Published by: Orchard Books, July 5th 2012
Genre: YA, Horror, Paranormal
Pages: 373
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased
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. They follow legends and local lore, destroy the murderous dead, and keep pesky things like the future and friends at bay.
Searching for a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas expects the usual: 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.
Yet she spares Cas's life.
This book was nothing like I thought it would be. For one, I didn't realise the book would be from Cas's POV. I thought the story would be told by Anna, and I'm really glad it wasn't because I love the story we got. I heaped a tonne of really high expectations on this book - it had to be well written, creepy, dark, and have decent enough characters for me to be invested. Luckily, my wishes were granted.
Anna Dressed In Blood is bloody and vindictive and unnerving. But underneath the horror and the hauntings, it has a pretty big heart. The characters are easy to love, the story is unforgettable, and I especially love how the world is much more expansive than I expected - not only ghosts, but telepaths, voodoo, and Obeah. I got what I wanted and a whole lot more with this book. It even managed to break my heart into tiny tiny pieces.
It had better be put back together by the next book, or I'll haunt my own house.
Anna Dressed In Blood is bloody and vindictive and unnerving. But underneath the horror and the hauntings, it has a pretty big heart. The characters are easy to love, the story is unforgettable, and I especially love how the world is much more expansive than I expected - not only ghosts, but telepaths, voodoo, and Obeah. I got what I wanted and a whole lot more with this book. It even managed to break my heart into tiny tiny pieces.
It had better be put back together by the next book, or I'll haunt my own house.
Characters ★★★★☆
Setting/world building ★★★★☆
Writing ★★★☆☆
