GIRL OF NIGHTMARES

Kendare Blake

Hardcover, 336 pages

Published August 7th 2012 by Tor Teen

ISBN:0765328666

Source: Publisher

Rating: ♥♥♥♥

It’s been months since the ghost of Anna Korlov opened a door to Hell in her basement and disappeared into it, but ghosthunter Cas Lowood can’t move on.

His friends remind him that Anna sacrificed herself so that Cas could live—not walk around half dead, pining for her. He knows they’re right, but in Cas’s eyes, no living girl he meets can compare with 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:

ANNA DRESSED IN BLOOD WAS ONE OF MY FAVORITE READS FOR 2011 for it was a terrifyingly, creepy read that was buoyed by moments of wit and laughter. A love story centered on a girl that was no longer living and the boy that was on a mission to save her. So, you can imagine how excited I became when I acquired GIRL OF NIGHTMARES the sequel to ANNA DRESSED IN BLOOD. In fact, I am surprised that everyone didn't hear me screaming all the way from my home. That being said, this eagerly awaited novel did not disappoint and it only proved to solidify how brilliant an author Kendare Blake really is.

As GIRL OF NIGHTMARES begins you find Cass Lowood in a deep funk over lossing Anna, his ghost that was dressed in blood. Forever gone when she saved his life by sacrificing herself. Now, instead of feeling at peace he is haunted by visions of her suffering and having wicked nightmares. He tries his best to put it all out of his mind but he futility realizes that he cannot, especially when he realizes the truth of Anna's purgatory. Cass wants to set things straight to save Anna, but to do so would mean trusting those that would rather see him dead than help Anna.

I did know know how Kendare Blake could scare me again, but she did because she was able to create a storyline that was flippin' creeptastic. The fact that Cass was still haunted by Anna and witnessing her suffer in the most horrific of circumstances was quite bone chilling and I could feel the hair on the back of my neck rise up....creeepy. I adored how Cass was so willing to put himself out there for the ghost girl that he loved and how his friends were at the ready to assist him, well at least one friend was. When Cass had to seek assistance with locating his girl I was pleased with the outcome and how it all fit together creating a bridge that was cohesive and believable. I know that how things had to end in this story for any other outcome would mean something not terribly nice, but I did envision some impossible ending that was quite ridiculous. Thank goodness my thoughts did not reach the authors mind. And although I know that the series is over. I wish that I could visit with these characters again, I will miss them terribly.

I really enjoyed this novel and found it to be a good sequel to it's counterpart in fact if I were to complain it would be to say that I wish the ending had been a bit more pronounced and not ending on such a peaceful note. Yet, I am not knocking it down in any way for it was really well done and fans of this series will truly enjoy every moment with Cass and the gang and a few new characters that will keep you entertained and with the lights on.