Anna Dressed in Blood is the literary version of the television show, Supernatural! It has won a few literary awards including: 2011 Cybils Award NomiAnna Dressed in Blood is the literary version of the television show, Supernatural! It has won a few literary awards including: 2011 Cybils Award Nominee for Fantasy & Science Fiction (Young Adult), YALSA 2012 Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Readers, and YALSA 2012 Best Fiction for Young Adults.
Theseus Cassio Lowood (“Cas”) is a 17 year-old ghost-hunter, and he comes from a long line of ghost-hunters. His father was recently killed by a ghost, and Cas feels that it is his place to carry on this unusual vocation. He receives tips from all over the world about malevolent ghosts, and he travels with his mom from place to place hunting them and sending them back to Hell with his athame, which is a special dagger that is made with the blood of his ancestors. His mom is a white witch, and she purifies his athame after each kill.
Cas gets a tip about a ghost named Anna Korlov, otherwise known as Anna Dressed in Blood, and he and his mom travel to Thunder Bay in Ontario, Canada. The urban legend is that Anna has been killing people for decades, tearing apart anyone who enters her house which stands vacant. In order that he can get “in the know” in Thunder Bay, Cas targets the most popular girl in school, Carmel Jones, and makes friends with her. Too bad for Cas that her boyfriend, Mike Andover, is the jealous type. Carmel invites Cas to a party with her friends, and he uses the opportunity to his advantage to find out more about the local hauntings. It turns out better than he expects when the group decides to take a trip out to Anna’s house.
Mike and his sidekick, Chase Putnam, usher Cas up the front steps of the abandoned Victorian house. Mike whacks Cas over the head with a board, and he takes the unconscious Cas into the house and leaves him there. When Cas awakens, he becomes aware of a presence with him and is confused because he doesn’t understand how he came to be in the house! He sees who can only be Anna, in a white dress dripping with blood, and watches her as she pulls Mike through the window into the house and tears him limb from limb. While this chaos is going on, someone grabs Cas under his arms and drags him out of the house. His saviour is Thomas Sabin, the quiet boy from school who can read minds. Thomas didn’t come to Anna’s house with Carmel’s friends, so he must have sensed that something bad was going to happen.
Cas should feel driven to kill Anna, but he doesn’t feel threatened by her. Oddly enough, he feels that she does not pose any risk to him. He wants to learn how Anna was killed and why she is on a killing spree, and he will do whatever it takes to find those answers.
Kendare Blake is a new-to-me author, and I really enjoyed this book! I am a fan of ghostly stories and urban legends, and I was immediately drawn to the book. I had hoped that this book would be the kind of book that would make me afraid to turn the lights out at night, so I was a little disappointed that it wasn’t scarier. Nevertheless, it was still a good story.
This is my first narration by August Ross, and I have mixed feelings about him. I feel that his voice is actually perfectly suited for adolescent Cas, and he does a nice job conveying Cas’ smart-alecky attitude. However, his characterizations (especially the females) leave a lot to be desired. His voice for Thomas sounded off to me. Blake paints Thomas as a quiet and reserved boy who is a little nerdy, geeky, and extremely smart. I was expecting a higher-pitched meeker voice, not a low, breathy, oafish voice. Ross’s enunciation is crisp and clear, but I believe that his attention to it interferes with the flow of the story. The result is a narration that is slow, stilted, and choppy. I have never said this before, and I am cringing as I type it, but the narration actually left me feeling a bit discontented. I think this is one of those rare occasions where I would have preferred reading the book instead of listening to it.
MY RATING: 4 stars!! It was really good! You should put it on your "To Be Read" list....more
I received this audiobook from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive any compensation for my review, and the views expressI received this audiobook from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive any compensation for my review, and the views expressed herein are my own.
The Yard takes place in the Victorian era and features the men of London's Scotland Yard who have been assigned to work on a special task force to investigate murders, which was established following the Jack the Ripper cases. The story opens with an officer found slain. In the following chapter, we find out who the perpetrator is and learn more about him. Written from the opposing points of view of the murderer and the detectives, it builds suspense. You know those moments in a thrilling movie when you are yelling at the television for the person to turn around or not to go through the door? Well, this book has a lot of those! I felt as though I was a part of the story, waiting for the detectives to find out what I already knew!
Grecian has developed a whole cast of wonderful characters, and I can't settle on just one favourite! I loved Inspector Walter Day, who married a woman of much higher social status than himself. We learn a little bit of their love story, which was very sweet and romantic. Then there is Constable Nevil Hammersmith who, as a boy, worked in the coal mines. I absolutely adored Dr. Bernard Kingsley, the self-appointed coroner, who has the biggest heart and is so compassionate.
This is Grecian's debut novel, and I love the world that he has created. The setting is so richly detailed that I felt as if I was there. Fans of Sherlock Holmes will love it. It is my understanding that this is the start of a series, and Grecian has already hooked me with his fantastic characters! I look forward to reading more of his work!
This is my first narration by Toby Leonard Moore, and the first thing that I noticed was his breathing. At the outset of the book, I was distracted by his every inhalation and there were also some awkward pauses. I soon became caught up in the drama of the book and no longer paid them any mind. I loved Moore's accent and the tone of his voice, but I was preoccupied with his breathing in the beginning.
MY RATING: 4 stars!! It was really good, and you should put it on your "To Be Read" list. Thanks to Penguin Audio for the review copy!...more
I received this audiobook from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive any compensation for my review, and the views expressI received this audiobook from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive any compensation for my review, and the views expressed herein are my own.
**There will be spoilers from the first book, Anna Dressed in Blood, so do not read this review if you haven’t already read the first in the series!
This book carries on from where we leave off in Anna Dressed in Blood. It has been approximately six months since Anna has gone to the Other Side with the Obeahman. Theseus Cassio Lowood ("Cas") starts to feel like he is losing his mind because he starts to see Anna everywhere. He believes that she is reaching out to him and that she needs his help. He is determined to find a way bring Anna back. A mysterious envelope arrives with a photo of Gideon and other men in red robes. He recognizes his athame in the photo but is stunned to see five more that look just like it. He discovers that the men are known as the Order of the Biodag Dubh, the ones who made the athame.
Cas and Thomas fly to London to see Gideon to get some answers. They meet Justine, who is being trained to fulfill the Order’s destiny. The Order says that Cas and his father did not uphold the Order’s legacy because they did not kill the ghosts indiscriminately. Rather, both Cas and his father use the athame only on the evil ghosts. They leave the harmless ones alone. This is not what the Order wants. They want the wielder of the athame to send back all the ghosts, harmless or not.
The Order advises Cas that there is a way to get to the Other Side but that it could cost him his life. He is not concerned with getting back. He only wants to free Anna so that she does not have to spend eternity with the Obeahman. He realizes his life will be at stake, but he feels that he must try.
The pace of Girl of Nightmares was a lot slower than its predecessor, Anna Dressed in Blood. I was expecting the same action-packed pace, but I was disappointed. There was a lot of dialogue and not a lot of action. The majority of the book focused on Cas trying to find a way to rescue Anna. It wasn’t until the last quarter that we really saw any action.
Another thing is that the characters frustrated me. Let’s start with Carmel. In Anna Dressed in Blood (“ADiB”), I really enjoyed how Carmel’s character developed from a bit of a shallow Valley Girl to someone who is a lot stronger than what appears on the surface. In Girl of Nightmares (“GoN”), Carmel broke Thomas’ heart and turned her back on both Thomas and Cas. I wanted to reach out and slap that girl! She makes up for it later, but still! And Cas, what happened to you? You were so strong and fierce, not afraid of anything in ADiB. I loved your warrior spirit, but you disappointed me in GoN.
**WARNING: SPOILER AHEAD!
(view spoiler)[At the end of the book when the Obeahman is ripping Anna apart and then goes after Justine, Cas is just watching it all happen and not doing a thing! What was he thinking?! Why didn’t he take the opportunity to strike at the Obeahman while he was distracted with Anna and Cas? I thought that was the whole reason why the girls were throwing themselves at the mercy of the Obeahman to begin with...for a distraction. Argh! So frustrating! (hide spoiler)]Speaking of Anna, I missed her in GoN. I know, she is referred to throughout the first three-quarters of the book, but I miss the action that Anna brought to the story in ADiB.
Overall, I still enjoyed the book though not as much as the first one. I am still a fan of the series and Blake, and I will quite happily read on if the series continues.
This narration by August Ross is an improvement over his narration for ADiB, particularly where the characterizations are concerned. However, Ross’s slow style of reading still makes for a choppy narration.
MY RATING: 3 stars!! It was good, and I enjoyed it! Thanks to AudioGO and Audiobook Jukebox for the review copy! ...more
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