"Girl of Nightmares" by Kendare Blake

Title: Girl of Nightmares

Author: Kendare Blake

Series: Anna, #2

My rating: 4.5 of 5

(Book read from March 19th to April 4th, 2014.) 

Summary:

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 on the Book:

  

First of all, I have to mention that when I read for the first time in 2012 Anna Dressed in Blood, I loved it. But, even then, I knew that I was a little bit biased about it, because the moment I met Anna in the book, I kinda fell in love with her as a character. I kept thinking how awesome & scary she would look in a movie, so I was blinded by it, and I knew, so that's why I wanted to reread it before delving into it's sequel Girl of Nightmares, and I'm really glad I did.

Now I can say that I'm not really a fan of Cas. I didn't dislike him, but I didn't really like him as a character. He often acted as an arrogant jerk in Anna Dressed in Blood. But, I still didn't want anything to happen to him, and I still loved Anna as a character & I've forgotten how awesome Thomas is, and I still enjoyed the story quite a lot. Anna Dressed in Blood is one really good paranormal YA novel.

That being said, I loved Girl of Nightmares. Actually, for me, Girl of Nightmares is the better book, and such a great finale to the Anna duology.

Obviously, we didn't get to see a lot of Anna, but I didn't really mind. The little bit of her was enough, and she still managed to break my heart. It seems that her suffering will never end.

As for Cas, he didn't act as an arrogant jerk as often as in the previous book, though he showed that side now & again, but that's Cas ;) I was actually glad that he didn't gave up on Anna, because yeah, she needed to be saved, even though he was a little bit selfish because he wanted her back, but he was persistant, and in the end, it worked out pretty much perfect, and everything was as it should have been, and I was happy with the ending of this book, as well as the wrap up of the duology.

What I especially loved was where this story takes us. I didn't expect that the author will offer us explanation about the athame and its origins & powers, and why exactly Cas is the one that can use it, but she did, and it was quite interesting, and I loved it. That's actually what made me love this story.

 

That being said, I have to mention that you shouldn't jump right into this story without reading Anna Dressed in Blood. These 2 books are quite connected, even more than I expected they will be.

Carmel & Thomas are so sweet together, I love them, though my most favorite one is Thomas of course. He's so awesome, and such an amazing character. And of course there's the new addition Jestine. She was such an interesting character, with her own agenda, but still she was good, and I really, really liked her.

Girl of Nightmares is a great sequel to Anna Dressed in Blood, and if you enjoyed Anna Dressed in Blood, Girl of Nightmares is a must-read for you, and I highly recommend it. I know I will enjoy reading this duology again, and if you're a fan of YA paranormal mysteries, I recommend these books!

Challenges:

 

2014 TBR Pile Reading Challenge

2014 Series Enders Reading Challenge

2014 Don't Let It End Reading Challenge