Owl Recommend (16)

Owl Recommend is a feature at Owl Read It where we try to help you find your next great read :)

These were both books that I thoroughly enjoyed and while they are both very different from each other, they still have many similarities and if you like one, you'll most likely like the other. Amazing page turners, both of them!

Review: Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake

Girl of Nightmares
(Anna #2)

Author: Kendare Blake

Publication Date: August 7th, 2012

Publisher: Tor Teen

Genre: Paranormal / Urban Fantasy

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Synopsis:

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 Thoughts: Another amazing novel by Kendare Blake! This is the end of Anna's story, with an ending that I LOVED!! Just so you all know! I really enjoyed Anna Dressed in Blood and was expecting to like Girl of Nightmares just as much. Nope, I loved it so much more.

Cas suffers so much in Girl of Nightmares. Anna sacrificed herself for him and is in Hell being tortured by the Obeahman. Cas keeps seeing her, she is being tortured in so many different ways and he can see it. All he wants to do is help Anna, but everyone is telling him to leave it alone, she's where she's supposed to be. How can she be though? She has suffered enough and he knows it. So Cas searches for a way into Anna's Hell to rescue her. Everyone says it's impossible, but he knows there has to be a way.

Cas clearly loves Anna so much that he is willing to literally go to Hell for her. It makes me like him so much as a character. He would do anything it seems for her. Thomas and Caramel are there helping him along, although Caramel seems to be wavering and ready to leave their crazy lives. A new character is introduced in this one, Jestine, the girl who has been trained to take over Cas' job within the Order. They don't like how Cas goes about killing the ghosts, and selecting who he kills. They think he should just kill them all, even the harmless ones. Regardless, I liked Jestine's character and she definitely helped out more than once!

I feel that Girl of Nightmares had the perfect ending for the series. The pacing was good and the writing was just amazing! A lot of the questions I had while reading were answered, so I wasn't left feeling too sad, only sad in the fact that it was over and there was no more. It was a bit gruesome, but I at least was expecting it this time, unlike when I started Anna. The closure was great, it really was the perfect ending. I know, I'm gushing a bit. I will for sure be watching out for more by Kendare Blake. I hope she comes up with more amazing stories to share with us. This series is definitely one that I will be recommending to whoever will listen. If you haven't read this one yet, you need to.

 Thank you Macmillan and Raincoast Books for the review copy!

T.G.I.F. (7)

Thank Great Illustrators Fridays is a book meme created and hosted by Owl Read It.

They say don't judge a book by it's cover, but a lot of the time the cover is what draws you to the book in the first place.  This meme is to show appreciation to the artists who put their time and effort into creating the great book covers of our beloved series.

To Participate:

• Pick a book cover you love (any book will do - released or not)
• Post the picture of the book along with the author, publisher & the illustrator of the cover (if you can find it, if not, that's okay too!)
• Post a brief summary of why you like the cover.  
• Take the pic above and link back to us :)

This Week's T.G.I.F. Cover:

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

Published: August 30, 2011

Publisher:  Tor Teen
Illustrator(s): Can't find a name. If you know, please tell me :) And thank you, whoever you are!

My Thoughts:  The front of this book is so eerily chilling.  It goes with the theme of the book and is just gorgeous. The old Victorian house in the background, Anna's flowing hair, the blood on the bottom of her dress and calves - it is all spectacular.

What are your favourite book covers? Leave us a link to your own T.G.I.F! :)

"Waiting On" Wednesday (23)

"Waiting on" Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we are eagerly awaiting.

 Girl of Nightmares

by Kendare Blake

Expected Publication: August 7th, 2012

Synopsis: 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.

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 Alright, if you read my review of Anna Dressed in Blood, you should have seen this coming. I can't wait to see what happened to Anna and I hope Cas can help her! I'm super excited for this one!

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What are you waiting on?

 

Review: Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

Anna Dressed in Blood
(Anna #1)

Author: Kendare Blake

Publication Date: August 30th, 2011

Publisher: Tor Teen

Genre: Urban Fantasy

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Synopsis:

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.

My Thoughts: My Thoughts: Alright, so I had heard a lot of great things about Anna and yeah, it is an awesome read! This was my first ghost story that I've read and I had the hardest time putting it down. I actually read half of it one day AT work, during my training while I was supposed to be listening... whoops. I'm so glad I read this because there are not many books that I've read that have a male protagonist. I know, I need to read more. It's interesting seeing things from the male point of view. 

I am going to say that if you are an extremely queasy person, you probably aren't going to want to read Anna. Why? Clearly because there is a bit of gore in it. Well, maybe a lot, kind of. The first really gorey scene I read (Goodbye Mike) was while I was eating my supper. It didn't really help my appetite. There a few scenes that are a bit violent, but hey, it's a ghost story about a killer ghost! 

So, if you haven't read Anna, you're probably wondering what it's about. I don't like giving many details in my reviews that might give anything away. Soooo, basically it's about a boy (Cas) who kills ghosts for a living. When he goes to kill Anna, he realizes that she's a lot tougher than him and he's going to have some trouble with her. So he does something he's never done before, he asks for help.  Anna doesn't kill him when she gets the chance, and he wants to find out why. And that's all I'm going to tell you about the plot. 

 You might be wondering a little bit about Cas. Well, he is obviously brave since he kills ghosts, not all ghosts though, only the dangerous ones who kill people. It takes a lot to face that kind of job I would think. Especially when his father died doing it. So he is trying to get better at it so he can kill the ghost that killed his father. He is a bit of a loner, since he moves around from place to place hunting down ghosts, he doesn't have much time for friends and doesn't particularly want them. It makes leaving harder. Apparently he is attractive, as most of the girls like him, although it might be because he is "the new kid". I think he changes a lot throughout the book because he learns to care for others, it makes him more like able as a character, not that I wouldn't like him without the change.

Anna. Well, she was killed on her way to a school dance, and her murder was never solved. She brutally murders anyone who comes into her house, Cas being the exception. Anna is a different ghost from any Cas has ever come up against. But, under all that anger and murderous rage, is a girl that is kind and doesn't want to hurt people. She is ashamed of what she does, but she can't help herself. 

Overall, I really liked and enjoyed reading Anna. I can't wait for the second book to be released so I can give that a read. Kendare Blake is an awesome author, and I think we'll have to watch out for more from her in the future. I pretty much liked everything about this book and definitely recommend it! It's a great urban fantasy mixed with paranormal. If you're not an easily queasy person, you should read this book! It's awesome!