Anna Dressed in Blood

by Kendare Blake

Tom Daugherty Associates, 2011

320 Pages

Young Adult

Cas (Theseus Cassio Lowood) travels the country, his mom in tow, killing violent and murderous ghosts. His dad, also a spirit-hunter, died at the hands of a flesh-eater when Cas was seven. Now, armed with his father’s silver athame, Cas hunts down the undead in order to prevent them from off-ing the innocent and to prepare himself for avenging his father’s death.

The first thing you notice about this book is the cool blood-red ink.
Next is its similarity to the television show Supernatural.

The next stop on Route 66, that signpost up ahead, a small town called Thunder Bay in Ontario, Canada. Cas claims to be uninterested in romance, but goes straight for the hottest girl in school, a “queen-bee” who can plug him into the social pipeline. But what she hooks him up with is a couple of jocks who decide to take him straight to the lair of the most powerful ghost Cas has ever encountered, then ditch him after a welcoming present of a 2×4 to the back of the head.

Too bad Anna saw it. She gets mad, too. She dispatches the lead jock in an effortless display of dismemberment, then follows it up by tossing Cas around the house a bit.

She’s more dangerous than any ghost I’ve seen… She’s not confused. She’s not some shifting, half-existent thing who kills out of fear or rage. Something did this to her, and she knows.

But she can’t help it. The magic that keeps her alive also makes her thirst for death and bask in rage.

Anna decides not to kill Cas, though she doesn’t know why. Instead, she starts talking to him like a boyfriend, like she’s been pining for company ever since she was murdered in 1958. Of course, Cas -is- more interesting than her usual clique; normally Anna is tormented by the souls of those she has brutally slain.

Peaceful? After what I’ve done? Peace in a house of torn-apart boys and disemboweled strangers?

Cas relies on his new friends, Carmel (the queen-bee, who has conveniently forgotten that her ex-boyfriend was just recently slaughtered by this chick,) and the outcast mind-reader Thomas to assist him in casting a spell to lean more about Anna’s death. Without the spell, they don’t have a chance against the ghost of Anna Korlov. But they bungle the job. Thankfully, Cas is really cute. Unfortunately, Anna is the least of their worries. The spirit that slayed Cas’s father just caught up with him, and Cas isn’t ready yet.

** Dead Dog Alert **

Tybalt the cat gets eaten by a Cajun Obeahman.

During the ritual we do see what makes Anna what she is. She wasn’t just murdered by any old killer. It was an evil witch. I did not care for the fact that Anna suddenly becomes a normal teenager after years of torment and bloodshed when she is nicked by the silver athame. But that storyline is dropped as the Obeahman appears. I hope the author will come back to explore it more in a future book.

Anna clears her throat. ‘I think this is coming together, Mrs. Lowood,’ she says. ‘Do you need me to do anything else?’

Blake uses a casual tone in her writing. Swear words come as easy to the characters as the pop-culture references that set the scenes. It reads like a dime-store dreadful, but its popcorn. It leaves me wanting more. There isn’t a lot of time to get into any real depth of character, but that’s OK. This is like an episode of Charmed, a feel-good story that’s about the fun of the ride, not the authenticity of the occult references. I don’t care if the boom drops in over Barnabas’ head in act three or if there are gaping holes in the story. I’m too busy cheering for Anna to rip the evil voodoo priest into pieces! I want Anna and Cas to fall for each other, to kiss, to be absolved of their sins by the power of Love.

But Cas has more important work to do. He has to avenge his father.

I hate it when they don’t have eyes. Empty sockets or cloudy eyeballs… It freaks me out. Overhead, I hear chants starting, and the Obeahman laughs.

Blake uses the terms Obeah and Voodoo as interchangeable descendents of North African religions, when in fact she is really referring to Hoodoo, the New Orleans branch of Obeah. But, gladly, I can’t really find any fault with her portrayal of these alternate religious beliefs, including Wicca, other than their happy-meal packaging for American teen audiences. If you are interested in learning more, Candomble, Macumba, Santeria, Vodou, and Obeah are all similar but distinct traditions of spiritualism that deserve a closer look. Blake did her homework, though.

Me, I’m going to go look up the sequel, Girl of Nightmares.

Anna Dressed in Blood
Girl of Nightmares
Anna Dressed in Blood – Reviews by Kids!