Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

"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."


First of all, let me say I LOVE this book cover. I love it so much, I had to make it as large as possible. :)


Anna Dressed in Blood drew me in from the first page. I found myself reading as much as possible, even forgoing my lunch break to get in some extra reading time. I HAD to find out Anna's story. What makes a ghost turn violent? More specifically: What makes Anna so dangerous to the living?


I really like the character of Anna. She is introduced as a deeply dark earthbound spirit who brings unimaginable horrors upon those unfortunate enough to enter her house. Yet through her interaction with Cas, you see a different side of her. About halfway through the book I adored Anna. I felt sorry for her and I found myself wanting this ghost girl to triumph. Especially once I figured out what had happened to her to make her the way she was.


I also found it interesting to read a book with a male protagonist. So many books of the YA genre have strong female protagonists and the token male sidekick/friend/love interest. Cas fits the bill perfectly - he is everything you could want in a 17-year-old ghost hunter. He has his issues, his personal demons from the past, his own method of doing things: and a heart of gold. Getting into his mind was a treat - the way he perceived himself and others was a refreshing change. I found myself laughing during some tense times because of Cas's responses to situations.


The supporting characters were great, too. The dynamics of the relationships between Carmel, Will, Thomas and Morfran seem ever-changing, and the characters you meet at the beginning are surprisingly very different at the end of the book. No one is as they seem at first glance.


There are a couple of minor things that bothered me with the book, which most people wouldn’t notice. For instance: Anna’s surname. Her parents are said to be Finnish immigrants, yet Korlov is a Russian surname. I did read an interview with the author who said she found the name Anna Korlov on a grave in a Finnish cemetery in Thunder Bay, ON. It’s quite true that after the war, Russian surnames would be more common to find in Finland, yet it bothered me. If you’re going to give the family a Finnish origin, I’d stick with a true Finnish name. Or the author could have just said the family came from Russia. But that's just my opinion. I happen to love Finland, so it bothers me more than the average reader. *rolls eyes at self*


The second thing was the phrase that Anna apparently scrawled in blood inside her home, “Anna taloni.” When telling the story of Anna, the boys said that this meant, “Anna’s house,” which is incorrect. In Finnish Anna’s becomes Annan, and house is talo; the correct form is Annan talo.  Again, it’s a minor thing that most people wouldn’t notice, but if it’s included in the book, it should be in the correct form. Special thanks to my dear friend, Karoliina, for confirming the correct phrase in Finnish.


Anna Dressed in Blood definitely surprised me.  I wasn't expecting such violence, gore and imagery, but every bit of it fit the story perfectly and added a dramatic punch. A fantastic, suspenseful horror-filled story that will leave you thinking about the Obeahman long after you've finished the book.


I'm happy to hear that a sequel is being published in 2012! I want more Anna and Cas! :0)