Review: Anna Dressed in Blood (Anna #1) by Kendare Blake

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Title: Anna Dressed in Blood (Anna #1)
Author: Kendare Blake
Started: 24/12/11
Finished: 26/12/11
Medium: Hardbound

Publisher: Tor Teen

Genre: Young Adult: Paranormal

Buy here: Amazon / The Book Depository / Barnes & Noble

Goodreads Synopsis: 

Just your average boy-meets-girl, girl-kills-people story. . .

Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead.

So did his father before him, until his gruesome murder 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: move, 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, but now stained red and dripping 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.

And she, for whatever reason, spares his life.

I am overwhelmed at how good Anna Dressed in Blood is. There wasn't a part where I found it dragging to the point where I was screaming "GET ON WITH IT!". It was going at a perfect pace. Authors who are able to write a book in a perfect pace needs to be worshipped for their awesomeness at it. If I ever get the chance to write a book, I don't think I'll ever get a perfect pace like how Blake wrote this book. 

I'm guilty. I didn't actually read the synposis before I decided to get this or read this. And because of that I didn't know the lead character, Cas was a boy until like the 2nd Chapter. Thats a major fail on my part. Anyways, I adore Young Adult books with male leads. It breaks the chain of endless female protagonists. Its rare but each time there is one "male" lead. I know for sure, the book will be good. 

And I was not disappointed. Like the title, my copy of Anna Dressed in Blood was also dressed and filled with its own blood. The text was crimson. Which adds in a more haunting effect to the book. 

Cas, our lead, is awesomely written and acts like he should as a teenager. He's a ghost hunter, like his father before him. He's dad is dead and he moves around with his mom killing ghosts with his dads knife. Cas is fascinated by the mysterious story of Anna, Anna Dressed in Blood and so he moves to Thunder Bay to kill it/her. Cas is a perfect protagonist for this role and for sure, a reader will love him. 

Along the way, Cas, who is a lone ranger per se. Meets two teenagers his age, who he accidentally drags into his plan to kill Anna and with their help they try a spell to weaken Anna. At some point, the book got scary. Like Look-behind-your-shoulder-scary. To be exact, Chapter 20 scared the begezuz out of me!

Anna Dressed in Blood is haunting, dark, gorey, extremely unique, original and by far the best book I've read in 2011. The world Blake creates is utterly vivid and captivating. Its that definite read everyone is longing to read. The book that'll haunt you after reading. A definite unputdownable book.