Anna Dressed in Blood - Kendare Blake

Blurb

Cas Lowood is no ordinary guy - he hunts dead people.

People like Anna. Anna Dressed in Blood. A beautiful, murderous ghost entangled in curses and rage. Cas knows he must destroy her, but as her tragic past is revealed, he starts to understand why Anna has killed everyone who's ever dared to enter her spooky house.

Everyone, that is, except Cas . . . 

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

My Review

I feel like I should warn you that this is going to be one of those reviews where I just gush about how much I enjoyed every page. So if you want to you should get out now!

Anna Dressed in Blood truly was incredible. I don't have a single negative thing to say about it! I couldn't think of anything.

I was thrust into the story immediately with a brilliant throw-you-in first chapter that had me reading for a lot longer in one sitting than I had planned for. The bright easy narrative had me falling straight into this story which I think was mostly due to Cas's narration, which I enjoyed from the off.

The pace was perfect. I was intruiged the entire way through, given enough to be curious but not too much to get bored. In fact there was no info dumping whatsoever. Everything was fed to me at the exact right time and at the exact right speed, meaning I didn't get lost or confused.

50 pages in I was sold on this story and having a blast. It really was a pleasure to read and I was sad I read it so quickly. This can be added to the ever growing list of books I've read in less than a week because I just couldn't put it down.

I never used to like high school scenes, but now I'm no longer in school I seem to love them. Cas's view on high school and the people in it made me smile and I enjoyed his evaluation. As well as the high school scenes, I also enjoyed the descriptive gore that's missed out of a lot of teen fiction books. This story needed it and gave it the depth and reality it needed. Never before have I imagined a ghost being 'killed' but it was a lot of fun!

As the novel went on, it felt familiar and I think that's because it had feelings of Stephen King's 'Carrie' and 'I am Not a Serial Killer' by Dan Wells. This was a good thing as it helped me sink into the story without it feeling like Blake had copied these ideas, far from it. But I wouldn't be surprised if either had given her inspiration. It was brilliant that Anna Dressed in Blood evoked the same feelings in me as these fantastic books.

Also, Kendare Blake replied to my tweets so I love her even more now!

Evaluation

Overall 10/10 I can't fault it!

Would I recommend it? Yes. I have not a single bad thing to say about this excellent book!

Would I look up the author? Yes. Done and done. The sequel, Girl of Nightmares is on my to-read list!

Anna Dressed in Blood was a perfect read in every way. It's my favourite book I've read so far this year!

Molly Looby

Author / Ghostwriter / Editor / Blogger / Reviewer / Wrimo / Movellian / ZA Ready

molly.looby@hotmail.com

Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

A Spoiler Free Bit About the Book

Jane Austen's most famous and beloved novel tells the story of Elizabeth Bennet, a witty, intelligent and sometimes sharp-tongued middle-classed girl in early 1800s Britain. A comedy of manners focusing on first impressions, friendship, snobbery and of course pride and prejudice.

My Review

I don't feel like I can or should criticise this excellent novel in any way. All the things I found difficult about it were the language and era it was written in which soon began to fascinate me. I've always loved history and it didn't take me as long as I imagined to fall into the 1800s and live there for an hour or so every day. It amazed me that over 200 years later the characters are still relatable even though their day-to-day lives are nothing like our own in the 21st century.

What struck me most about the way this was written was the complex sentences. Sentences went on for lines and lines and there were hardly any instances at all of a short sentence. I love short sentences but my eyes have been opened to how beautiful a long sentence can be. Because of this, there were more semi-colons than I've ever seen in one go before. No wonder people don't know how to use them these days, they've practically fallen out of use. But like Austen, I love a good semi-colon in writing.

The amount of words in italic also surprised me. There's more of it than I've ever seen in one book and it's not quite used in the same way as it is today. If anything was exaggerated even in a small way it was in italics. Like I said before, I was fascinated not only by the plot and characters but by the way it was written.

I have nothing else to say as Pride and Prejudice was crafted with such mastery I feel like I'm not able to criticise. Why would I want to speak ill of one of the greatest authors of all time?

But through all this, I'm still a Wuthering Heights girl. Sorry Austen!

Evaluation

Overall 8/10

Would I recommend it? Yes. The world of the 1800s fascinated me and Elizabeth entertained me so much more than I expected.

Would I look up the author? Yes, of course I would! I am rather interested in Sense and Sensibility as a friend told me years ago that it was better than Pride and Prejudice.


Pride and Prejudice made me feel sophisticated while I was completely in awe.

Molly Looby

Author / Ghostwriter / Editor / Blogger / Reviewer / Wrimo / Movellian / ZA Ready

molly.looby@hotmail.com

International Women's Day 2015

Last year I celebrated this incredible day by posting a list of my favourite strong female characters to be proud of. You can read it here!

This year I thought I'd go for a different approach and list some of my favourite female authors. They're not in a ranked order, just alphabetical by last name.

1. Cecelia Ahern
2. Jane Austen
3. Emily Bronte
4. Suzanne Collins
5. Jenny Downham
6. Becca Fitzpatrick
7. Cynthia Hand
8. Stephenie Meyer
9. Lauren Oliver
10. Cat Patrick
11. Veronica Roth
12. J.K. Rowling
13. Carrie Ryan
14. Maggie Stiefvater
15. Paula Weston
16. Moira Young

I want to add myself but feel like that would be a little arrogant so I'll just say it down here. I'm also an awesome female author!

Keep up the good work ladies.

Molly Looby
Author / Ghostwriter / Editor / Blogger / Reviewer / Wrimo / Movellian / ZA Ready

My YA Imaginary Literary Tea Party for World Book Day

Happy World Book Day everyone! Because I had so much fun making a list for WBD last year (40 awesome books from my shelf - read it here!) I decided to do the same this year! Here are the five characters from YA books that I would invite to my imaginary tea party.

Saba - Dustlands Trilogy by Moira Young

Gaby - Rephiam Series by Paula Weston

Todd - Chaos Walking by Patrick Ness

Patch - Hush, Hush Series by Becca Fitzpatrick

Annah - The Dark and Hollow Places by Carrie Ryan

Just so you know, picking just five is not easy! Who would you invite to your YA tea party?

Molly Looby

Bookworm

molly.looby@hotmail.com