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For three years, seventeen-year-old Cas Lowood has carried on his father's work of dispatching the murderous dead, traveling with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat, but everything changes when he meets Anna, a girl unlike any ghost he has faced before.Tags
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Caramellunacy Both novels involve creepy, angry ghosts and the narrator's attempts to deal with them in the tradition of their father's teaching. Anna Dressed in Blood is YA and involves ghost-slaying, while the heroine of The Restorer simply wants the ghosts to ignore her, but there is a similar creepiness about them.
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by Runa
Member Reviews
I was admittedly a bit sceptical of this when I saw the synopsis, but I'm glad I picked it up anyway, because it was a damn good read. Occasionally the narration threw me, but then I remembered I was reading a modern book (for once) marketed at people much younger than me (hush!). Overall it flowed well, though, and the imagery was quite vivid. I may have highlighted many lines in my copy (e-book) that particularly stuck.
And now, I need the sequel. :
And now, I need the sequel. :
This book was pretty awesome--such a fun, enjoyable read. It was original, unpredictable, well-written, suspenseful. I loved Cas and his voice: confident, teenage, frank. I also loved the other characters. Anna is beautiful and menacing and deadly and innocent, while Thomas and Carmel have a lot more depth than Cas (whose eyes we see them through) gives them credit for. There's even some humor. There's some pretty serious gore in here (just wait until you get to the top of pg 78), but it didn't bother me (and if it didn't bother me, I just assume it won't bother anyone--it's more along the lines of LOTR gore than say, MI-5 gore). I didn't think it was especially scary, though it was fabulously atmospheric and spooky. Perfect for Halloween.
Theseus Cassio Lowood AKA Cas kills the dead. This may seem redundant, but it's true. He destroys harmful ghosts and has done so ever since his father died a gruesome death doing the same task. Now, Cas travels the world, following rumors and killing ghosts, with his mother, online occult supplier and herbal witch, and her temperamental cat cat, only useful for recognizing spirits. After moving to Thunder Bay, Canada, Cas meets an altogether different kind of ghost: Anna Korlov, more commonly known as Anna Dressed in Blood. Her murder from 1958 was never solved and anyone foolish enough to venture into her house dies a horrible, painful death. Her once pristine white dress she wore to a school dance is now dripping and stained with show more blood. Her power is unparalleled by any other ghost he's encountered, save for one: his father's murderer. If Cas can defeat her, he will be ready to take down his father's murderer, but she easily defeats. However, she spares his life, something he has never seen a ghost do. Can he eventually defeat her and somehow destroy her source of power?
Anna Dressed in Blood is a wonderfully spooky read that really grabbed me from the first pages. This is partly because of the striking, blood tinged cover and deep red ink the story is printed in. The concept is original and takes the ghost story some place new. I'm not normally too big of a fan of ghost stories because after a while they start to all sound the same. Kendare Blake puts a new spin on things with ghost slayers, magic, voodoo, witches, and seriously malicious ghosts. There is a small community of ghost slayers, unknown to most people. Cass inherited an athame or ceremonial knife from his father and makes killing ghosts and avenging his father's death his personal quest. He moves across the world chasing leads on killer ghosts and dispatches them one by one, never staying in one place for very long. At first, his reluctance to get close to people and his willingness to use the people around him makes him seems callous and shallow. As the book goes on, his behavior is shown to actually protect himself and keep emotional attachments from distracting him. I loved his narrative because of his wit and the growth he shows throughout the novel. Although he is a compelling character, the one that really kept be reading was Anna.
Anna Korlov is a strong, fearsome, badass ghost. She is only the second that Cass hasn't been able to defeat, the first being his father's murderer. She's not a little poltergeist that simply moves things around like most pitiful ghosts; she can literally tear people apart with very little effort. She has killed anyone who has entered her house for over 50 years and she can suddenly choose not to kill one person. Rage seems to fill her every time she encounters someone. Her eyes turn black, black veins snake across her skin, and blood soaks and drips of her dress. I loved that a young girl in a white dress is usually the picture of innocence and goodness, but here, the image is horribly corrupted and frankly terrifying. Her house seems to be an extension of her that she could manipulate at will, revealing the scores of those that have died there in their putrescence. She's obviously no ordinary ghost. I needed to know what had happened to her, how she died, and how she got to be so powerful. Her very essence is a mystery. Is she completely evil? Is there a vulnerable young dead girl in there somewhere?
Anna Dressed in Blood features compelling characters, unique story lines, and new conventions for the ghost story. The plot always moved and maintained a level of suspense that kept me reading and then wanting even more after I finished the novel. Kendare Blake doesn't shy away from blood or gore at all, which puts closer to older teen or adult horror. This is highly recommended and I am eagerly awaiting the sequel, Girl of Nightmares. show less
Anna Dressed in Blood is a wonderfully spooky read that really grabbed me from the first pages. This is partly because of the striking, blood tinged cover and deep red ink the story is printed in. The concept is original and takes the ghost story some place new. I'm not normally too big of a fan of ghost stories because after a while they start to all sound the same. Kendare Blake puts a new spin on things with ghost slayers, magic, voodoo, witches, and seriously malicious ghosts. There is a small community of ghost slayers, unknown to most people. Cass inherited an athame or ceremonial knife from his father and makes killing ghosts and avenging his father's death his personal quest. He moves across the world chasing leads on killer ghosts and dispatches them one by one, never staying in one place for very long. At first, his reluctance to get close to people and his willingness to use the people around him makes him seems callous and shallow. As the book goes on, his behavior is shown to actually protect himself and keep emotional attachments from distracting him. I loved his narrative because of his wit and the growth he shows throughout the novel. Although he is a compelling character, the one that really kept be reading was Anna.
Anna Korlov is a strong, fearsome, badass ghost. She is only the second that Cass hasn't been able to defeat, the first being his father's murderer. She's not a little poltergeist that simply moves things around like most pitiful ghosts; she can literally tear people apart with very little effort. She has killed anyone who has entered her house for over 50 years and she can suddenly choose not to kill one person. Rage seems to fill her every time she encounters someone. Her eyes turn black, black veins snake across her skin, and blood soaks and drips of her dress. I loved that a young girl in a white dress is usually the picture of innocence and goodness, but here, the image is horribly corrupted and frankly terrifying. Her house seems to be an extension of her that she could manipulate at will, revealing the scores of those that have died there in their putrescence. She's obviously no ordinary ghost. I needed to know what had happened to her, how she died, and how she got to be so powerful. Her very essence is a mystery. Is she completely evil? Is there a vulnerable young dead girl in there somewhere?
Anna Dressed in Blood features compelling characters, unique story lines, and new conventions for the ghost story. The plot always moved and maintained a level of suspense that kept me reading and then wanting even more after I finished the novel. Kendare Blake doesn't shy away from blood or gore at all, which puts closer to older teen or adult horror. This is highly recommended and I am eagerly awaiting the sequel, Girl of Nightmares. show less
Can I just start off by saying HOLY MOTHER OF SIN ok now that thats over with let me tell you that this book is outstanding. And I don’t mean outstanding like “oh i really liked the plot and the book is actually printed in a deep red” NO. well I mean yes those things are true but that’s beside the point.
This book has so many winning qualities I don’t even know where to start. Alright, so first off the main character is a ghost hunter. And his name is Cas (well it’s actually Theseus Cassio but he prefers to be called Cas). Lets just take a moment to digest this.
The main character. a ghost hunter. is named Cas.
Now if you’re a supernatural fan then you’ve noticed what I’m getting at. I mean within reading the first couple show more of pages I may or may have not decided that Cas was a Destiel love child.
There was quite a lot of dark humour in this book which made me laugh. I mean this book is about a murderous ghost, but with a twist. Oh wow that’s really cheesy, i shouldn’t say things like that. But I don’t want to ruin the ending or quite frankly I don’t want to ruin anything about this book because I found it to be a late night page turner. I literally couldn’t put this book down. I was in tears at the end of this book because I found myself so attached to the characters. show less
This book has so many winning qualities I don’t even know where to start. Alright, so first off the main character is a ghost hunter. And his name is Cas (well it’s actually Theseus Cassio but he prefers to be called Cas). Lets just take a moment to digest this.
The main character. a ghost hunter. is named Cas.
Now if you’re a supernatural fan then you’ve noticed what I’m getting at. I mean within reading the first couple show more of pages I may or may have not decided that Cas was a Destiel love child.
There was quite a lot of dark humour in this book which made me laugh. I mean this book is about a murderous ghost, but with a twist. Oh wow that’s really cheesy, i shouldn’t say things like that. But I don’t want to ruin the ending or quite frankly I don’t want to ruin anything about this book because I found it to be a late night page turner. I literally couldn’t put this book down. I was in tears at the end of this book because I found myself so attached to the characters. show less
Anna Dressed In Blood is officially one of my new favorite books of all time. Let's just get that established and out of the way. This review will be fairly short because I'm trying to keep the gushing to a minium. You will find that I have absolutely nothing negative to say about this brilliant book or its ridiculously talented author, Kendare Blake. She crafted this incredible horror story that, most importantly, scared the crap out of me, but it also made me laugh and made me swoon and, at times, nearly made me cry.
I was so weary of this book, even when I began reading it. A ghost-killer meets a pretty ghost who spares his life? Predictable. Said ghost-killer boy manages to befriend the gorgeous popular girl? Yawn. But the more I show more read, the more stupid my assumptions became. Anna is not predictable, not at all. It grabbed hold of me and whipped me in all sorts of directions with its daring, exciting twists and turns. There was definitely never a boring moment.
And you know a book is always a success when it can take two emotions on completely different ends of the spectrum and manage to mesh them together without fail. Anna Dressed In Blood is highly disturbing but highly entertaining at the same time. I've never had so much fun being scared and grossed out before.
I could sit here and dissect this book for you all, but I don't think I need to. Whoever said there's no such thing as perfection is a liar because Anna Dressed In Blood is the perfect horror story - scary, disturbing, romantic, intense and action-packed and so, so much more. I cannot begin to stress how much you all need to get yourself a copy of this book. A million and one stars to Anna! show less
I was so weary of this book, even when I began reading it. A ghost-killer meets a pretty ghost who spares his life? Predictable. Said ghost-killer boy manages to befriend the gorgeous popular girl? Yawn. But the more I show more read, the more stupid my assumptions became. Anna is not predictable, not at all. It grabbed hold of me and whipped me in all sorts of directions with its daring, exciting twists and turns. There was definitely never a boring moment.
And you know a book is always a success when it can take two emotions on completely different ends of the spectrum and manage to mesh them together without fail. Anna Dressed In Blood is highly disturbing but highly entertaining at the same time. I've never had so much fun being scared and grossed out before.
I could sit here and dissect this book for you all, but I don't think I need to. Whoever said there's no such thing as perfection is a liar because Anna Dressed In Blood is the perfect horror story - scary, disturbing, romantic, intense and action-packed and so, so much more. I cannot begin to stress how much you all need to get yourself a copy of this book. A million and one stars to Anna! show less
Very engaging story overall, other than a bit of a drop-off in tension in the middle (it was like there were two story arcs - one for this book and one to set up the next). The lead character, Cas, is very charismatic and, while he approaches broody bleakness at times, he never steps full-on into emo territory. He may not have a lot of hope, but he's usually got a plan and he'll give it his best shot. I also enjoyed the secondary characters quite a lot, and am wondering how many of them will be in the next book.
My only real complaint is that I occasionally got thrown out of the story by some of the pop culture references. Generally I'm okay with those things, but when I'm fully engrossed in whatever scary, funny, horrible thing is going show more on, I don't want stop to realize that I'm reading a Buffy or Evil Dead reference. And, other than those moments, I really was engrossed in the action and atmosphere of the story, which is probably why I found them so jarring. show less
My only real complaint is that I occasionally got thrown out of the story by some of the pop culture references. Generally I'm okay with those things, but when I'm fully engrossed in whatever scary, funny, horrible thing is going show more on, I don't want stop to realize that I'm reading a Buffy or Evil Dead reference. And, other than those moments, I really was engrossed in the action and atmosphere of the story, which is probably why I found them so jarring. show less
Review originally posted on Pretty in Fiction
Title: Anna Dressed in Blood
Author: Kendare Blake
Publisher: Tor Teen
Published Date: August 30th 2011
Rating: 5 Stars
There are certain books that you wish you could give more than five stars to. Anna Dressed in Blood is one of those books.
I've been meaning to read Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake since well before it was released. Just the cover alone was enough to pull me in, but the story was what kept me reading late into the night. (Even if late at night is not the best time to read Anna if your as much of a scaredy cat as me!)
Anna Dressed in Blood was so much more than I was expecting it to be. And I was expecting it to be pretty good so that's saying a lot. I loved Cas! He was strong, funny and incredibly self aware (but not in a completely unrealistic way). He just knew who he was and what he was capable of. But he wasn't stubborn or pigheaded about his beliefs. He was able to change his opinion of Anna once he got to know her... even though she was a ghost and did murder people.
Anna was the biggest surprise I found in the book. The story is pretty much what you expect. Ghost hunter boy moves to town to kill murderous dead girl and ends up falling in love instead. But what I wasn't expecting was for Anna to be so badass! She was amazing, from trying to tame herself to keep from killing innocents to whooping on other ghosts. And with all of the people she's killed in the sixty or so years she's been dead, she really is a good person. She just happens to be stuck in a bad situation.
For some reason, I'm always sort of weirded out by books where the girl is the physically stronger one in the relationship. But, while this is the case when it comes to Anna and Cas, for some reason I was completely fine with it. Maybe that has something to do with the fact that Blake didn't add in the standard boy-gets-injured-so-strong- girl-has-to-carry-him-to-safety scene. I hate those scenes so much. They usually feel forced and unnatural. But Blake didn't try to emasculate Cas in order to make Anna seem stronger. Anna IS stronger, and it comes across in Blake's writing. But Cas is strong, too. He's a ghost hunter, he fights and kills ghosts for a living, he better be strong or else he'd be dead!
When I started reading I immediately noticed a few similarities between Anna Dressed in Blood and the television show Supernatural. The book opens up with the main character picking up a ghost hitchhiker, the first episode of Supernatural starts with–you guessed it!–a ghostly hitchhiker. The show's hitchhiker is known as the Lady Dressed in White. Anna, when she's not dressed in blood, is wearing a white dress. Anna's house reminded me a lot of the house that the ghost hitchhiker takes Sam and Dean to in the pilot episode. There were a few more subtler similarities, but, by far, the most obvious similarity was the main characters name. Cas. Castiel... who is an angel in Supernatural. Are you seeing this too? Not that Cas was necessarily named after Castiel. Actually Cas's name is completely unique. His full name is actually Theseus Cassio because his dad loved Greek culture and his mom loved Shakespeare, but still...
If you have ever hated a character and just wished they'd get ripped into pieces just so they'd go away and stop being so annoying, then this book is going to amuse you. It happens multiple times. So if your not a fan of gore maybe pass on this one.
There is also some foul language used in the book, but I don't think it detracted from the story. In fact, I think it added to it. You don't see a boy ripped in half by a ghost and not drop an f-bomb or two. It you're put off by the language then I can guarantee this book isn't for you in the first place. Too much violence and gore. But if your okay with that or willing to overlook it for the sake of a fantastic story then you should definitely give Anna a chance. show less
Title: Anna Dressed in Blood
Author: Kendare Blake
Publisher: Tor Teen
Published Date: August 30th 2011
Rating: 5 Stars
There are certain books that you wish you could give more than five stars to. Anna Dressed in Blood is one of those books.
I've been meaning to read Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake since well before it was released. Just the cover alone was enough to pull me in, but the story was what kept me reading late into the night. (Even if late at night is not the best time to read Anna if your as much of a scaredy cat as me!)
show more
"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."
Courtesy of Goodreads
Anna Dressed in Blood was so much more than I was expecting it to be. And I was expecting it to be pretty good so that's saying a lot. I loved Cas! He was strong, funny and incredibly self aware (but not in a completely unrealistic way). He just knew who he was and what he was capable of. But he wasn't stubborn or pigheaded about his beliefs. He was able to change his opinion of Anna once he got to know her... even though she was a ghost and did murder people.
Anna was the biggest surprise I found in the book. The story is pretty much what you expect. Ghost hunter boy moves to town to kill murderous dead girl and ends up falling in love instead. But what I wasn't expecting was for Anna to be so badass! She was amazing, from trying to tame herself to keep from killing innocents to whooping on other ghosts. And with all of the people she's killed in the sixty or so years she's been dead, she really is a good person. She just happens to be stuck in a bad situation.
For some reason, I'm always sort of weirded out by books where the girl is the physically stronger one in the relationship. But, while this is the case when it comes to Anna and Cas, for some reason I was completely fine with it. Maybe that has something to do with the fact that Blake didn't add in the standard boy-gets-injured-so-strong- girl-has-to-carry-him-to-safety scene. I hate those scenes so much. They usually feel forced and unnatural. But Blake didn't try to emasculate Cas in order to make Anna seem stronger. Anna IS stronger, and it comes across in Blake's writing. But Cas is strong, too. He's a ghost hunter, he fights and kills ghosts for a living, he better be strong or else he'd be dead!
When I started reading I immediately noticed a few similarities between Anna Dressed in Blood and the television show Supernatural. The book opens up with the main character picking up a ghost hitchhiker, the first episode of Supernatural starts with–you guessed it!–a ghostly hitchhiker. The show's hitchhiker is known as the Lady Dressed in White. Anna, when she's not dressed in blood, is wearing a white dress. Anna's house reminded me a lot of the house that the ghost hitchhiker takes Sam and Dean to in the pilot episode. There were a few more subtler similarities, but, by far, the most obvious similarity was the main characters name. Cas. Castiel... who is an angel in Supernatural. Are you seeing this too? Not that Cas was necessarily named after Castiel. Actually Cas's name is completely unique. His full name is actually Theseus Cassio because his dad loved Greek culture and his mom loved Shakespeare, but still...
If you have ever hated a character and just wished they'd get ripped into pieces just so they'd go away and stop being so annoying, then this book is going to amuse you. It happens multiple times. So if your not a fan of gore maybe pass on this one.
There is also some foul language used in the book, but I don't think it detracted from the story. In fact, I think it added to it. You don't see a boy ripped in half by a ghost and not drop an f-bomb or two. It you're put off by the language then I can guarantee this book isn't for you in the first place. Too much violence and gore. But if your okay with that or willing to overlook it for the sake of a fantastic story then you should definitely give Anna a chance. show less
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Author Information
31+ Works 14,853 Members
Kendare Blake is the bestselling author of several novels and short stories. Her work is sort of dark and violent. She was born in Seoul, South Korea but came to the United States at a very early age with her adoptive parents. Kendare is the author of the Anna Series, Goddess of War Series, and the New York Times bestselling Three Dark Crowns. show more (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Kendare Blake is a LibraryThing Author, an author who lists their personal library on LibraryThing.
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Awards and Honors
Awards
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title*
- Anna vestida de sangre
- Original publication date
- 2011-08-30
- People/Characters
- Theseus Cassio Lowood (ghost hunter); Anna Korlov (ghost known as 'Anna Dressed in Blood'); Thomas Sabin (witch); Carmel Jones (Cas' classmate); Will Rosenberg (Cas' classmate & Mike's friend); Mike Andover (Cas' classmate & Carmel's jerk ex-boyfriend) (show all 12); Chase Putnam (Cas' classmate & Mike's friend); Morfran Starling Sabin (witch & Thomas' grandfather); Gideon Palmer (very knowledgeable Lowood family friend); Rudy "the Daisy" Bristol (New Orleans guy who gives Cas tips); Mrs. Lowood (witch & Cas' widowed mother); Tybalt (Mrs. Lowood's black cat)
- Important places
- Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada
- Epigraph
- Just your average, boy-meets-girl, girl-kills-people story...
- First words
- The grease-slicked hair is a dead giveaway—no pun intended.
- Quotations
- COPYRIGHT PAGE NOTICES:
All rights reserved.
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author's imagination or are used fict... (show all)itiously. - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Maybe you and Carmel can help me figure it out.
- Canonical DDC/MDS
- 813.6
- Canonical LCC
- PZ7.B5566
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
Classifications
- Genres
- Fiction and Literature, Teen, Horror, Fantasy, Young Adult
- DDC/MDS
- 813.6 — Literature & rhetoric American literature in English American fiction in English 2000-
- LCC
- PZ7 .B5566 — Language and Literature Fiction and juvenile belles lettres Fiction and juvenile belles lettres Juvenile belles lettres
- BISAC
Statistics
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- Reviews
- 272
- Rating
- (3.82)
- Languages
- 9 — Chinese, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Croatian, Spanish
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 40
- ASINs
- 14