ARC Review: Kendare Blake - Girl of Nightmares

Kendare Blake - Girl of Nightmares

Anna Dressed in Blood #2

• Pub Date: August 7, 2012
• Publisher: Tor Teen
• Format: Hardcover, 336 pages
• Age Range: Young Adult
• Source: ALA ARC

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.

So so so good. Let me tell you, I love Cas. I love that these books are from a guy's POV. He's so understated and non-drama. I mean, stuff goes down. But he's level-headed, even when he's lovesick. Cas is just.. awesome. And dedicated. He's so distraught over Anna being somewhere she doesn't belong that he does everything in his power, almost gets killed, to save her. It's romantic in the strangest way, since she's a dead ghost and all. Ahhh. *sigh*

Basically, this book is about Cas trying to save Anna from Hell. There's most discovered throughout the novel, but I don't like to be spoilery. So I won't be. But the writing is great. The dialog is good. Thomas and Carmel have their own drama, and stuff goes down with them, but they're just fab friends to have. Cas doesn't really know what that's like when he's moving all the time, so it really sinks in for him in this book. He deserves it, for all he does.

I'm a little torn with Gideon. And I couldn't STAND Jestine. She irritated me, got under my skin. But I guess she was supposed to. She just sort of appears out of no where, but she becomes this huge part of the story. It will be interesting to see how that plays out in the next one. Well, I guess I'm assuming there is a next one. There BETTER be a next one! It doesn't leave you with a huge cliffhanger - things pretty much get resolved one way or another - but I want MORE. You can't help but root for Cas and Anna, right? Right.

Bottom line: Do yourself a favor and read this series! It's different and awesome!

Rating:

4/5 book sharks!