hell to find her.”
It's been several months since Cas, Carmel and Thomas defeated the Obeahman with the help of Anna Dressed in Blood. Cas is melancholy over losing the enigmatic Anna when he begins to see her around him--only she appears to be injured and badly wounded. Where has Anna gone and can Cas and his friends save her from Hell itself?
[b:Anna Dressed in Blood|9378297|Anna Dressed in Blood (Anna, #1)|Kendare Blake|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1317793801s/9378297.jpg|14261925] was a delightful surprise. It actually was scary, intense, gritty, and enjoyable to read. The characters were pretty well-done (even if Cas drove me nuts at times), and the story was definitely interesting. I hadn't been expecting it to turn into a series, but I realize how publishers are these days, and they usually try to pump a trilogy out of an idea. But since I enjoyed book 1 so much, I didn't mind marking my calendar for when Book 2 would be released.
"Girl of Nightmares" was a mixed bag for me. On one hand, it was still delightfully scary and mature (I read this at 11:30pm, which was STUPID and scared the CRAP out of me); on the other, I felt there wasn't enough story to justify another book.
Cas, Thomas, Carmel, Anna, Morfran, and Gideon return for part 2 and are excellent. Cas was occasionally grating, but like I've said before, I don't have to be BFF's with a main character in order to be interested in the story. And I did like how Cas was flawed, not some guy that every girl throws herself at. He was arrogant, stubborn, and fool-hardy. Thomas was a great pal, and I adored how he was the one to "get the girl" (I am SO sick of the main character always getting paired off with the only chick/guy). But my favorite character was Carmel. FINALLY, a female in a YA book who has opinions and sticks with them! And while she also was horrible to her friends (breaking up rather brutally with Thomas at one point), I respect WHY she did it and how well the whole situation was written, from Carmel's POV to Thomas' to them speaking again after the incident and beyond.
We have a few new characters that crop up, mostly Jestine, an annoying female Cas clone. I get how she is supposed to be the alter-Cas, but I found her obnoxious and irritating. I also felt that the members of the Order of Biodag Dubh were not very well defined and pretty shifty.
But by far my biggest complaint is that so much of the book feels meandering, just wasting time until the last 50 pages where we can FINALLY have Cas do what he's been flailing to do for the previous almost 300 pages. At the beginning, I was pretty engaged and intrigued, and there seemed to be a good flow. But the moment that the group had to travel to England (personally, I felt this was a copout--why couldn't this have been located in Thunder Bay?), the book seemed to lose its point and feel--I'm sorry--slapped together. Suddenly, we are talking about old mystical orders, a girl who is trying to be Cas' replacement, a "trial", a journey through Suicide Forest (which, to be fair, was pretty damned scary!!), and a bunch of talking with people about all this new information that suddenly appears (including "No, you can't rescue Anna", "Well, maybe you can", "We know how to do it...kinda").
It all boils down to this: I honestly feel that Anna and Cas' story was complete in "Anna Dressed in Blood". It pretty nicely wraps up the story of Anna right there. If there was to be a Book 2, it probably would have worked better to A) introduce more of these Order elements into Book 1 (which may not have been possible because "Anna" was written as a standalone) or B) have Cas face off with another ghost (yes, I know, this is cliche and basically copying the formula of Book 1). To me, it felt like a lot of new stuff had to be introduced (including a complex, hard-to-understand history of the athame) in order to make the story work.
That doesn't mean, however, this is a bad book. Again, it is scary, more than a lot of other novels out there (I had the pleasure of listening to Blake read the part where Thomas, Carmel, and Cas perform the ceremony to speak with Anna and that was creepy awesome!). Carmel was an amazing, kick @ss female character (so was, of course, Anna), and while I did get itchy for the plot to get going and for Cas to DO something, I did overall enjoy myself (that climax was pretty awesome). Basically, if you really liked Blake's writing, liked Anna's story, or like gory, scary novels, this is probably the book for you. It certainly isn't the worst thing to spend an afternoon reading.
Dialogue/Sexual Situations/Violence:
There are quite a few f-bombs in this novel, so I would definitely recommend to mature teens.
Carmel and Thomas are dating, but there are no explicit sex scenes and very little (if any) mention of sex.
Quite a few people are stabbed, cut, wounded, bloodied, or otherwise gorified (yay, I made up a word!) in the course of the novel. Again, for mature teens only.
It's been several months since Cas, Carmel and Thomas defeated the Obeahman with the help of Anna Dressed in Blood. Cas is melancholy over losing the enigmatic Anna when he begins to see her around him--only she appears to be injured and badly wounded. Where has Anna gone and can Cas and his friends save her from Hell itself?
[b:Anna Dressed in Blood|9378297|Anna Dressed in Blood (Anna, #1)|Kendare Blake|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1317793801s/9378297.jpg|14261925] was a delightful surprise. It actually was scary, intense, gritty, and enjoyable to read. The characters were pretty well-done (even if Cas drove me nuts at times), and the story was definitely interesting. I hadn't been expecting it to turn into a series, but I realize how publishers are these days, and they usually try to pump a trilogy out of an idea. But since I enjoyed book 1 so much, I didn't mind marking my calendar for when Book 2 would be released.
"Girl of Nightmares" was a mixed bag for me. On one hand, it was still delightfully scary and mature (I read this at 11:30pm, which was STUPID and scared the CRAP out of me); on the other, I felt there wasn't enough story to justify another book.
Cas, Thomas, Carmel, Anna, Morfran, and Gideon return for part 2 and are excellent. Cas was occasionally grating, but like I've said before, I don't have to be BFF's with a main character in order to be interested in the story. And I did like how Cas was flawed, not some guy that every girl throws herself at. He was arrogant, stubborn, and fool-hardy. Thomas was a great pal, and I adored how he was the one to "get the girl" (I am SO sick of the main character always getting paired off with the only chick/guy). But my favorite character was Carmel. FINALLY, a female in a YA book who has opinions and sticks with them! And while she also was horrible to her friends (breaking up rather brutally with Thomas at one point), I respect WHY she did it and how well the whole situation was written, from Carmel's POV to Thomas' to them speaking again after the incident and beyond.
We have a few new characters that crop up, mostly Jestine, an annoying female Cas clone. I get how she is supposed to be the alter-Cas, but I found her obnoxious and irritating. I also felt that the members of the Order of Biodag Dubh were not very well defined and pretty shifty.
But by far my biggest complaint is that so much of the book feels meandering, just wasting time until the last 50 pages where we can FINALLY have Cas do what he's been flailing to do for the previous almost 300 pages. At the beginning, I was pretty engaged and intrigued, and there seemed to be a good flow. But the moment that the group had to travel to England (personally, I felt this was a copout--why couldn't this have been located in Thunder Bay?), the book seemed to lose its point and feel--I'm sorry--slapped together. Suddenly, we are talking about old mystical orders, a girl who is trying to be Cas' replacement, a "trial", a journey through Suicide Forest (which, to be fair, was pretty damned scary!!), and a bunch of talking with people about all this new information that suddenly appears (including "No, you can't rescue Anna", "Well, maybe you can", "We know how to do it...kinda").
It all boils down to this: I honestly feel that Anna and Cas' story was complete in "Anna Dressed in Blood". It pretty nicely wraps up the story of Anna right there. If there was to be a Book 2, it probably would have worked better to A) introduce more of these Order elements into Book 1 (which may not have been possible because "Anna" was written as a standalone) or B) have Cas face off with another ghost (yes, I know, this is cliche and basically copying the formula of Book 1). To me, it felt like a lot of new stuff had to be introduced (including a complex, hard-to-understand history of the athame) in order to make the story work.
That doesn't mean, however, this is a bad book. Again, it is scary, more than a lot of other novels out there (I had the pleasure of listening to Blake read the part where Thomas, Carmel, and Cas perform the ceremony to speak with Anna and that was creepy awesome!). Carmel was an amazing, kick @ss female character (so was, of course, Anna), and while I did get itchy for the plot to get going and for Cas to DO something, I did overall enjoy myself (that climax was pretty awesome). Basically, if you really liked Blake's writing, liked Anna's story, or like gory, scary novels, this is probably the book for you. It certainly isn't the worst thing to spend an afternoon reading.
Dialogue/Sexual Situations/Violence:
There are quite a few f-bombs in this novel, so I would definitely recommend to mature teens.
Carmel and Thomas are dating, but there are no explicit sex scenes and very little (if any) mention of sex.
Quite a few people are stabbed, cut, wounded, bloodied, or otherwise gorified (yay, I made up a word!) in the course of the novel. Again, for mature teens only.
themezzaluna's review against another edition
2.0
Now, this wasn't a bad book. The plot was good and the overall arc of each character was quite nicely thought out.
My one problem with it is that it felt too technical compared to the first one. It started and progressed so slowly that it made me feel frustrated and like I was never going to finish it.
I really liked Anna Dressed In Blood, so this one was a bit of a let down because I had high expectations.
Despite everything, it was as unsettling and horrific as I wanted it to be and I don't regret reading it.
My one problem with it is that it felt too technical compared to the first one. It started and progressed so slowly that it made me feel frustrated and like I was never going to finish it.
I really liked Anna Dressed In Blood, so this one was a bit of a let down because I had high expectations.
Despite everything, it was as unsettling and horrific as I wanted it to be and I don't regret reading it.
coranada's review against another edition
2.0
The first book was much better. This one just went on. and on. and then on some more. There was too much nothing happening. If you are trying to rescue someone from Hell it seems like there shouldn't be so much nothing happening. And then it really kind of started bothering me when the main character who is telling the story from his junior in high school, boy perspective would describe a middle aged woman's hairdo as being stylish or the wooden door as being carved oak. Because... really? I dunno, maybe he would do those thing but since he's been primarily hunting ghosts for the last seven or so years I'm gonna guess he's not up on hair styles for women or wood identification.
And probably you'll say that I'm being kind of silly pointing out these little things but my point is that the story was just so slow and non engaging that I noticed these things.
It did pick up at the end but then the resolution was just a little too quick. Since we've just read two books about this guy and his girlfriend the ghost I'm thinking we could have taken another paragraph or two to explain what just happened.
My feeling after finishing it was that it was so-so, then better, with a tiny helping of "wha?" that snuck in at the end.
And probably you'll say that I'm being kind of silly pointing out these little things but my point is that the story was just so slow and non engaging that I noticed these things.
It did pick up at the end but then the resolution was just a little too quick. Since we've just read two books about this guy and his girlfriend the ghost I'm thinking we could have taken another paragraph or two to explain what just happened.
My feeling after finishing it was that it was so-so, then better, with a tiny helping of "wha?" that snuck in at the end.
creolelitbelle's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Late 90s/early 2000s TV fanfic, round 2. Sadly, the sequel wasn't as fun as the first book, but it did offer a satisfying conclusion.
• Anna went into a portal to hell? So, book 2 starts off as Buffy, season 3, since book 1 apparently ended with Angel going through a portal to hell. Oh, I mean Anna.
• Just as Buffy has the conversation with adults in her life about her friends, Cas has the "they're going to get themselves killed" talk with his mom about Thomas & Carmel.
• Signing yearbooks "have a neat summer" has the perfect Marcie Ross vibe. IYKYK.
• Correction from book 1 character assessment. Thomas = Willow & Xander combined. He's witchy but also completely awkward & lands the most popular girl in school.
• The Order located in Scottish Highlands. Watchers Council in London. Enough said.
• Ghosts... explode? In Buffy vamps explode to save money & help world logistics. Also, vamps are demons walking inside dead people, so of course the bodies don't last. Ghosts are not corporeal. Why do they explode? What?
• "tell mom... Tell her something good." - Cas. "tell them... Idk. Think of something cool. Tell them I said it." - Buffy.
• Demon with yellow eyes took parent. Pulled straight from supernatural. Of all the eye colors, yellow?
Book 2 was still fun, but the excitement and pacing dropped as compared to book 1. The plot felt tedious and almost caused me to give up. My desire to know what ultimately happens to Anna won out. New characters and more real time with previously only cameoed characters kept the book fresh.
• Just as Buffy has the conversation with adults in her life about her friends, Cas has the "they're going to get themselves killed" talk with his mom about Thomas & Carmel.
• Signing yearbooks "have a neat summer" has the perfect Marcie Ross vibe. IYKYK.
• Correction from book 1 character assessment. Thomas = Willow & Xander combined. He's witchy but also completely awkward & lands the most popular girl in school.
• The Order located in Scottish Highlands. Watchers Council in London. Enough said.
• Ghosts... explode? In Buffy vamps explode to save money & help world logistics. Also, vamps are demons walking inside dead people, so of course the bodies don't last. Ghosts are not corporeal. Why do they explode? What?
• "tell mom... Tell her something good." - Cas. "tell them... Idk. Think of something cool. Tell them I said it." - Buffy.
• Demon with yellow eyes took parent. Pulled straight from supernatural. Of all the eye colors, yellow?
Book 2 was still fun, but the excitement and pacing dropped as compared to book 1. The plot felt tedious and almost caused me to give up. My desire to know what ultimately happens to Anna won out. New characters and more real time with previously only cameoed characters kept the book fresh.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Blood
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
beccaj2180's review against another edition
5.0
Wow, I am reeling a little, kind of on a Kendare Blake high at the moment. I am seriously impressed with this second book - and gladly - because so many sequels are so disappointing. Definitely a beautiful ending and a heart wrenching story line. I have a hard time thinking this will be the last book about Cas, but who knows. I'll hopefully get the chance to write a really good review sometime, but if not, I definitely recommend this book. Also, I have to say, if there was a good screenwriter out there somewhere, these books could make some pretty awesome horror movies. Seriously.