Review: Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

Book Description via Goodreads:

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.

Source: Bought

My Thoughts:

Months ago, when I first watched the trailer of Anna Dressed in Blood, before the cover was released, I knew I was going to love it. And I wasn’t disappointed, Kendare Blake delivered well.

Cas was a ghost hunter just like his father. His job, his interest and his life revolved around the dead. He was not exactly antisocial but he didn’t get too close with people because he didn’t want himself to miss them and vice versa. He was the kind of guy who moved around a lot with his mother, depending on where his next ‘ghost’ lived. He was focused on his job – sending violent ghosts to wherever they should be – and intent on becoming strong and skilled enough to avenge the brutal death of his father.

Anna Korlov was his next ghost. She’s a strong, violent and terrible ghost – having killed so many people in the past 50 years. Everyone who stepped into her house was killed. Everyone aside from Cas. He never expected that the strongest and most frightening ghost he would encounter would spare him. He came to Thunder Bay to kill her but there was something about Anna that was different. She knew that she was dead. She was aware of what she was doing and this made her more human than the shuffling wraiths Cas has encountered in the past. But all that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t do what he came to do.

Thomas Sabin, the odd geeky witchy kid, was eager to be in the game. At first Cas never even considered including him, preferring to work alone. But after a couple of deaths, police interrogations and sleepless nights later, Cas’ circle of friends started to grow. Carmel, the Queen Bee of his high school, wanted truth and justice. She was pretty, determined and curious. Together, Cas, Thomas and Carmel started to investigate about Anna’s death, why she was strong and what could have possibly bound her to her house.

Cas and Anna started out as unlikely friends. Cas couldn’t get her out of his mind. He always found himself on her driveway staring up at her, talking to her and trying to find out more about her past. It was personal and not personal at the same time. Cas wanted to know Anna just for the sake of knowing how she ended up the way she was but on the other hand, he also needed to know about her death so he could get her out of the living world. He knew that she was not safe, violent and 100% deadly. Love, dilemma and impossibility charged the story.

Anna Dressed in Blood is highly entertaining, addictive, kickass and romantic.  With a distinct, humorous voice, unpredictable ghosts, a handful of witches and dark secrets, Anna Dressed in Blood is a dark paranormal romance that will leave readers craving for more. I highly recommend this to paranormal romance readers!

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