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crystalstarrlight's review against another edition
4.0
Somewhere out there is the one that I came for, one who is strong enough to squeeze the breath out of living throats...Anna Dressed in Blood.
Thesues Cassio 'Cas' Lowood is 17 and a ghost hunter like his father. He and his mother moved to Thunder Bay to eradicate, Anna Dressed in Blood, the local ghost who has killed many who dare enter her house. From the moment Cas steps into Thunder Bay, however, nothing goes as planned.
This is the book I was hoping [b:Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children|9460487|Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children|Ransom Riggs|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1311634099s/9460487.jpg|14345371] would be: scary, chilling, and exciting. The characters are well-written and, for the most part, not cliched, the story is interesting, and the pace is pretty brisk.
Our cast is led by Cas. I was really excited to read a novel from a male's point of view (so many YA novels are from a female's), but I was also nervous, seeing as the author is a female. Perhaps she writes her boys too feminine. Ha! Cas is truly a young man; he is arrogant at times, bold, daring, determined, and loving to his mother (this is a HUGE plus for me--I really hate it when books feature disposable parents). Sure, he also drove me bonkers (for someone supposedly so skilled at ghostbusting, he seems to do a real shoddy job of it most of the time), but I actually found that made him more realistic and relatable. Cas isn't perfect; he isn't a god to the female sector of his high school (in fact, he is rather callous to them and/or inept); he makes mistakes, underestimates his enemies, and misunderstands circumstances. And that is what makes a good character, in my book: a character whose actions you can understand and possibly relate to (also liking the character helps, but is not mandatory).
Side characters were surprisingly vibrant. Carmel totally blew me away; I thought she would be a stereotypical vapid popular girl, but she was really smart, clever, and actually contributed to the mystery and end showdown. I also totally loved how Cas was not paired up with her. Thomas started out kinda cliched (nerdy/geeky psychic), but his friendship to Cas really elevated him out of Dorky Side-kick. Anna, the titular girl, was great. I really liked how the author chose not to give her a point of view; I thought seeing her through Cas' eyes was great and I don't think giving her a POV would have contributed anything to the story. I did think, however, how she became a ghost was goofy (including stereotypically EVUL step-parent and ridiculously and unexplained EVUL mother), but it was interesting how she wasn't a typical ghost.
I think what really impressed me was the story. I like the idea of ghost hunting (so funny with all the Ghostbuster references too!), and I thought the idea of Cas hunting this eerie girl dressed in blood was cool. Also, don't know if you know, but there is this trend in YA to add a romance or a Romantic Triangle. I have great news for you: THERE IS NO ROMANTIC TRIANGLE AND ANY ROMANCE IS PURELY INCIDENTAL! Yes, DO NOT FAINT! It has been done, and I think quite well.
However, in the middle, the story seemed to have forgotten where it was going. I would read several pages, but when I thought back to those pages, I would be like, "What was the point of the last 20 pages?" How Cas loses the athame was COMPLETELY stupid and could have been avoided. I felt there were two plots that could have been intertwined a bit better. Some of Anna's backstory was silly. There was even a point where I was about to give this book 3 stars: Cas was grating on me, the story seemed to have stopped, the writing seemed sloppy at times (consistency flies out the window, Cas has no problem dropping f-bombs and suddenly censors himself, etc.), and the characters seemed to be morons.
Fortunately, at this point, the author pulls in a GREAT comeback, where something unexpected happens to the characters (and heck, even to me!). Honestly, I love it when characters come up with a plan, and it totally goes out the window. (I hate it when characters perfectly assess the future, come up with a plan, and the plan goes off without a hitch and without them having to think on the fly or show any of the "majr skilz" they supposedly have.)
And the final showdown...well, I'm trying to keep this review spoiler-free! Let's just say: WOW! It's big, it's great, and it's SCARY! The baddie is someone who can actually do some damage and makes you wonder how the characters will come out. And don't worry about cliffhangers; there is a wee bit of one, but this book is definitely a stand-alone.
My feelings about this book are almost 180 from how I felt about [b:Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children|9460487|Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children|Ransom Riggs|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1311634099s/9460487.jpg|14345371]. I thought this was a pretty scary book (though still not enough to keep me awake at nights, eyeing the door for intruders) with good characters and a good story. I am definitely keeping my eye open for book 2, and I heartily recommend this book for a good Halloween scare.
Thesues Cassio 'Cas' Lowood is 17 and a ghost hunter like his father. He and his mother moved to Thunder Bay to eradicate, Anna Dressed in Blood, the local ghost who has killed many who dare enter her house. From the moment Cas steps into Thunder Bay, however, nothing goes as planned.
This is the book I was hoping [b:Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children|9460487|Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children|Ransom Riggs|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1311634099s/9460487.jpg|14345371] would be: scary, chilling, and exciting. The characters are well-written and, for the most part, not cliched, the story is interesting, and the pace is pretty brisk.
Our cast is led by Cas. I was really excited to read a novel from a male's point of view (so many YA novels are from a female's), but I was also nervous, seeing as the author is a female. Perhaps she writes her boys too feminine. Ha! Cas is truly a young man; he is arrogant at times, bold, daring, determined, and loving to his mother (this is a HUGE plus for me--I really hate it when books feature disposable parents). Sure, he also drove me bonkers (for someone supposedly so skilled at ghostbusting, he seems to do a real shoddy job of it most of the time), but I actually found that made him more realistic and relatable. Cas isn't perfect; he isn't a god to the female sector of his high school (in fact, he is rather callous to them and/or inept); he makes mistakes, underestimates his enemies, and misunderstands circumstances. And that is what makes a good character, in my book: a character whose actions you can understand and possibly relate to (also liking the character helps, but is not mandatory).
Side characters were surprisingly vibrant. Carmel totally blew me away; I thought she would be a stereotypical vapid popular girl, but she was really smart, clever, and actually contributed to the mystery and end showdown. I also totally loved how Cas was not paired up with her. Thomas started out kinda cliched (nerdy/geeky psychic), but his friendship to Cas really elevated him out of Dorky Side-kick. Anna, the titular girl, was great. I really liked how the author chose not to give her a point of view; I thought seeing her through Cas' eyes was great and I don't think giving her a POV would have contributed anything to the story. I did think, however, how she became a ghost was goofy (including stereotypically EVUL step-parent and ridiculously and unexplained EVUL mother), but it was interesting how she wasn't a typical ghost.
I think what really impressed me was the story. I like the idea of ghost hunting (so funny with all the Ghostbuster references too!), and I thought the idea of Cas hunting this eerie girl dressed in blood was cool. Also, don't know if you know, but there is this trend in YA to add a romance or a Romantic Triangle. I have great news for you: THERE IS NO ROMANTIC TRIANGLE AND ANY ROMANCE IS PURELY INCIDENTAL! Yes, DO NOT FAINT! It has been done, and I think quite well.
However, in the middle, the story seemed to have forgotten where it was going. I would read several pages, but when I thought back to those pages, I would be like, "What was the point of the last 20 pages?" How Cas loses the athame was COMPLETELY stupid and could have been avoided. I felt there were two plots that could have been intertwined a bit better. Some of Anna's backstory was silly. There was even a point where I was about to give this book 3 stars: Cas was grating on me, the story seemed to have stopped, the writing seemed sloppy at times (consistency flies out the window, Cas has no problem dropping f-bombs and suddenly censors himself, etc.), and the characters seemed to be morons.
Fortunately, at this point, the author pulls in a GREAT comeback, where something unexpected happens to the characters (and heck, even to me!). Honestly, I love it when characters come up with a plan, and it totally goes out the window. (I hate it when characters perfectly assess the future, come up with a plan, and the plan goes off without a hitch and without them having to think on the fly or show any of the "majr skilz" they supposedly have.)
And the final showdown...well, I'm trying to keep this review spoiler-free! Let's just say: WOW! It's big, it's great, and it's SCARY! The baddie is someone who can actually do some damage and makes you wonder how the characters will come out. And don't worry about cliffhangers; there is a wee bit of one, but this book is definitely a stand-alone.
My feelings about this book are almost 180 from how I felt about [b:Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children|9460487|Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children|Ransom Riggs|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1311634099s/9460487.jpg|14345371]. I thought this was a pretty scary book (though still not enough to keep me awake at nights, eyeing the door for intruders) with good characters and a good story. I am definitely keeping my eye open for book 2, and I heartily recommend this book for a good Halloween scare.
reading_yarn's review against another edition
4.0
This was a new experience for me. I'm a chicken, I admit it. I hate to be scared so I never pick up scary-looking books. I avoid them as much as I can! However, when I saw this beautiful cover I couldn't walk away from it. I had to buy it. I'm so glad I did!! The story was good and I really liked the protagonist but I do wish there was more action. There was action but the spaces in between each big event made me bored and I wanted to put it down. Then something exciting would happen and I found myself reading nonstop. Great book!! (Thanks to my little flashlight I didn't get any nightmares. :p)
ohtrisarahtops's review against another edition
5.0
This review can also be found here
This book has one of the creepiest covers ever. I absolutely love it. This story sounds like it would be pretty creepy right? Well it is, in some parts at least but it's also very sweet and romantic as well. This is one of those books that I had to put down at night, solely due to the fact that reading ghost stories at night bothers me. I would however rush to pick it back up in the morning. This is a book that I won't be able to get out of my head for a while.
Just the first like of the description "Just your average boy-meets-girl, girl-kills-people story" was enough to draw my attention. I knew going in that this would probably end up being somewhat of a romance and it really did a great job of that by not taking over the entire storyline.
The ghost aspect was really refreshing, instead of the main character being afraid of ghosts or just being haunted by one, he actually sought them out to "kill" them. This really made the story interesting and the whole time I was wondering whether or not Cas would really be able to "kill" Anna.
The characters really helped make this book for me. Cas was an independent guy who wasn't part of mainstream society. He worked in the dark and kept himself distanced from people mainly because of what he did every night. He's actually a pretty sweet and caring person once Thomas and Carmel managed to get past his anti-social shell. Thomas was an interesting one. He was so shy and withdrawn yet he had this personality that just made me like him. Carmel seemed like such a snob in the beginning but as the story goes on we find out that she's actually much deeper than that. I loved Anna. Her story is so tragic and the things that she does are horrible. Yet there is so much humanity left inside of this girl who had everything taken away, she actually feels regret.
The story is emotional as well. There is the one scene where we finally learn Anna's whole story and believe me it's a sad one. I found myself getting upset and angry over the fate that she met and I kept rooting for her as the story progressed. The story had a shocking twist as well, I didn't see a lot of the things coming that happened and for that I was really happy, who wants a predictable ghost story anyway?
I absolutely loved Anna Dressed in Blood and I can't wait to get my hands on the sequel. If you like ghost stories then I definitely recommend checking this one out. Even if you aren't that big of a fan of ghost stories, I still recommend this, there are plenty of other aspects to this story like romance, mystery and suspense.
This book has one of the creepiest covers ever. I absolutely love it. This story sounds like it would be pretty creepy right? Well it is, in some parts at least but it's also very sweet and romantic as well. This is one of those books that I had to put down at night, solely due to the fact that reading ghost stories at night bothers me. I would however rush to pick it back up in the morning. This is a book that I won't be able to get out of my head for a while.
Just the first like of the description "Just your average boy-meets-girl, girl-kills-people story" was enough to draw my attention. I knew going in that this would probably end up being somewhat of a romance and it really did a great job of that by not taking over the entire storyline.
The ghost aspect was really refreshing, instead of the main character being afraid of ghosts or just being haunted by one, he actually sought them out to "kill" them. This really made the story interesting and the whole time I was wondering whether or not Cas would really be able to "kill" Anna.
The characters really helped make this book for me. Cas was an independent guy who wasn't part of mainstream society. He worked in the dark and kept himself distanced from people mainly because of what he did every night. He's actually a pretty sweet and caring person once Thomas and Carmel managed to get past his anti-social shell. Thomas was an interesting one. He was so shy and withdrawn yet he had this personality that just made me like him. Carmel seemed like such a snob in the beginning but as the story goes on we find out that she's actually much deeper than that. I loved Anna. Her story is so tragic and the things that she does are horrible. Yet there is so much humanity left inside of this girl who had everything taken away, she actually feels regret.
The story is emotional as well. There is the one scene where we finally learn Anna's whole story and believe me it's a sad one. I found myself getting upset and angry over the fate that she met and I kept rooting for her as the story progressed. The story had a shocking twist as well, I didn't see a lot of the things coming that happened and for that I was really happy, who wants a predictable ghost story anyway?
I absolutely loved Anna Dressed in Blood and I can't wait to get my hands on the sequel. If you like ghost stories then I definitely recommend checking this one out. Even if you aren't that big of a fan of ghost stories, I still recommend this, there are plenty of other aspects to this story like romance, mystery and suspense.
shio_27's review against another edition
5.0
Un libro verdaderamente atrapante desde el principio no pude parar de leerlo hasta terminarlo. Todos deberían leerlo ✨
goodyeargoodbooks's review against another edition
4.0
I am a tad disappointed, if only because the first 200 pages of this were a solid 5 stars, with the potential to be one of the best books I have read recently. However the last 150 pages dragged a considerable amount, and I became bored and more prone to putting the book down (I read it in a day, but I put it down 3 times during the last 150 pages), which docked a star from my rating.
The story is fabulous. It had the perfect amount of creepy to satisfy me; I read it in the build up to Halloween, but I get easily scared sometimes. This book creeped me out a bit, but not so much so that I was put off from picking up the sequel, which I will now be doing.
Taking everything into account, I did not enjoy this as much as 'Say Her Name' by James Dawson, which is my favourite creepy book of the year so far, but 'Anna Dressed in Blood' freaked me out considerably less, which is a good thing in my eyes. It is a shame that the pace slowed at the end, otherwise this could have been one of my favourite books of the autumn.
The story is fabulous. It had the perfect amount of creepy to satisfy me; I read it in the build up to Halloween, but I get easily scared sometimes. This book creeped me out a bit, but not so much so that I was put off from picking up the sequel, which I will now be doing.
Taking everything into account, I did not enjoy this as much as 'Say Her Name' by James Dawson, which is my favourite creepy book of the year so far, but 'Anna Dressed in Blood' freaked me out considerably less, which is a good thing in my eyes. It is a shame that the pace slowed at the end, otherwise this could have been one of my favourite books of the autumn.
kristinhzta90's review against another edition
3.0
I never read a ghost hunter book, so the idea behind this book was really refreshing. Overall, I liked this book, and would give it 3.5 stars if I could. The story started off great and then really dragged in the middle. However, the ending was really fabulous with a lot of twists and turns that I didn't see coming, and that is the reason for the extra half star.
I really liked Cas, he felt real to me and I loved his smartass dialogue throughout the entire story. A teenage guy as the narrator and protagonist worked really well. What didn't work well was the "romance", it just seemed creepy to me. They felt more like friends to me. I am not sure if I feel the need to read the next book in the series, as this one ended well.
I really liked Cas, he felt real to me and I loved his smartass dialogue throughout the entire story. A teenage guy as the narrator and protagonist worked really well. What didn't work well was the "romance", it just seemed creepy to me. They felt more like friends to me. I am not sure if I feel the need to read the next book in the series, as this one ended well.
jgurniak's review against another edition
2.0
Why the hype? I don't get it. There is nothing about Anna Dressed in Blood that makes me want to write something good about it. But it wasn't exactly bad. It was entertaining enough but there was no originallity and I found myself rolling my eyes a lot at how unbelievable it was. And this is coming from someone who believes in ghosts.
I am all for some people being gifted with paranormal skills of some kind. The way they were executed in this novel made 0 sense. And again, this is coming from someone who believes in this stuff.
I just couldn't find the story believable, and couldn't bring myself to care about any of the characters. I will give the sequel a shot but I'm not going in with high expectations.
I am all for some people being gifted with paranormal skills of some kind. The way they were executed in this novel made 0 sense. And again, this is coming from someone who believes in this stuff.
I just couldn't find the story believable, and couldn't bring myself to care about any of the characters. I will give the sequel a shot but I'm not going in with high expectations.
paigeworrall's review against another edition
3.0
this book was hard to get into at first, but after a while i really started to enjoy it!!
wendythegeekgoddess's review against another edition
5.0
SYNOPSIS:
"Anna dressed in blood" tells the story of Cas, a son of a ghost hunter who takes after his father's ghost hunting job after he is killed by a vicious flesh eating ghost. Cas is soon drawn to a town in Canada where their have been stories about a powerful ghost who rips her victims apart, her name? Anna Karlov, Anna dressed in blood. When Cas encounters Anna he expects the usual, kill the ghost and move to another haunted town but Cas gets more than he bargained for...
REVIEW:
Now THIS is a story about beautiful and ugly things. It is a story of love and a story of things that go bump in the night. This book was everything tied into one! Horror, Adventure, Action, and of course Romance. I found myself teary eyed when I turned to the last page. The beginning wasn't so bad but once you start getting into the middle you'll just want to keep flipping page after page. The love story is so amazing! Yet I love how the romance in the novel doesn't distract and takeover all the action and horror in the novel. Thank you Kendare Blake for writing such a fantastic novel!
AGE RATING AND RECOMMENDATIONS:
This book isn't so bad, just a few curse words here and there so I set the rating to 12 and over. I would recommend this book to those who love YA Horror and for those YA fans looking for a novel where the romance doesn't get to mushy gushy and takeover the whole book.
IF YOU LOVED "ANNA DRESSED IN BLOOD" THAN YOU'LL LIKE:
"Girl of nightmares" (Anna #2) By: Kendare Blake (Release Date: August 7th, 2012) ,"The Mediator" series By: Meg Cabot, "The Replacement" By: Brenna Yovanoff, "The unbecoming of Mara Deyer" By: Michelle Hodkin
"Anna dressed in blood" tells the story of Cas, a son of a ghost hunter who takes after his father's ghost hunting job after he is killed by a vicious flesh eating ghost. Cas is soon drawn to a town in Canada where their have been stories about a powerful ghost who rips her victims apart, her name? Anna Karlov, Anna dressed in blood. When Cas encounters Anna he expects the usual, kill the ghost and move to another haunted town but Cas gets more than he bargained for...
REVIEW:
Now THIS is a story about beautiful and ugly things. It is a story of love and a story of things that go bump in the night. This book was everything tied into one! Horror, Adventure, Action, and of course Romance. I found myself teary eyed when I turned to the last page. The beginning wasn't so bad but once you start getting into the middle you'll just want to keep flipping page after page. The love story is so amazing! Yet I love how the romance in the novel doesn't distract and takeover all the action and horror in the novel. Thank you Kendare Blake for writing such a fantastic novel!
AGE RATING AND RECOMMENDATIONS:
This book isn't so bad, just a few curse words here and there so I set the rating to 12 and over. I would recommend this book to those who love YA Horror and for those YA fans looking for a novel where the romance doesn't get to mushy gushy and takeover the whole book.
IF YOU LOVED "ANNA DRESSED IN BLOOD" THAN YOU'LL LIKE:
"Girl of nightmares" (Anna #2) By: Kendare Blake (Release Date: August 7th, 2012) ,"The Mediator" series By: Meg Cabot, "The Replacement" By: Brenna Yovanoff, "The unbecoming of Mara Deyer" By: Michelle Hodkin