from all the hype from other reviewers. the only time i was scared was in the beginning the book. the rest reminded me of an episode of buffy (which blake makes reference to in the book) or some other supernatural thriller show. the love story was the weakest link. i enjoyed how cas and his new friend came together to discover the solution to a homicidal ghost. i kinda of guessed who anna's killer was and was some what right. not as scary as i thought it would be. i was hoping for a freak my ass out and i cannot go to bed without thinking of this book. i do agree with other reviewers there are some plot twists. hmm where is blake taking us, but is a little cliche for my likiing the colour of the print is cool- red....anna dress in bloooood. don't think ill be moving to the second book.....at least right away.

Cas Lowood has inherited the family business when his father suddenly passed away. Some may think it’s a weird profession but to Cas killing the dead comes naturally. With his father’s athame, a deadly knife, he does a good job of slaying angry ghosts. Cas gets a tip which asks him to go to Thunderbay Ontario to take on a new case, so with his mom and their cat in tow they make the move to Canada. The ghost in this town is known as Anna Dressed in Blood. Local lore tells that she wears the white dress she was murdered in which has become stained red from her dripping blood. She haunts a local house and has been known to kill anyone who enters her dwelling. Cas expects that this will be a quick case: research, track, hunt then kill her. But when Cas befriends some of the local teenagers and finds himself on the doorstep of Anna’s house all he can do is stand by watching as Anna tears apart one of the teenage boys who pushed him into the house. Anna has a rage like Cas has never seen, but for some reason she doesn’t hurt Cas. He soon realizes that this is not an ordinary ghost like he has dealt with before. So begins the hunt to rid the world of one more angry ghost. I read this book in October because it was very fitting to our Halloween theme, and I’m definitely enjoying the trend of horror books in YA right now. I don’t think this was one of the scariest books that I’ve ever read, but there were definitely times when I was holding my breath and wondering what was going to happen next. I guess that’s a good thing because I don’t want to be too scared so this was just the right amount of scary to borrow a term from Goldilocks. I really liked the story because it was like nothing else that I’ve read, and I found myself eager for the ending to find out what was going to happen. I found that the story was so well written that I was never bored and never wanted to put the book down. I also really grew fond of the characters: It’s crazy that you can really become attached to this ghost who kills everyone that comes into the house where she lives. That’s when I know that an author has done a good job when I care for someone who I should be afraid of and/or hate. Her back story was heartbreaking and it made me want her to succeed even more. I also like reading from a guys point of view and I think Kendare Blake did an amazing job writing for Cas. I found myself liking him and cheering him on. I loved his personality and the fact that he was just so confident and cool. A lot of people are complaining about the “love” in the book because they felt it came out of nowhere and that it was insta-love. I don’t necessarily agree with this, but I didn’t really understand that part of the story at the same time. There is another book in the series called “Girl of Nightmares” Which I definitely want to read. I don’t know where the book is going to go in the future so I will be reading that soon. I think this story will appeal to lots of different people so if you want a little bit of goose bumps one night then pick this story up for some fun. Check out my blog for more reviews http://bibliophilesisters.wordpress.com/

What's better for Halloween than a good old fashioned ghost story? Because that's what we have on our hands with Kendare Blake's Anna Dressed in Blood. It's a creepy and suspenseful read, that draws you in and keeps you guessing. The story centres around Cass Lowood (not Anna as the title might suggest). He's not your average teenage boy - he's a ghost hunter. A career he inherited from his father. I loved the way Kendare wrote Cass. He voice was the perfect mixture of teenage boy and someone who is wise beyond their years. He's intelligent, but also sassy and brave, making him an incredibly interesting character to read about. At the beginning of the novel, Cass is heading out on his next assignment. One that will take him all the way to Thunder Bay, Ontario. As a lifetime resident of Eastern Ontario (no where near Thunder Bay) I can count on one hand the number of people I know who have ventured all the way up to Thunder Bay. So needless to say the unusual setting immediately caught my attention. Though it didn't end up being that different from other settings, it was just remote enough to add an extra creepiness factor. Speaking of the creepiness factor - Anna Dressed in Blood was a lot more intense and a lot more gory than I had expected. In my experience with YA supernatural the violence is often understated or done "off screen" but Kendare Blake doesn't shy away from the more difficult scenes. Her writing is very detailed and you can really picture the horrific events as they were unfolding. The one thing that didn't sit quite right with me was the romance. It just felt really off and I had a hard time buying that it was actually happening. I think if you removed the romance the story still stands on it's own and depending on my mood, I may even say that it would be better without it. But I guess if I can accept Bram and Nora (a human-zombie couple from Dearly Departed) than I can accept Cass and Anna (a human-ghost couple). But I still think it's strange and a little creepy. Notes of the Audio Anna Dressed in Blood is told completely from Cass's perspective. Which means for the most part August Ross is reading as though he was Cass, and for that he does a fine job. He captures the attitude and intelligent nature perfectly and I was able to feel like I was really getting to know Cass. However, August Ross' female voices were cartoonish and kept pulling me right out of the story. They didn't feel realistic and they were completely over the top. Because of that I would recommend this book in print over audio. Recommendation: An excellent ghost story with a fabulous set of characters. Perfect to curl up with on a windy autumn evening. This and other reviews at Hooked on Books (http://christashookedonbooks.blogspot.com)

Cas Lowood is a ghost hunter. Ever since his father died on the job, he has taken on the role of “killing” ghosts that won’t, or can’t, move on. After getting rid of a ghostly hitchhiker, Cas and his mother pack up and move to Thunder Bay, a city in northern Ontario, to chase a lead that Cas received. The lead was to hunt down Anna Korlov, a young girl who was killed on her way to a dance and now spends her afterlife decimating, without a trace, anyone who steps into her former home. The whole time leading up to reading Anna Dressed in Blood I had thought the main character was a female. I’m not even exactly sure why I had that impression, but I was definitely surprised that “Cas” is a guy. The dynamic that Blake has established between Cas and his witchy mother is great. The narrative shows their unconventional lifestyle in a unique way and I loved that. It’s not often that there are many YA books that have a mother/son dynamic as loving and understanding as this. I suppose with the manner that Cas’ father had died, they would have to have an open mind about this sort of paranormal thing. Foregoing the familial factor, I also enjoyed that the main character was a male, written by a female. Of the YA books that I've read, it was often starring female leads and many male characters were written by male authors. Blake is also exceptional at painting a fantastically horrific picture of what is going on. It’s easy to fall into clichés with ghost stories and her imaginative descriptions are not only frightening but, at times, absolutely grotesque. While some characters definitely have the potential to be further developed, the ones she did explore are quite well established. As the reader, you get a sense of who Cas is and what his motivations are. While there is a touch of romance, it’s not necessarily the main focus of the book. It is the ghost stories that drive this tale, and Anna Dressed in Blood is a good ol' fashioned scary story - and I absolutely love that. This, and other reviews can be found on my blog JustALilLost.com

Anna Dressed in Blood was amazing but It wasn't as good as I hoped. The plot and characters were amazing. Like I loved the plot and I loved how it was creppy and thrilling and also a litttle romantic. But I was hoping that there would be some more romance in it. The characters were well discribed and just wow. I loved the settings too. They perfectly fit into the story. Overall it was really good but if it would have had a little more romance, then it would have totally won me over. :)

This book has everything you want in the paranormal genre. This book was slightly different as it has a male protagonist instead of a female one (that makes up the majority of YA paranormal books) so that was a nice change. Plus, Cas is everything you want in a protagonist. He’s got the personality, he’s got the wit and the humor. He’s like the high school version of the Winchester brothers from Supernatural (except there’s only one of him, and two sidekicks). The plot of this book is quite dark and has its moments of creepiness but it lightens up whenever Cas puts in a thought or two (his humor really is quite good). The description of Anna’s house and Anna herself are well done, other beings are also included and they’re just as creepy. The paranormal aspect of the novel was also well done. Anna is a ghost with personality, and as you get to know her through Cas, you start to like her as well. I really liked how she was written, despite her being a ghost, she was ‘fleshed out’ and didn’t have a cardboard personality. The other characters in the book are also fun to read, and all are likable. (Of the secondary characters, I liked Cas’ mom.) I loved the ending of the book and it did catch me by surprise. Which is why I can’t wait to get my hands on the second one. This book was a great read, and nice to see a male protagonist lead, with a well written ghost story to accompany it. Most definitely recommended for YA readers.

Anna 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.

well i am going to start off by saying that it reminds me alot like the tv show supernatural only thing is there are not to brouthers anyways i love it from start to end it was spooky the hole way threw 100 thumbs up

Ghost stories aren't usually my thing but I heard so many good things about ANNA DRESSED IN BLOOD, I had to decide for myself. Now, after reading it, I know why Kendare Blake has so many people talking about her book. She knows how to write a good story and knows how to keep her readers interested. For a book about ghosts, it's not necessarily horror but it does have enough magic and action to keep you engaged in the story all the way to the end. The first scene reminded me of the TV show, Supernatural. It's where we met Cas, the narrator, as he was driving a Camaro, on the hunt to pick up a ghostly hitchhiker. After his father died at the hand of a ghost, Cas became obsessed with avenging his father's death by trying to kill as many ghosts as possible. I found Cas a little arrogant and smug, since he thought he was one of the only one that could hunt and kill ghosts. He did have the advantage of possessing an athame, a special knife that enable him to kill ghosts, but that alone shouldn't make him the only or best ghost killer. But overall, I think his smugness was part of his quirky charm and I really enjoyed reading a YA novel with a male's point of view. We read so many YA paranormal novels with female point of views so I found it refreshing to have a different outlook. Especially since having a male narrator means not getting pestered with annoying girly and teenage... touchy-feely stuff. Also, I loved Cas's no-nonsense character. He might have been a little distant when it came to making friend but to him, killings ghosts was more important. I found he explained himself quite well when he said, "I guess I never give too much thought to the living." After the hitchhiker, Cas moved on to a bigger challenge, and we finally learn about Anna dressed in blood. Who is literally dressed in blood. If I had to describe Anna in one word, I would say Awesome! (A second word, however, would be bipolar). She's unlike any ghost I've ever read about and she scared me to death, at first. Unlike Cas, she wasn't necessarily vengeful but had murderous tendencies because she was more or less grieving the loss of her life. I won't reveal more about her because I don't want to ruin Anna's story but I do want to mention that the imagery used to describe Anna was absolutely wonderful. Some of my favorite parts in the book were seeing the relationship between Thomas and Carmel develop (Cas's friends and sidekicks). Thomas is more or less an awkward geek and Carmel is the prom queen socialite. The unlikeliness of this relationship happening in real life made it that much more enjoyable to read about. Thomas is also the comic relief in the story, while Carmel is more the voice of reason. One thing's for sure--Kendare Blake keeps you guessing until the very end of the book. She's a great story-teller and she has me wanting to read more about Anna and Cas's lives. I recommend this book to anyone who likes to read YA paranormal novels, and I'm not just saying that because Kendare Blake chose a Canadian city as the setting for her book. According to the author, only two books are planned for the series. The sequel, Girl of Nightmares, will be released August 7, 2012. It's one of the summer releases that I definitively won't miss!

I thoroughly traumatized myself with ghost films as a kid and for the longest time I couldn’t watch them without huddling under a blanket and keeping a night light on. It wasn’t until I saw my first episode of Supernatural back in 2005 that I really got over my fear of ghosts because I realized that “Hey there’s really good looking guys that hunt ghosts and there’s totally rational ways to fight them”. It was their sense of finality at the end of the episodes that made me realize, well the ghost is gone and there’s nothing to fear (most of the time). This sense of safety is what I immediately felt upon beginning to read Anna Dressed in Blood. Cas Lowood embodies the Supernatural hunter vibe with cool confidence and deadly skills as he takes on “the family business”. The cover features a gorgeous and haunting Anna in her signature white dress dripping with blood amid her Victorian home swirled in fog. I love the black and whiteness of the cover with accents of blood red! The version I read also featured a rusted blood red color for the font that compliments the mood of the story. The story begins with Cas taking the reader through the logistics of ghost hunting, from the research to the props and finally the execution. I was immediately hooked by the rich details and the histories of the ghosts he hunts. Cas has taken over ghost hunting ever since the death of his father at the hands of a very powerful and mysterious supernatural entity. As Cas and his witch mother move from one town to another in search of ghosts to put down, while Cas plans his revenge on the creature that killed his father. We end up in the Canadian city of Thunder Bay, Ontario as Cas follow’s Anna’s bloody trail to her doorstep. Cas’ character is strong, confident (maybe a bit overconfident at times) and he has a hilarious sarcastic sense of humour. He’s got a very lone ranger method to ghost hunting and has a few acquaintances that he gets information from around the world. So when he moves to a new place he makes it his business to stay remote, and avoids making friends, but he definitely knows how to turn the charm on to get what he wants. Anna’s ghost has a history that’s been shrouded in local legend and with all places that are haunted there are always drunk teenagers that stumble in to test their courage. Only this time, it’s not just a story and Anna is one of the most powerful ghosts that Cas has ever seen. The dichotomy of Anna’s character is what’s so interesting about her. One on hand she’s a blood fuelled, terrifying violent spirit that has an ever increasing body count to her name, but on the other hand with Cas the hurt she’s been through is visible as well as a lonely human side. When we finally find out her story, it was heartbreaking, and something completely out of left field. Anna also manages to get Cas out of being a tunnel vision hunter, she makes him question what he’s doing if it’s as righteous as he feels it is, she pretty much shakes up Cas’ whole life and it really makes him grow up a bit. The secondary characters were an amazing cast who Cas originally only befriended because he needed them for their respective knowledge and skills, but they end up turning into something more. In turn each character such as Thomas who’s quite shy and a loner gets more courageous and Carmel, who I originally disliked because I figured she was the super peppy popular girl whose only skill is to scream, actually turned out to be pretty bad ass, and a great friend. What Cas thought was just another job turned into something far more dangerous than just figuring out Anna’s story. There were so many twists and turns in this story that definitely kept me hooked all the way to the dramatic ending! Blake’s writing is so descriptive and it works well for when we’re taken back in time to recount the ghost’s moments before death. She also writes some really graphic- eye popping violence scenes and introduces some new aspects to ghosts that I’ve never really thought of before. I also love Blake’s little nods to Canadians by setting the story in a Canadian city, and things like Saskatoon Berry Jam (which is delicious by the way!).