Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake

Release Date: Out now!

Publisher: Tor Teen

Pages: 336pgs

The Story

It's been months since the ghost of Anna Korlov opened a door to Hell in her basement and disappeared into it, but ghost-hunter Cas Lowood can't move on.

his friends remind him that Anna sacrificed herself so that Cas could love - not walk around half dead. He knows they're right, but in Cas's eyes, no living girl he meets can compare to the dead girl he fell in love with. Now he's seeing Anna everywhere: sometimes when he's asleep and sometimes in waking nightmares. But something is very wrong . . . these aren't just daydreams. Anna seems tortured, torn apart in new and ever more gruesome ways every time she appears.

Cass doesn't know what happened to Anna when she disappeared into Hell, but he knows she doesn't deserve whatever is happening to her now. Anna saved Cas more than once, and it's time for him to return the favor.

The Review

Kendare Blake's Anna Dressed in Blood was one of my favourite YA paranormal books from 2011 and I was practically dying to read the next sequel! In the second installment of this series, GIRL OF NIGHTMARES begins several months after Anna Korlov, a ghost dressed in that bloody white dress that she has become famous for, sacrificed herself to save our ghost hunter Cas Lowood from his own death. Unable to move on from his ghost-girl Anna, Cas is doing whatever he can to find out exactly what happened to Anna, not only because he cares for her deeply and more than he can admit to, but because everywhere he seems to go - whether he's awake or asleep, Anna always seems to appear before him. Together with the help of some fellow friends and some new faces along the journey, Cas will need to put everything on the line in order to save his Anna, even if it means his own life being caught in the crossfire.

As I already predicted in Blake's writing, once again Cas's voice is stronger than ever before and boy I've never really realized until now just how much I missed him. I tell you, this boy always makes me smile no matter what! But unlike the Cas we know so closely from Anna Dressed in Blood, this time round Cas has become a much more vulnerable boy and an open person as well, and there's just this raw intensity radiating off on his character (his feelings for Anna especially) that continued to melt my heart and say a lot of things like 'awwwwwwww. . . .' all the time. I mean, for such a tough boy like Cas - someone who is full of witty comebacks and armored with a strong-willed personality, it's rather hard to imagine his messy lifestyle of killing dead things was slowly turning him into being a very loyal, protective and a honest friend, you know? But clearly, being loyal, protective, honest, and loving . . . well that's just our Cas being well Cas, even if he can't see the good qualities within himself just yet.

In saying that however, no matter how much I love Cas (seriously I want a boy like that!), but I did have a few problems with this book. I know, it's crazy! How could I have problems with this sequel when so many others had loved it! But even with a well-executed plot lead by a very fantastic hero with all sorts of awesomeness in him and some other great supporting characters in tow (even if some annoyed the hell out of me like Carmel), but the whole point of me reading this series and the whole reason why I had adored this series so much more was mostly because of our Anna. Our deadly girl dressed in blood.

Now I adored Anna completely in the first book and I loved her when she was working together with Cas, you know working as a team and sharing a good little romance (a friendship too) even if it wasn't exactly a proper nor a healthy relationship for them both. Still . . . I was all for Anna and Cas finding their happy ending. But that's the thing - where the hell was Anna in this book? *looks around* I don't know really. When she did eventually come up onto the page she was just . . . lost again to ous. Sigh. I do realize she was 'somewhere else' and in Hell to be exact but still . . . where the hell was she? I really miss her! But when she does come back however (finally!) and being kickass like the dead girl she is, I was so happy doing my little famous happy dances but then there's the ending that changed everything . . . oh the ending . . . wait until you read that ending . . . it ruined everything for me personally and I hated it. It needed to be done I guess . . . that ending . . . but it was just all too much!

Overall, the super-duper, creepy, kickass, deliciously-witty GIRL OF NIGHTMARES wasn't exactly a clear winner through my eyes compared to its first book, and while I was a little disappointed by our little no-show Anna and over some other little things that I thought could have been explored more, but on a whole and without spoiling both this book and the first, I have to say I'll be looking forward to seeing whether Kendare Blake decides to write another book in this series because according to everyone I know and from what the author had said in the past - it's only a duology! Yes, only two books and I KNOW . . . how could Kendare Blake leave me hanging like that? I'm dying over here, Kendare Blake! Dying!!!

The Rating

4/5 stars

Anna Dressed In Blood by Kendare Blake

Release Date: 30th August, 2011

Publisher: Tor Teen

Pages: 316pgs

The Story

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 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.

The Review

Never in my life have I read a young adult book that has nailed every single aspect of horror and has continued to amaze me in every way possible. Chapter-to-chapter. Start-to-end. Bloody-to-damn-right-gory. But before I get into the actual review, let's take a moment to appreciate the beautiful and haunting cover art that we have here of our precious bloody Anna. Believe me when I say this to you guys: please judge this book by its cover because the storyline and pretty much everything else in this book is just as epic - if not - as equally awesome as the cover is itself. Let's take yet another moment to worship this cover. So, have you got the moment already? Okay. Good. Now onto the review.

ANNA DRESSED IN BLOOD is one of my ultimate favourite books of 2011. When I first heard about this book I immediately thought of the popular tv show Supernatural. I don't know if it was a cosmic joke to nickname the character 'Cas' since in the show Dean calls his angel-lover boy 'Cas', but I didn't care about that. Neither did I care about a similar storyline to a father being killed during a supernatural hunt and now his son is taking over the family business. Look, in comparison to the show, when it comes down to it, this book was everything I hoped for and more than I asked for.

One of the best things was the voice of Cas. Lately I've been a huge fan of boy perspectives because there's so little of them in YA paranormal books and you would've thought the author herself was a boy, because like the storyline, she nailed Cas's character to the very bone. I wanted him to be a real person. He's intelligent, hilarious, dry humoured in a good boy-ish sort of way, and not to mention smart, handsome, and has the right amount of touch of authenticness about him. I mean, it's about time we have a guy character that is mature for once and knows exactly what he wants . . . what can I say? He's a hero through my eyes.

The second best thing was the storyline. It was a classic horror story with enough darkness and disturbing images to make you squirm in your seat and go, "THAT WAS AWESOME!" Seriously. It was THAT good. Being a huge horror fanatic whether it's films or books, I just adore them and I'm glad this book was published. I was waiting for a book like this to come. ANNA DRESSED IN BLOOD satisfied my every bit need of horror and the author has got me by the fish hook, one that will have you forever being reeled in with curiosity. There was blood, body-tearing, and what's a horror story without the dripping pools of blood itself. And Anna. Much like Cas, I adored Anna - the girl dressed in blood. Some see her as a villain and others see her as a hero. She is both and I love her for it. The moment she first stepped onto the scene I knew I was going to love her and as her character grew . . . I continued to love her even more than I expected and I'm totally Team Anna forever. She's a girl you want to try and stay away from, but she's the kind of gal you're being constantly drawn to - just as Cas was. And those two together? Man I just love those two and the chemistry sizzling into the unknown. Who says a friendship and love can't be shared between one of the living and one of the dead?

Writing wise, the book was absolutely fabulous and with some incredible talent, Kendare Blake has written ever-so-amazing actions scenes, along with some gritty gore without being too out there. Or not . . . but hey I'm all for it because I don't have a weak stomach when it comes to this book.

With some twisty-turns and a lot of character development throughout, it's no wonder why everyone wants to meet ANNA DRESSED IN BLOOD! Whether you're a horror fan or not (which you must be for this book) or are just looking for something refreshing in the YA book market, then Anna is your girl and Cas is your boy. Either way you have two great main characters and I'm very protective of them so you will HAVE to love them. But trust me, it's a brilliant must-read for all to devour and with mixed-in elements of witchcraft, romance, blood and gore, you will forever be talking about the extreme cliffhanger Blake offered towards the end of the book! And I can't wait to see what Kendare Blake writes next for the adventures of Cas Lowood!

The Rating

5/5 stars

Cover Reveal

I think I've just died. This is Kendare Blake's sequel to Anna Dressed in Blood and my god isn't it the most beautiful cover you've ever seen in your life? I'm speechless. Wow. Oh my god wow. So what do you think of this uber-amazing cover? Are you in love? Does it beat the first book's cover completely? It sure has won me over.