The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! 😌
droar's review against another edition
3.0
A solid follow-up, but much slower to start. I'm not a huge fan of the "is he crazy or not??!?!" trope, but they put that to rest fairly quickly. It was just a little too slow and anguished for my tastes. There was some understandable drama with side characters mid way through that was settled in a strange way, but it ended fairly strong. Over all, Good but not amazing.
octobertune's review against another edition
3.0
Warning, this review might have some minor spoilers for the first book in the series!
After reading Anna Dressed in Blood, I was both curious and not curious at all for the sequel. I wouldn't have minded if the story had ended with the first book, because to me it was a very good ending. But the story didn't end there. No, there was Girl of Nightmares, the second and last book of this series, where apparently Cas was going to try to rescue Anna from wherever she got dragged into.
To be honest, I was quite reluctant to read this book, mainly because of the 'romance' in the first one. I mean, he falls in love with a ghost, seriously? I know I'm not the biggest romance fan, but this kind of felt weird to me. I liked the rest of the book enough to not give it two stars, but the romance just ruined it for me. Still, I was curious for the rest of the story, so I got Girl of Nightmare.
The first half of the book, I was annoyed at Cas' determination to get Anna out of Hell. The girl is dead, let her be dead. She may not be in peace, but there is nothing you can do about it. I felt frustrated every time he ignored his friends' advice, his mother's advice, basically everyone's advice. I wanted to grab him by the shoulders, shake him and tell him to let her go. But of course, Cas did not let her go. He spend most of the book wanting to get her out of Hell, and he actually risked his life a couple of times because of this, and it just made me really angry. Sure, I get it, he's in love with her - but she's a ghost, she's been dead for decades, and she's in Hell. There is a very small change they will ever get together again.
During the second half of the book, things started to get more exciting, and I started to read with more pleasure. Carmel started acting really odd, and the guys were planning on opening a door to Hell to get Anna out. Seriously, these guys have probably never seen a Supernatural episode. BAD IDEA, BAD IDEA! Anyway, we got introduced to a new character - Jestine, whose name just sounded really odd to me (I mean, Jestine and Carmel for an English and American girl - but Anna for a Finnish girl - I don't hate the names, but I just thought it was funny). I didn't like Jessy - I am going to call her that - at first, because she felt like a complete show-off at first, but she kind of grew on me in the end.
When I got to the last couple of chapters, I started to feel really anxious, because there were only about fifty pages left, and nothing had really happened yet. I got more and more stressed, the more I read on, and the ending actually left me a bit.. yeah, well, unsatisfied I guess? I don't know, I just didn't like the way it ended, and I had kind of hoped for more closure. In the end, I think the characters started to grow on me more than usual, I even started to like Cas a bit more, but yeah I want to know more about them. Maybe a novella, Ms Blake? That would be really nice.
In the end, I liked Girl of Nightmare, but I wouldn't really call it one of my favourite reads of this year. If you're into horror stories, like Miss Peregrine's, I recommend this series to you - unless you're totally not into weird romances.
After reading Anna Dressed in Blood, I was both curious and not curious at all for the sequel. I wouldn't have minded if the story had ended with the first book, because to me it was a very good ending. But the story didn't end there. No, there was Girl of Nightmares, the second and last book of this series, where apparently Cas was going to try to rescue Anna from wherever she got dragged into.
To be honest, I was quite reluctant to read this book, mainly because of the 'romance' in the first one. I mean, he falls in love with a ghost, seriously? I know I'm not the biggest romance fan, but this kind of felt weird to me. I liked the rest of the book enough to not give it two stars, but the romance just ruined it for me. Still, I was curious for the rest of the story, so I got Girl of Nightmare.
The first half of the book, I was annoyed at Cas' determination to get Anna out of Hell. The girl is dead, let her be dead. She may not be in peace, but there is nothing you can do about it. I felt frustrated every time he ignored his friends' advice, his mother's advice, basically everyone's advice. I wanted to grab him by the shoulders, shake him and tell him to let her go. But of course, Cas did not let her go. He spend most of the book wanting to get her out of Hell, and he actually risked his life a couple of times because of this, and it just made me really angry. Sure, I get it, he's in love with her - but she's a ghost, she's been dead for decades, and she's in Hell. There is a very small change they will ever get together again.
During the second half of the book, things started to get more exciting, and I started to read with more pleasure. Carmel started acting really odd, and the guys were planning on opening a door to Hell to get Anna out. Seriously, these guys have probably never seen a Supernatural episode. BAD IDEA, BAD IDEA! Anyway, we got introduced to a new character - Jestine, whose name just sounded really odd to me (I mean, Jestine and Carmel for an English and American girl - but Anna for a Finnish girl - I don't hate the names, but I just thought it was funny). I didn't like Jessy - I am going to call her that - at first, because she felt like a complete show-off at first, but she kind of grew on me in the end.
When I got to the last couple of chapters, I started to feel really anxious, because there were only about fifty pages left, and nothing had really happened yet. I got more and more stressed, the more I read on, and the ending actually left me a bit.. yeah, well, unsatisfied I guess? I don't know, I just didn't like the way it ended, and I had kind of hoped for more closure. In the end, I think the characters started to grow on me more than usual, I even started to like Cas a bit more, but yeah I want to know more about them. Maybe a novella, Ms Blake? That would be really nice.
In the end, I liked Girl of Nightmare, but I wouldn't really call it one of my favourite reads of this year. If you're into horror stories, like Miss Peregrine's, I recommend this series to you - unless you're totally not into weird romances.
vanessamariebooks's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed the first book but I honestly didn't think there needed to be a sequel. I could have done without it.
bookswithlukas's review
4.0
Decent sequel that doesn't quite live up to the original.
Anna Dressed In Blood was a nice surprise for me, and while I'd say this sequel isn't as good as the first, it's still more or less on par to still ensure a four star rating. My main issue was the fact that due to it being more or less a direct continuation, Cas and Anna's love story was pushed into the being the main focus, and I felt that was one of the weaker aspects of the first novel.
There were some nice touches here though, especially the hell focused final fight…but it also felt like certain aspects didn't really need to be included, like Jestine and the Order (with the worst unpronounceable name ever). The overall tone of the book is similar to the first , and there are some really good scenes within their journey to the UK. The suicide forest was a particular highlight that is about as suspenseful as the novel gets, and a situation that reminded me of the older Mario games, with the ghosts getting closer everytime you turn your back.
Overall, I would say that if you enjoyed the first book in the series, you will enjoy this one. In my head though I was expecting more of a new story/case like most paranormal series do, as Anna's story seemed done. I'm a bit torn as I liked the continuation and resolution, yet it kind of also simply felt like the author had made a little loophole to write another book in the series. Although seeing as I did enjoy it, I can't complain too much about that I suppose.
Anna Dressed In Blood was a nice surprise for me, and while I'd say this sequel isn't as good as the first, it's still more or less on par to still ensure a four star rating. My main issue was the fact that due to it being more or less a direct continuation, Cas and Anna's love story was pushed into the being the main focus, and I felt that was one of the weaker aspects of the first novel.
There were some nice touches here though, especially the hell focused final fight…but it also felt like certain aspects didn't really need to be included, like Jestine and the Order (with the worst unpronounceable name ever). The overall tone of the book is similar to the first , and there are some really good scenes within their journey to the UK. The suicide forest was a particular highlight that is about as suspenseful as the novel gets, and a situation that reminded me of the older Mario games, with the ghosts getting closer everytime you turn your back.
Overall, I would say that if you enjoyed the first book in the series, you will enjoy this one. In my head though I was expecting more of a new story/case like most paranormal series do, as Anna's story seemed done. I'm a bit torn as I liked the continuation and resolution, yet it kind of also simply felt like the author had made a little loophole to write another book in the series. Although seeing as I did enjoy it, I can't complain too much about that I suppose.
queenofodas's review against another edition
3.0
¿Cómo uno puede explicar que este libro sea un 3 rotundo? Extrañé mucho a Anna, no hay mucho de ella y es entendible por la trama, pero aún se sintió como un vacío. El final es justo, no lo amé, pero, considerando la situación, estuvo bien.
fantasmariana's review against another edition
5.0
Después de haber disfrutado tanto de la primera parte de esta serie de libros, no estaba tan segura de querer leer esye libro.
A pesar de que la primera aventura de Cas deja muchos cabos sueltos, pensé que seguramente la continuación de la saga se enfocaría en el "romance paranormal" y dejaría de lado toda la parte terrorífica. ERROR.
Tras haber perdido a Anna, Cas se encuentra muy deprimido y desorientado, sin embargo, Thomas y Carmel se mantienen a su lado y lo apoyan en lo que pueden. Hay que mencionar que Thomas y Carmel tienen una participación bastante más activa en este volumen. Ambos personajes me gustaron mucho más ahora.
Sin embargo, Cas busca con desesperación la manera de traer de vuelta a Anna de donde sea que ella se encuentre. Esto desencadena una serie de investigaciones y descubrimientos que sugieren que hay muchas cosas que Cas aún debe de entender sobre su profesión como cazafantasmas.
La historia es bastante rápida de leer y tiene escenas memorables, (tales como la del bosque de los suicidas que a muchos lectores les ha puesto el pelo de punta). Sé que tal vez a muchos no les encante el final pero a mi me pareció perfecto.
No tengo mucho que decir más que la saga de Anna vestida de sangre se ha convertido en una de mis preferidas. <3
A pesar de que la primera aventura de Cas deja muchos cabos sueltos, pensé que seguramente la continuación de la saga se enfocaría en el "romance paranormal" y dejaría de lado toda la parte terrorífica. ERROR.
Tras haber perdido a Anna, Cas se encuentra muy deprimido y desorientado, sin embargo, Thomas y Carmel se mantienen a su lado y lo apoyan en lo que pueden. Hay que mencionar que Thomas y Carmel tienen una participación bastante más activa en este volumen. Ambos personajes me gustaron mucho más ahora.
Sin embargo, Cas busca con desesperación la manera de traer de vuelta a Anna de donde sea que ella se encuentre. Esto desencadena una serie de investigaciones y descubrimientos que sugieren que hay muchas cosas que Cas aún debe de entender sobre su profesión como cazafantasmas.
La historia es bastante rápida de leer y tiene escenas memorables, (tales como la del bosque de los suicidas que a muchos lectores les ha puesto el pelo de punta). Sé que tal vez a muchos no les encante el final pero a mi me pareció perfecto.
No tengo mucho que decir más que la saga de Anna vestida de sangre se ha convertido en una de mis preferidas. <3
bookcaptivated's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Death, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Suicide and Body horror