Joelene’s Top Five of 2012

1. Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake - The beautiful cover is what drew me to this exquisitely haunting story of ghosts, friendships and love. The writing kept me hooked.

2. Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan - While Sarah Rees Brennan is an author that I will visit again and again and again, she has surpassed all expectations with this magnificent beginning of the Lynburn trilogy. The ending leaves me desperate for more and, yes, a little angry that I have to wait for a year.

3. Unidentified by Rae Mariz - An unexpected pleasure. This Young Adult read has more emotional and moral integrity than almost everything I’ve read in 2012, while still keeping with the issues affecting teens.

4. Museum of Thieves trilogy by Lian Tanner - The entire trilogy is worth reading a dozen times over. The charm of this series adds to its appeal as an adventure novel that is as exciting as it is thought-provoking.

5. White Cat by Holly Black - Holly Black; need I say more? I doubt that anything she writes will ever let me down and thus far, these beliefs have been well-founded. I’m loving the Curse-Workers series.

Joelene’s Five Most Anticipated of 2013

1. Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake - With how amazing the first in the series was; I’m anticipating great things from the sequel to Anna Dressed in Blood.

2. Untold by Sarah Rees Brennan –  Unspoken left me craving more. Come August I will devour Untold. Until then I will endure the cruelty of an author who teases her readers with excerpts as though it’s some sort of a game.

3. Beauty Queens by Libba Bray - Beauty pageants crash land on a desert island. It’s Lord of the Flies meets America’s Next Top Model. How can this not be made of win? I shall procure chocolate and watch them cry.

4. The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf by Ambelin Kwaymullina - This novel looks amazing. I held off buying it for a while as I was worried that it would have an unhappy ending. Since then my sister has read and loved it; so it’s on the list for summer reads.

5. Stiff: the Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach - I’m not morbid; I’ve heard amazing things about this book. And really, curiosity is a human condition.

Cas’s life has never been ordinary. He and his mother move from place to place, following rumours and whispers of violent hauntings. When he finds the ghosts; he moves in and kills them.

He has never encountered anyone like Anna Dressed in Blood. A powerful ghost lingering in the Victorian house she once called home and surrounded by all of the people she’s killed; she is what Cas has been looking for. An opponent worthy of him.

What he doesn’t count on are the people from his new school insisting on helping him. And he doesn’t count on Anna. Tangled up in curses, still wearing the bloodied white dress that she had been murdered in, she is connected to him in ways that neither of them could have envisaged.

There wasn’t enough time to read Anna Dressed in Blood the night I bought it. I had work the next day and had to show at least some signs of coherency. So, of course, I peeked at the first chapter. Then the next. Responsibility flew out the window and more chapters ensued. I woke up late, missed my bus and wandered around like a zombie at work the next day.

It was worth it.

Half-way into August, I can honestly say that so far this is the best novel I have read this year. This review, I am ashamed to say, will mostly consist of me squealing and telling everyone to buy Anna. Selfishly, because the more people who buy this the more likely Kendare Blake is to write more books. I desperately need more.

The characters Blake has created in Anna have a life and vitality of their own. They play off one another, each with their own goals that somehow work together. None of them are perfect, which makes their shining moments all the more brilliant. Cas, the main character, can lean towards arrogance. Killing ghosts is a higher calling that he thinks only he can answer, and he doesn’t like the idea of having anyone there to help him even when he needs it. He’s overconfident, sometimes too sure of his own abilities; but he’s also very sure of the abilities of the people around him, which balances it out.

Anna, too, was brilliantly realised. She’s powerful and she knows it. Her strength is something that she never apologises for and never backs down from. The fact that she owns her power and makes her own choices is something that I love as much as I love the fact that Cas acknowledges and respects her strength, both physically and mentally.

Usually I’m put off by unrealistic romances but, while the romance here did seem rushed, it also made sense on a rational level. The characters, while very different, complement each other in all the ways necessary. They both have unconventional lives and pasts that most people couldn’t understand. Their moral ground and ability to take responsibility for their actions puts them on even footing as well; making the romantic plot-line believable.

Timing was perfect with the plot and pacing of Anna. From the first chapter, the story drags readers in, refusing to release them even after the last page has been turned. The momentum of the novel is very natural, each previous scene leading up to the next and whether it’s action or character interaction holding readers, there are no points of the novel where my interest flagged.

The antagonist was the only thing that let the plot down. While he is central to the story and to Cas’ personal journey, he arrives quite late. As a villain he is horrifically creepy, but there is a definite shift in atmosphere with his arrival. With so much of a plot to explore even without him, it felt as though his character would be better utilised if he was introduced in the beginning of the second book.

Anna Dressed in Blood fully embraces some of the ghost story traditions while adding fresh twists that will delight ghost story lovers and YA fantasy lovers alike. Darker than an average teen read, it still has glimpses of hope bright enough to light the way. For anyone who likes Holly Black, this one is not to be missed.

Anna Dressed in Blood – Kendare Blake

Orchard (June 10, 2012)

ISBN: 9781408320723