Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake

THIS IS A SEQUEL!!! Read First (Anna Dressed in Blood) First!!!

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.

Ok guys, I know I'm a bad person and all, but here is the book review I promised you! Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake is the sequel to Anna Dressed in Blood. Now A.D.B was a pretty great book: creepy, cool, sweet, exciting, etc, and so I was just dying (no pun intended) to read the second. Turns out, the second is just as awesome!

So since Cas, the ghost-hunter, fell in love with Anna, the murderous ghost, and Anna sacrificed herself to save Cas, Poor Anna ended up in hell. Cas is like "NO! This is Whack!", so he decides to drag himself, his friends, and a "fr-enemy"  into danger so that Cas can go to Hell and save his murderous ghost girlfriend. Do you follow?

Now this book is not one to read in the dark. It can get pretty freaky! But it is the legit kinda freaky instead of the "give you nightmares so you can never sleep again" kinda freaky. And I really appreciate how the author was able to  include the scary essence without making her book terrifying. Altho, a couple times I had to pull my mind out of the book and control my breathing. And let me just say, guys, I hate being scared and horror movies and such. So, if you're even a little bit scared of reading something Stephen King-y, then I can say that if I read it, you can.

The writing was great. It kinda had a Rick Riordan flare to it  which is a great compliment from me. If you don't know what I'm talking about, then Rick Riordan is the author of the Percy Jackson, Kane Chronicles, etc, and he is able to take kinda sifi/ Greek/ Roman/ and Egyptian stuff, put it in the 21st century, and make it funny. Kendare Blake was able to do that with ghosts, and I have to say that her character, Cas, has a lot of the same qualities as Percy Jackson. And it takes a lot of talent to be able to balance funny, creepy, and serious into a harmonious book.

Overall, the ending was kinda disappointing because I doesn't set up for a sequel, but I'm kinda okay with the ending, I guess. I did just kind of threw resolutions in there, but I approve of how everything works out. And the surprise twist is kinda bitter-sweet, but I understand why the author wants to go on that path. I do recommend both books because they are pretty great, but they may not be for everyone.

Cover: 5/5 stars!!!

Plot: 4/5 stars

Love, Katie