Review: Anna Dressed in Blood - Kendare Blake

• Reading level:
 Ages 12 and up

• Hardcover:
 320 pages

• Publisher:
 Tor Teen; First Edition edition (August 30, 2011)

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...

I have read a lot of books so far this year, a lot of great books but I think this has been the best so far! This was pretty non stop and at times majorly creepy. I loved Cas from the very start, he reminded me of one of my favorite men, Dead Winchester. *swoon* The beginning with the hitchhiker really set the tone for the rest of the book. Dark, ominous, and fantastic. From the first mention of Anna I couldn't wait to meet her. And when I finally did meet her I loved her. She was so many things scary, dark, blood, yet sounding oddly beautiful and mysterious. the more that happens and the more we see of Cas and Anna the more I was sucked in. I needed to know what was going to happen, and how Cas would handle things. Cas's mom amazed me, she knows what he does, and that it is dangerous, yet she lets him do it, and helps when he needs to be healed, or just someone to talk to.  Thomas and Caramel were great characters somehow they managed to work there way into Cas's life and become friends! Through all the jumbled mess they deal with in the end Anna isn't there biggest issue. I have to stop there because the ending was great and I don't want to ruin it. This book had everything, Action, excitement, love, friendship, drama and great characters, and setting. If I could give this 6 stars I would. I give this 5 stars and strongly urge all of you to read this book! 

Review: Slice of Cherry - Dia Reeves

Reading level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 512 pages
Publisher: Simon Pulse (January 4, 2011)

Kit and Fancy Cordelle are sisters of the best kind: best friends, best confidantes, and best accomplices. The daughters of the infamous Bonesaw Killer, Kit and Fancy are used to feeling like outsiders, and that’s just the way they like it. But in Portero, where the weird and wild run rampant, the Cordelle sisters are hardly the oddest or most dangerous creatures around.

It’s no surprise when Kit and Fancy start to give in to their deepest desire—the desire to kill. What starts as a fascination with slicing open and stitching up quickly spirals into a gratifying murder spree. Of course, the sisters aren’t killing just anyone, only the people who truly deserve it. But the girls have learned from the mistakes of their father, and know that a shred of evidence could get them caught. So when Fancy stumbles upon a mysterious and invisible doorway to another world, she opens a door to endless possibilities….

I want more! There is something enthralling about having crazy people as our main characters. I thought Hannah was bad but wow Kit and Fancy take the cake. At first I thought Kit was the worse of the two but somewhere along the way I think Fancy stole the show. Only in a town like Portero could two crazy sisters meet two crazy brothers and manage not to destroy the cosmic balance of the universe. I really can't say too much without giving stuff away but I can that that this book was bloody, gruesome, and at times down right creepy. I really hope Dia Reeves keeps writing about Portero and its crazy citizens because these books are awesome in a train wreck kinda way. You know you should look away but you just can't. If you liked Bleeding Violet you will like this one as well. If you haven't read Bleeding Violet what are you waiting for? Go to the library or a book store and pick up a copy of each...You won't be disappointed. 5 stars from me!

Review: Bleeding Violet - Dia Reeves

Reading level: Young Adult
Paperback: 480 pages
Publisher: Simon Pulse; Reprint edition (December 7, 2010)

Love can be a dangerous thing....
Hanna simply wants to be loved. With a head plagued by hallucinations, a medicine cabinet full of pills, and a closet stuffed with frilly, violet dresses, Hanna's tired of being the outcast, the weird girl, the freak. So she runs away to Portero, Texas in search of a new home.
But Portero is a stranger town than Hanna expects. As she tries to make a place for herself, she discovers dark secrets that would terrify any normal soul. Good thing for Hanna, she's far from normal. As this crazy girl meets an even crazier town, only two things are certain: Anything can happen and no one is safe.

I think this might by the most messed up book I have ever read, but I LOVED it!  I have never met a character like Hannah, totally crazy but focused.  I really liked the fact that Hannah was crazy, I don't think she would have been able to handle Portero if she weren't.  I also really liked Rosealee who had just as many issues as her daughter.  Watching the relationship change between Rosealee and Hannah was nice, and Hannah's never ending attempt to win over, or help Rosealee even though she wasn't always nice to Hannah was kind of heart warming.  Wyatt to me was yet another awesome character, torn between duty and personal feelings our poor tortured hero.  He balances Hannah well and is a great addition to the overall story.  Now let me say the town of Portero is one messed up place.  I don't think I could live in a town were walking to the mailbox could be the last thing you do!  Flying leeches also aren't a selling point for me! But it was a great place to read about.  I read Dia Reeves FAQ and she says she doesn't do sequals which dissappoints me a little because I would love to revisit Hannah, but while not a sequel she did write another book set in Portero which I can't wait to start.  I give this one 5 stars!