Girl of Nightmares

Anna #2

by Kendra Blake

Summary:
It's been months since the ghost of Anna Korlov opened a door to Hell in her basement and disappeared into it, but ghost-hunter Cas Lowood can't move on.

His friends remind him that Anna sacrificed herself so that Cas could live—not walk around half dead. He knows they're right, but in Cas's eyes, no living girl he meets can compare to the dead girl he fell in love with.
 
Now he's seeing Anna everywhere: sometimes when he's asleep and sometimes in waking nightmares. But something is very wrong...these aren't just daydreams. Anna seems tortured, torn apart in new and ever more gruesome ways every time she appears.
 
Cas doesn't know what happened to Anna when she disappeared into Hell, but he knows she doesn't deserve whatever is happening to her now. Anna saved Cas more than once, and it's time for him to return the favor.

My Rating: 2.5 /5

My Review:
This has been rather heart-sore from me on many levels. Firstly I wish I could have given this a better rating. But the first half of the book was very slow and I on several occasions was about to give up and forget about the books. Only a couple of friends assurances that it will get better towards the end and the fact that I hate not finishing books kept me going, barely.

The first half of the book was tedious and frustrating for me. After Anna dress in blood I wasn't a fan of Cas, and that was ok. But the first half of girl of nightmares , he was my nightmare! He was obnoxious,arrogant and self-centered like in the first book but he also whined continuously. I found it unbearable add to that the slow paste of the story and you get something that is insufferable to me.

Which brings me to the second reason that i found this so heart-sore. Blake is a very talented writer. She honestly is amazing with words. i totally enjoyed Anna 1 and her use of language made it not only an immense pleasure to read but it for me covered any flaws the books had. Sadly in this book, it wasn't enough. I still think she is very talented and am looking forward to reading more of her work. I wish just for that I could have given her more stars, but it is one the reasons I rounded my rating up to 3stars.

The characters were again well written.Cas again came through much older than 17 for me. He did really annoy me and I found he behaved like a spoiled kid half the time. But the worst thing for me what the whining and self-pity.

Anna was not really much part of the book, which is a shame since I think she is totally fabulous.

Thomas and Carmel were great support characters again. I actually liked when Carmel changed her mind in-between, since I wouldn't have bought the prom queen to i don't care about any of it route.

The first half of the book did in some long wound way explain a few things that were left open at the end of the first book.

The second half of the book was much better. And there were some witty scenes in there that made me laugh like

'Thomas looks tired enough to kill me, hollow me out, and use me for a hammock'

'His smug face sets me off, and I think very loudly, This mind-reading shit is fucking annoying, and he grins'

'"Put something down over the seat,” Burke says, and I’m this close to laying him out. But Thomas needs help, so I shut up and walk to the car'

Suddenly there was the spark and humor back that i loved so much in the first book. it was like reading a totally different book!

And the last four chapters were superb. I loved everything about them. Those would have gotten at least 4.5 stars from me.

I did feel that most my questions were answered.

The reason for Anna and Cas bond was never fully explained, I guess we will have to go with the big L
This is the only thing that came close to explain it
“I don’t know,” I say. Why did I say that? I do know. I knew it the moment I heard Anna’s name, and the first time she spoke. I knew when I walked out of her house with my insides still on the inside. It was admiration, and understanding. I’d never known anything like it, and neither had she.

The fact that Cas mentioned only twice through both books that he loved Anna, sort of made me dislike him even more. If someone has such a strong connection to someone, that they are bound together in the way the two of them were, it shouldn't be such an odd and awkward thing to name it (even in his thoughts he didn't do it!)

Having loved the first book, but been left with a few questions, this book certainly did answer many of them. But I am wondering if it wouldn't have been better to make a longer standalone book rather than writing this second book.

All in all, I fell sad that it didnt deliver what I'd hoped from it. But after a bad start it got better and better. Blake is a superb writer and I am hoping for many more books from her!


Review of Anna #1

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Anna dressed in Blood

Anna #1

by Kendra Blake

Summary:

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.

Rating: 4 /5

Review:
This book got under my skin!
After reading it I my mind was reeling I had to talk about it, to order my thoughts to somehow get it out of my system.
This was apparently marketed as a horror, but thankfully it was just a deliciously dark story.

Blake created a wonderfully gothic piece of literature. I loved her gory descriptions and the story itself was really great. The master piece though for me is her language and the way she puts things just there not quite visible, just under the surface that one misses them, but in the end one sees they were there all along.

The story line is really interesting. And there were two twists that I didn't see coming until they were nearly slapped into my face. Thinking back I know I should have seen it. Blake sets it up very subtlety so its not a total shock it's more a 'how could i miss it' moment

Cas who also narrates the entire story was one of the reasons this isn't a 5start book of me.
He comes across much more mature than 17. I kept on thinking he was in his mid-twenties .
I found him conceited, pompous and condescending. And found it a bit hard to believe he never even has so much as a crush before that. How did he become 17?!
There are several "I am to sexy for my pants"- moments when I just wanted to slap him.
like

"Midway through a lesson on proofs, a folded rectangle of paper finds its way onto my desk. When I open it I see a note from Heidi, a pretty blond-haired girl who sits three rows back. She’s asking if I need help studying. And whether I want to go see the new Clive Owen movie. I tuck the note into my math book like I’ll answer it later. I won’t, of course, and if she asks about it, I’ll tell her I’m doing fine on my own, and maybe some other time. She might ask again, two or three more times maybe, but after that she’ll get the hint"

Then again I did really love it when he spoke about his father and how through that his fears and insecurities were revealed.
I also found his interactions with his mother and with Anna very endearing. They helped making him bearable actually

I love Anna. She is gorgeous as the dark goddess (yes i like it a bit gothic) and despite the horrible fate she had she is strong at the end
In fact most of the characters start off as a stereotypes. Like the prom queen or the dork, but as the story evolves and Cas gets to know them they become more complicated and more real and interesting. Just another example of Blakes clever and well calculated writing and her finesse for details.

But the book left me with several questions. Like what was the attractions between Anna and Cas (love at first sight? really?), what was the connections between the Athame and the Obeahman, and none of the ghost slayer family secrets were explain at all. The second reason that I only gave it 4stars. I was left a bit baffled as in oh its finished? What now? What about x,y,z.?...
I am hoping those are issues that will be explained in the sequel however!

All in all: a great story beautifully narrated! I am looking forward to the second installment



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