Anna Dressed In Blood

Just your average boy-meets-girl, 

girl-kills-people story...

Quick Information:

Written by Kendare Blake. Published in 2011 by August 30^th 2011 by Tor Teen.  Hardcover: 316 pages

Synopsis:  Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual job: he kills the dead.  More precisely, he sends ghost off to the afterlife permanently.  Since his father died – killed by a ghost – he has taken up the job.  He and his kitchen-witch mother travel from town to town killing ghost with their spirit-sniffing cat, Tybalt.

The next town they move to is Thunder Bay, Ontario, where Cas is in search of a ghost by the nickname of Anna Dressed in Blood.  The ghost’s real name is Anna Korlov and she is haunting her childhood home.  Since her murder in 1958 she still wears the dress she died in and kills anyone who enters her home.  For Cas it is a normal job: move, hunt, kill, repeat.  But when he enters her house, for whatever reason, she doesn’t kill him.

Pros:

While Cassandra Clare (Author of the Mortal Instruments series) calls it “spellbinding and romantic” it is definitely not romantic.  So why is that a pro? Although a lot of teen paranormal books are all about romance and falling in love with the forbidden, this book isn’t that.  The only “romantic” thing about it comes in the last few chapters…well, the last chapter.  Cas and Anna respect each other because they both know that she can kill him on a whim if she wants while he can kill her (even though she denies he can) but chooses not to. 

Cas isn’t alone.  Thomas, an outcast who is eager to help; Camel, a popular beauty, and their friends Mike, Will and Chase, are all part of this (even against Cas’s wishes).  But they come in handy when Cas learns that Anna is almost too powerful for him to go against alone.

There are horrific (and I mean disgustingly detailed) scenes as well as lots of action and believable dialogue.  It’s not the typical teen paranormal (romance); instead this book offers you a break from the purple poses and happy endings.  There are also humorous moments, especially when Cas is refered to as a Ghostbuster and later as Buffy the Vampire Ghost Slayer.

 I also have to give props to Kendare Blake for writing a story with the male point-of-view and doing a great job of it.  Cas came off as a believable, real guy – It really felt like he was a guy and not a girl in a guy’s body…or a sparkly vampire/fairy.  In fact, if I hadn’t looked to see if Blake was a girl or a guy I would have assumed that she was really a he.  For a woman to write a male’s point-of-view that is believable shows creative dynamic.

Cons:

Aside from the false advertisement (having a famous author and the back of the book referring to it as a romance) there’s not too much to complain about.  The only thing I found a bit annoying was that the font in the book was red.  Not black ink on white paper, red on white. Seriously, what were the publishers and layout committee thinking?  Some people (girls) may not like the male point-of-view or the violent images.  However that could be the thing others love.

Rant:

I do have to complain about the circumstances of reading this book.  In the summer of 2012 I went to a book sale and found this book.  The condition was new, in library plastic, looking as if it was only read once.  I thought it was odd that a fairly new book was in the sale but I paid the fifty cents for it.  So here I finally get to read it and I learn why it was at the book sale.  The page with Chapter 3 on it was ripped out.  What I have is a long Chapter 2 with a sad transition. But I’m stubborn and continued reading.

Final Verdict:

It was an okay read, different and interesting, yet still okay.  I would give this to a guy friend who wants to read a book with a guy’s point-of-view or to someone who likes graphic action and violence. Overall, worth checking out and reading.