Girl of Nightmares (Anna #2) by Kendare Blake
Hardcover, 304 pages
Expected publication: August 7th, 2012 by Tor
Source: Borrowed
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.
Girl of Nightmares starts several months after Anna ended. Right away we're thrust into Cas's brooding as he just knows that something is wrong. He sees Anna everywhere and he needs to do something. While I love Cas and his determination and bravery, he can be really stupid sometimes! I think he just went a little too far in his determination to save her. However, what would the story be without that? Well, not much.
Cas is such a great character, and in Anna I absolutely adored him and his awesome inner snark (and outer snark as well). And I was pleased to have him back even though it was toned down by his depression. I still got plenty of giggles from the things he said and thought.
I'm not a fan of horror. So why the heck did I read this series?! Well, I read Anna because everyone was raving about it, I couldn't resist. Then I was surprised that it didn't really scare me and Cas's hilarious snark kept me reading. I ended up loving it. And then I had to read this one, of course. It still had some parts that I wouldn't want to read at night, but it really wasn't too bad. After reading some reviews I thought maybe this one would be really mild on the horror end of things, but while it was different, there were still plenty of horrific ghosts and 'monsters' making appearances.
Overall, it didn't quite live up to to Anna Dressed in Blood, but it was still a great read that I enjoyed immensely. It had a good conclusion, so I'm guessing it's the end. But if it's not, well, that would make me happy! I would love to read more of Cas's story!
I also love Cas's voice and I'm not a horror fan, but the balance of comedy, a really cool ghost story, and thrills made this book for me. Really excited to read book 2!
ReplyDeleteI have this one on my list for next week Candace, can't wait! I'm a little bummed Cas's depression over Anna tones down some of his humor, but I'm glad there's still some snark in there to make me laugh:) I'm not a horror fan at all, I get epically freaked out, but I did love the first book, and as long as I don't read in a dark house all by myself I'm sure I'll be fine:)
ReplyDeleteLike you, I am not a fan of horror at all yet I couldn't help but love the first book. :) Too bad this one wasn't as good, but I will definitely be reading it soon!!
ReplyDeleteI liked Anna Dressed in Blood, but wasn't blown away by the romance factor. However, I really enjoyed Cas's character (love snarky, cocky book boys!) and I like being scared when I read too! I think I'll wait until Halloween and pick this up for a good, creepy read:)
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you liked this, Candace! I agree that ANNA was better, but it was still a fun ride. :)
ReplyDeleteWendy @ The Midnight Garden
Oh wow, I sooo need to read this book soon. I really adored ANNA DRESSED IN BLOOG and can't wait to find out what will happen next - which makes it so very unbelievable that I have yet to order a copy.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your honest and lovely review! :)
Carina
Fictional Distraction
I don't usually go for horror (Stephen King scares the crap out of me) but really liked the first one so I'll have to check out Nightmares, too. Loved Cas's snark!
ReplyDeletehehe!!! *giggles* I'm also not a horror fan, yet I read and loved Anna - even more, I am also not a ghost fan! So these are not my usual type of stories. But there was something about Anna that drew me in. I'm a little sad you think this one didn't live completely up to the processor;( Still, I think I'm totally going to read it :)
ReplyDeleteI hope there might be one more as well. Anna got her happy ending but what about Cas? I personally missed the edge of your seat horror scenes and wish there was more in this one. A good solid series, though!
ReplyDeleteI really need to read these book! I have the first one on Kindle. I think I might have a horror fest in October.
ReplyDeleteI felt the same way that you did about Anna...and I enjoyed it but wasn't blown away. I'll definitely read this one eventually but it's not top on my list!
ReplyDeleteOH MY!!! I haven't read Anna yet!!! But I totes need to ASAP! I'm super excited to read both based off of everyone's take on it. But I'll have to agree that I'm not a fan of horror either. That sucks that this one didn't live up to Anna for you, but I'm still really looking forward to reading both.
ReplyDeleteMagical Urban Fantasy Reads
♥bookluvrmindy
I just ordered my copy of this today and I'm really excited to read it because I LOVED Anna Dressed in Blood. I've heard this one isn't quite as good but I just neeeeeds it. I'm glad you liked it!
ReplyDeleteI'm really looking forward to picking this up. Like you, I'm not really a fan of horror but other bloggers were just too persuasive and I ended up loving Anna Dressed in Blood.
ReplyDeleteYeah, not a big fan of scary so I was happy to see that Anna wasn't "scary" either! SO glad you liked this one! I'm a little afraid to read it but now I think I will!
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