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.
This book has been on my to-read list for forever! I am so glad that I finally had the chance to squeeze it in to my busy schedule.
Firstly, I just wanted to mention that for some odd reason, my kindle copy had strategically removed the letter L throughout the whole text. Not the end of the world, but it was a little distracting. It didn't affect my enjoyment of the book, but it is certainly worth mentioning.
Moving on.
Kendare Blake has created such a unique voice for the main character, Cas. Or more precisely, Cassio Thesseus, but since that is such a mouthful, and dreadfully time consuming to type, I think I'll just stick with Cas from here on out. Cas is just your typical ghost hunter, driven by revenge. If he can only beat Anna Korlov, Anna Dressed In Blood, then he will be ready to face his father's killer. But she was not what he expected.
Just as this book wasn't what I expected. In a good way! I am notorious for knowing next to nothing about a book when I start reading it. And that's just the way I like it! I try my best to avoid spoilers, and ignore reviews, negative and positive alike. I even go so far as to merely skim the jacket description. In doing so, I had very little to go on when I dug into this book. For some reason, I was expecting the protagonist to be a girl. Boy, was I in for a surprise! Not only is Cas a boy, but he is also sarcastic and cheeky. My favorite kind of hero!
I live a crazy, hectic life. And I can often be found at the end of the day, asleep with my face on a book. With Anna, though, I was feverishly e-flipping the pages, trying to fit in just one more chapter before I had to turn out the light. There were scenes that are so dark and twisted, but tempered with light banter. It was a well-balanced combo.
I would definitely recommend this if you're in for a fun, freaky read. Just keep in mind... Cas is a boy. Got it? Not a girl.
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