Info:Title: Anna Dressed in Blood
Author: Kendare Blake
Series: Anna #1
Publisher: Tor Teen
Publication Date: September 2011
Source: Purchased..
Synopsis:
Cas Lowood, armed with his late father's athame knife, kills ghosts. In Thunder Bay, Anna, forever 16, drips blood on her white dress from throat slit in 1958, and rips apart anyone who enters her house - except Cas. He makes new friends - high school queen Carmel, jock Will, admiring nerd Thomas and Tom's voodoo grandpa Morfran - to fight this demon.
Review:
Anna Dressed in Blood is another case of a book not quite living up to the hype. Everyone I talked to loved it and as Halloween approached, it felt like everyone was talking about it as their favourite scary read. It didn't help that I also had the ending spoilered a bit.
Now, I didn't think Anna was a bad book. It just didn't come close to the hype surrounding it for me. I didn't really connect with Cas and at time I found his voice to be unrealistic, even for someone who's life is as messed up as his. Anna felt a bit flat to me; she didn't have tons of personality. She went from being crazy-ass-scary to feeling a bit bland to me.
The other major issue I had was with the romance. I kind of got blind-sided by it. While I wouldn't classify it as instalove, it felt very sudden for me. Maybe I'm really dense and missed some clues, but it felt like Cas woke up one day and was suddenly in love.
I did like the plot, although I wish Cas had killed more ghosts though the book. That part of the story reminds me of season one of Supernatural, which I loved. Also, the baddie at the end was pretty bad-ass. Voodoo freaks me out a bit anyway, which made things even creepier.
Overall, I'm finding this one difficult to review. I'm not sure how I would have felt if I'd read this one right when it came out, but as it stands, it was nothing special for me. With that said, I do still plan to read Girl of Nightmares and I already have a copy of Blake's new book, Antigoddess, which I'm excited for.
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I actually read this when it first came out and I was disappointed - that was before the hype. The romance was from left of center. So I get your confusion. Sorry this wasn't what you were hoping for.
ReplyDeleteSorry it didn' tlive up to the hype. I have avoided this one because the synopsis doesn't speak to me.
ReplyDeleteI don't think this one really needed the romance ... I would've preferred more horror!
ReplyDeleteGreat review. :)
It's a good book, I do think it's a little overhyped as well. I agree with the Supernatural comparison though. This book was the closest I've ever gotten to Supernatural in written form and I loved that. ;P
ReplyDelete-P.E. @ The Sirenic Codex
Awe so sad to see that you didn't enjoy this one more, Megan! I remember really liking it, but I am wondering if I would feel the same about it if I read it now. Great review!
ReplyDelete