Title & Author: Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake  

  Series:  Anna #1

  Publisher: Tor Teen, 320 pages

  Release Date: July 3, 2012

 Genre: YA Paranormal Romance

 Source: purchased

  Amazon |   Goodreads  | kendareblake.com

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

SYNOPSIS: (According to my husband, who has NOT read the book —  see how well he listens to my bookish ramblings)

Ok.  This book is crazy.  You’ve got a dead girl who likes to rip people to shreds and toss their body parts around.  She meets this dude who is trying to kill her.  Yeah, I said, it… he’s trying to kill a dead person.  Makes no sense.  But anyway, the ghost killing dude meets the possessed girl and they fall in love.  They probably  go on to write love notes to each other in blood as she tells stories of when she was a teenager in the 1950′s.  He also has this magic knife that has some sort of special powers.  That’s about all I know, so I think, if you can get passed the whole killing dead people thing and don’t mind a little gore, you’ll probably love this book. Enjoy!

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BOOK ROCK BETTY BREAK DOWN:

• THE KISSING –  Not so much… BUT it doesn’t matter because the intense connection between Anna and Cas was more than enough to make me happy!  They didn’t need a lot of words to describe it, so I didn’t need many kisses!  There were plenty of gentle touches and sweet gestures to make up for it.  *blush*
• THE SWOONING -  I loved Cas!  He’s got all the swoony characteristics I’ve come to expect in a YA stud muffin.  Obviously he’s hot.  He’s also strong, protective and brave, yet sweet and vulnerable when it comes to the girl he loves.  Plus, he’s a real smart ass!  And, DUH!  He’s a ghost hunter for goodness sakes!!
• THE SWAGGER –  This book was written so well!  The whole story was on one central path and unlike a lot of paranormal books, there was no struggle to keep up to speed with tons of random details and multiple plots.  The characters actually talk like teenagers and they were funny!  Kendare Blake threw in a ton of humor, but it never felt forced.  There was also no stuffing (and I HATE stuffing!!)!  Every scene and every dialogue had a purpose.  I didn’t get bored once and thoroughly enjoyed it.
• THE OH SNAP! -  ANGRY ANNA!!  I adore her!  Who knew a murderous ghost could be so lovable?  She is so destructive and does some crazy, gory things, but she is awesome!  I found her intriguing and enjoyed the twists and turns leading up to understanding how she became the way she is.  Plus, there are lots of other witches, ghosts, and spells involved!
• THE UMMMM WHAT?? -  I really can’t whine much about this book, but I did UMMM WHAT?? when Carmel followed Cas to Anna’s house early on in the book.  After what happened the last time she was there, there is NO WAY she’d be going back to that house, but on top of it, waltz right in through the front door all alone.  I hate to complain about this because I LOVED what she walked in on!!  The silver lining on this issue is that Carmel’s character stays true throughout the book- she is a balls out kinda girl for sure.  One more little thing, and I’m probably being too emo, but I wanted more emotion out of Cas at the end!  It did make sense because he is realistic and knew all along what he was getting himself into, but still– I wanted more from him.  Hoping to see that in the next book!
• THE ROCK:  Fix You by Coldplay   

ENCORE:
This book was awesome!  It had action, gore, romance, kick ass characters, and even creepy ghosts that made me scared to drive at night!  Seriously, really good.  I loved the relationship between Cas and Anna.  They didn’t say much, yet so much was said through their little gestures and demeanor toward one another.  Actions speak louder than words, especially in the end!  I can’t wait to see where the story goes next in Girl of Nightmares!  I was so tempted to give this the FIRE BOX five star rating, but I rarely put a book in that category.  Take my word on it– this is  good one!

RATING:   TOP SHELF