Published on August 30, 2011 by Tor Teen
5 Stars
DAC 2011
Goodreads Review
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.
Review: Anna Dressed in Blood is an excellent and creepy ghost story that is sure to thrill readers. It's a perfect book for the Halloween season. This mystery is excellent for anyone interested in ghosts and their motivations for haunting and how the living can help them.
I seriously loved everything about this book. First off, the title is perfect. Man I love a good title. Also the setting is fantastic. The descriptions of Anna's house is so freaky and just the perfect place to be haunted. It really adds to the mystery of the whole story, and I really liked the history of the house. The house is even more scary once you learn what happens in the house while people were still alive.
I also really liked Blake's writing style. The pacing of the book is very well done. The way the mystery unravels never feels forced nor predictable. I was constantly guessing what was going to happen next, and in a mystery/thriller that is a MUST. If I can guess what's going to happen within the first 50 pages you're doing it wrong. I really enjoyed the humor in this book as well. It's subtle and well placed. The overall tone of the book is firmly on the dark side, but the instances of lightness really help maintain my interest in the book.
The other thing that I really appreciated was the Wiccan and witchcraft aspect of the book. Cas's mom is a pagan who does things like cleanse tools used to hunt ghosts, purifies their home and casts protection spells, and creates candles, herbal mixes, and other items that are infused with a specific intention that are sold online and at various metaphysical shops. What I loved about this is the fact that what Cas's mom does IS REAL WITCHCRAFT. This is what real witches do. They don't fly or turn into cats or shoot lasers of the their eyes (oh wait that was x-men). I loved how the witchcraft in Anna never goes into the made up "Hollywood" witchcraft that is in pretty much every book about witches ever. It's real, and I loved it.
I'm very excited there's going to be another book because I am not ready to let go of Anna and Cas. The ending of Anna Dressed in Blood is exciting, suspenseful, and fairly cliff-hangery so I definitely want to read more.
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