Review: Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake

Title: Girl of Nightmares (Anna Dressed in Blood #2)

Author: Kendare Blake

Publication Date: August 12, 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.

My Thoughts:

*WARNING: This review contains spoilers for book one, Anna Dressed in Blood. Please read at your own risk!*

Girl of Nightmares picks up a few months after Anna Dressed in Blood ends. Cas still hasn't come to terms with the fact that Anna is gone, especially now that he is seeing her and dreaming about her. At first he thinks he may be hallucinating, but unfortunately it is all too real. Anna is trapped in another world and is being tortured. With the help of his friends Thomas and Carmel, Cas is determined to find a way to bring Anna back, even if that means possibly losing his own life in the process.

It's been over a year since I read Anna. I inhaled that book in two days, it was amazing. Then Nightmares came out and I was desperate to read it. Very desperate, I tell you. But even though I ran out and got myself a copy, something happened when I got home and I somehow never got around to reading it. It has been on my shelf for about a year now, waiting for me to pick it back up. It took the September is for Sequels Challenge for me to finally get to it. Honestly though, how could I have let that happen?!

This book was just as awesome as I imagined it would be. Cas is such an amazing character, a ghost hunter who only kills ghosts that harm people instead of all he encounters, and I have to admit that I missed him. He has a hard job passed down to him from his father, but he doesn't let this change who he is or his personality. He could be cold and cruel, but instead he is sensitive and concerned for others. He is one of my favorite male lead characters. We also finally learn about his family background and how he and his father came to be ghost hunters, and even a little about that elusive friend Gideon.  

After finishing Anna, I wasn't sure how the author was going to bring these characters back together or what their future could possibly be, but I have to say that I was impressed with where this story took me. When I started reading, I was determined for one specific scenario to come true. It had to happen, I needed it to. But about halfway through the story my feelings started to change. The author did a great job toying with my emotions and making me debate within my own head about how the story should end. But ultimately, it didn't even end up mattering because the ending to this story was just so beautiful and perfect that I couldn't have imagined it any other way. 

Overall, this was the perfect ending to a brilliant story. If you loved the first book, you need to read this. If you haven't read the first book, why the heck not? You are missing out big time. I highly recommend this series to anyone and everyone who loves Young Adult, mystery, horror or just a plain old awesome read!

For more about Kendare Black and Girl of Nightmares, visit her website here.

Purchase:

Amazon

B&N

The Book Depository