Anna Dressed in Blood

by Kendre Blake

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 dagger, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. Together they follow legends and local folklore, trying to keep up with the murderous dead - keeping annoying 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, and 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' life.

• ISBN10: 0765328658
• ISBN13: 9780765328656
• Publish Date: 30 August 2011
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 2 August 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Tor Books
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 320
• Language: English

Reviews

[Amber]

A good book, but nothing amazing. There was one creepy scene that the silly characters didn't see coming. Are these guys meant to be professionals? I, on the other hand, would be an awesome hunter.

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I have to admit, Anna Dressed in Blood disappointed me a little. I had previously heard amazing things about it from fellow book reviewers, and couldn't wait to start reading it. I even held a poll to see which book I should read next, and Anna got the highest votes. I didn't love this book, and there were quite a few things that didn't hold up to my expectations. I'm going to be writing this review a little differently than I normally do.

Positives

- Creepy factor.
Anna Dressed in Blood had some great creepy scenes, particularly towards the end. There was one specific scene that gave me chills as I was reading it, and then it went on to full on gross me out.

- The lore.
The lore was my favourite element of this book. There is a lot of talk about ghosts, voodoo and other paranormals which I wholeheartedly enjoyed.

- Anna (in the beginning)
She was a BAMF! In her first scene, she literally ripped a guy in half. It was awesome. I really liked her as a character, before she got too involved with Cas, and I loved learning about her sad history.

- Secondary characters.
I loved Thomas, the awkward sweetheart, and Carmel. I also really liked Cas' mum, although I do think she must be a complete nutter for letting her son travel around the country after her husband had been killed by the very same things Cas was hunting.

- Deaths.
There were quite a few deaths. Quite a few GORY deaths. And I loved it. I love it when YA authors aren't afraid to kill off characters and to show a little blood.

Negatives


- Cas.
He's a bragger, and I can't stand braggers. He was tolerable through some of the book, but during most of it he annoyed the crap out of me.

- The love story.
I'll try not to go off on one huge rant about this. The relationship between Anna and Cas felt so contrived, it was ridiculous. The two of them barely had a proper conversation, outside of him talking about killing her and her telling him about her life when she was alive. All of a sudden, they're in love with each other. After (what seems like... see below) two weeks. Also, she's a ghost. He is human. This makes me feel uneasy.

- The time frame.
I got very confused. Cas mentions at the end that he knew Anna for two months, but I had previously thought that this took place over a fortnight or so.

- Silly mistakes.
Cas is constantly bragging about how good he is at his job, and yet he made one HUGE error that nearly cost a lot of people their lives. It had me wondering if he was really a professional ghost hunter, or if he was just pretending. Even I saw this coming, and I don't know the rules about ghost hunting like these characters supposedly do.

Overall

Anna Dressed in Blood is by no means a bad book, it's just not the kind of book for me. I don't enjoy books with insta-love, or little character development.

[bookishzelda]

I normally do not read stories about ghost. There was something about the title, Anna Dressed in Blood, that drew me in. I pleasantly and creepily surprised by the quality of this ghost story. There were so many points when I thought in my head, holy crap did that just happen. I usually read late after the kids go to sleep and I found myself hearing every little noise in my house. Kendare Blake's writing sent chills down my spine at points but I couldn't stop reading it. I was so captivated by the characters and what their stories were. I was surprised for some reason every time someone was murdered. It was a creepy roller coaster ride with a lot of twist and turns and things you don't seem coming.


I really liked the characters in this book. Cas, the professional ghost killer, was easy to like. Even though he's shut himself off to the world with a no friends policy. You can see his tenderness in the way he treats his mom and his dedication to finishing what his dad started. Anna, the rampaging murderous ghost, was easy to feel sorry for. Even while she was murdering people before you knew what made her the way she is. Cas's white witch mom, black witch friend and the prom queen made a fun cast of supporting characters. I liked that the prom queen wasn't some mean dim-witted girl like you would expect. I connected to the characters easily.


In general I loved the story and I loved how it was written. It had me by locked in but I felt the end was a little rushed. They introduce a sort of new character and it seems like Kendare kind of speed through his role. I'm wondering if he will make a reappearance in the next book but we will see. It's the only reason I would give this 4.5 stars instead of 5. Even if you don't like ghost stories usually I would read this book.

[Stephanie]

I went into this book expecting this boy to accidentally bump into this ghostly girl who likes to kill whoever steps into her house, but she magically doesn't kill him, and they fall in love. I was also expecting it to be through Anna's perspective.

I was so very wrong.

The story is told by Cas who kills ghosts who threaten the living. He gets a tip from someone about Anna, a ghost who was murdered while on her way to a school dance over 50 years ago. But Anna is one of the strongest ghost Cas has ever faced, and he needs help.

This is a story you don't want to read late at night. Especially don't watch Ghost Adventurer's and then read this book. Needless to say, I was a little freaked out.

I'll just get to the point. I loved this book. It was something that I have never read before. It takes you deep into the world of ghosts and witches and spells and voodoo. I love ghost stories, which is why I promptly bought it the day it was released, so this is the kind of book I have been looking for that will scare me, but also keep me interested in the details behind everything.

I loved Cas. He's smart. He knows what he is doing when it comes to ghost. He's one of those characters that actually runs out the open door instead of up the stairs like in every horror movie. But the thing about Cas is that he doesn't have to run. He stands his ground and does what he believes he was destined to do, just like his father and his ancestors before him.

I didn't expect to love Anna, but I did. And I'll leave it at that.

Overall, I really loved this book and would recommend it to anyone looking to get a little freaked out and who wants to read a little twist on a ghost story.

[Linda]

This and other reviews can also be found on my blog.

My goodness, what a creepy, startingly beautiful, but scary tale! With amazing attention to details, Ms. Blake made me live through this whole tome with bated breath. There were some truly horrendous scenes, but they were there for a good reason, and the plot never took anything away from the story, or the characters. Cas is a young man with a tremendous job to do, and for the first time in his life, he gets friends, and falls in love.

I can't wait to see what will happen in the next book, there was never a dull moment in this one, and it is such a breath of fresh air, with a world that is new (at least to me) and with characters that are attaching and very real.