Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead.

So did his father before him, until he was gruesomely murdered by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father's mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. Together they follow legends and local lore, trying to keep up with the murderous dead—keeping pesky things like the future and friends at bay.
When they arrive in a new town in search of a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas doesn't expect anything outside of the ordinary: track, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he's never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, now stained red and dripping with blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home.
But she, for whatever reason, spares Cas's life. 

I waited months and months for my mother's library to receive this book because I was having anticipation attacks. Its so intriguing! This book was unlike anything I've ever read in my life. Like a modern day teen ghostbuster kinda story. But the ghostbuster falls in love with the murderous ghosts. Holy snap, crackle, and pop! There are plenty of strong parts in this book, but there is an equal amount of sluggish parts.  I sadly was kinda disappointed when i finished the last sentence. All those months of waiting and I get an okay book. Not what I wanted...

Anna is a strong character. She has no mercy, she has no guilt, but she has a weakness. Cas. Cas changes the killing machine, Anna, into a mortified, dead girl. Cas is also a good character (even though Anna's my favorite). He has a unique way of looking at life and he handles situations with humor and compassion which you can't always portray through book page. This book has a brutality to it, for those who are of weak stomachs. I was quite dismayed with the way it ended because it didn't set up for a sequel, but as I was searching for a photo of the cover, I found the sequel and it looks great. Who knows, maybe the author's writing has strengthened? Either way... I'm gonna read it. It would be a struggle not to.    Plot: 4/5 stars   Cover: 5/5 stars!!    -Katie