Anna Dressed in Blood (Anna Series)

Just your average boy-meets-girl, girl-kills-people story...

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

So did his father before him, until his gruesome murder 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: move, 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, but now stained red and dripping 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.

And she, for whatever reason, spares his life. From the Kendare Blake website.

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Series: Number one in the Anna Series

Cover: Beautiful and appropriate

Genre: YA Horror

Pages/Words: 320/79,165

POV: Cas, first person

Setting: Present day Thunder Bay

Language: Moderate profanity and blasphemy

Sexual Content Rating: G

Gore and Violence Rating: Moderate

Publisher: Tor Teen (August 2011)

My thoughts: This was an interesting read though personally, I can't really say I liked it. Reading it, I felt disconnected. It was like watching a train wreck on the news. I understand that it's gruesome and horrible and sad, however I am not able to comprehend or feel the intensity that such emotions should evoke as I am not directly affected. So aside from the acceptance and acknowledgement that such an accident is awful and will be absolutely horrible for someone else, I can't say it has any lasting effect on my emotional state.

For this reason, I felt I couldn't help but be objective throughout the whole novel. Because of that, I was neither moved nor worried about the characters or the plot's development. Which to me is a let down as I feel that characters should be real and produce real emotions from a reader. Otherwise the story becomes flat and a lot less enjoyable.

Also there were some serious flaws in the way the author explained things. It had a very 'lazy' feel to it as though she didn't really think about a logical/realistic explanation and just went with something convenient. It was obviously lacking and kept grating at me.

On a positive note, I have to say that I quite liked the voice of the main character. Initially I thought that this was going to be told from Anna's point of view as I decided to read it based solely on the cover, so I was a bit surprised when a male started telling the story. Despite that, I enjoyed his somewhat dry humour. Though other than him, I didn't really like any of the other characters. Some were annoying, others were uninteresting.

This isn't a horrible book but it does have its flaws. If you're able to overlook those and don't mind a bit of violence and gore, you might enjoy this.

Cover image from goodreads

Kiss of Steel (London Steampunk Series)

He craves her like no other…

Honoria Todd has no choice. Only in the dreaded Whitechapel district can she escape the long reach of the Duke of Vickers. But seeking refuge there will put her straight into the hands of Blade, legendary master of the rookeries. No one would dare cross him, but what price would he demand to keep her safe?

Ever since Vickers infected him with the craving, Blade has been quicker, stronger, almost immortal—and terrified of losing control of the monster within. Honoria could be his perfect revenge against the duke…or the salvation he never dared to dream of. From the Bec McMaster website.

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Series: Number one in the London Steampunk Series

Cover: Not a true portrayal of the characters, otherwise it suits the theme of the story.

Genre: Steampunk

Pages/Words: 759/105,122

POV: Third Person shared between the main character and the love interest.

Setting: Alternate 19th century(ish) Whitechapel

Language: Moderate-Severe profanity & blasphemy

Sexual Content Rating: Mild-Moderate

Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca (September 2012)

My thoughts: This is the second steampunk novel I have read and it was better than the last, hopefully that will be a trend. As for the story, you can pretty much predict the flow and happenings so nothing really comes as a surprise. In fact I often found myself getting a little irritated because I already knew what was going to happen but it kept taking too long to develop. This made me feel that the author stretched out events for as long as she could, making the flow of the story a little slow.

On a positive note, the author acquaints you with her world quite skilfully and introduces everything on a need to know basis. A quick example would be that she'll introduce a foreign subject, then later on utilise it in a relatable way so that the reader is able to understand. This is preferable over other authors who dump a load of information in the first chapters.

As for character development, it isn't too bad. Neither are characters' personalities too grating either. There were some instances where a character's stubbornness was getting a little irritating but since it was understandable, it was forgiveable...barely. No complaints about the characters really except that I didn't care for them. What happened to them didn't matter to me.

To tell the truth the whole novel including the characters felt neutral as there wasn't anything great about it but there wasn't anything awful either. That coupled with the predictability was probably the reason why the novel felt flat to me. There was just no apprehension or suspense.

Though considering it was a debut novel, it wasn't a bad attempt. However, I will not be purchasing the next story in this series. Like I said I just didn't much care for what happened to the characters and the story was predictable. So I'm not willing to invest time and money learning more about them. Also I think the author needs more mileage under her belt. Maybe in a couple years time or maybe when she brings out a new series, I'll take another look.

Cover image from goodreads

A Discovery of Witches (All Souls Trilogy)

When historian Diana Bishop opens a bewitched alchemical manuscript in Oxford’s Bodleian Library it represents an unwelcome intrusion of magic into her carefully ordinary life. Though descended from a long line of witches, she is determined to remain untouched by her family’s legacy. She banishes the manuscript to the stacks, but Diana finds it impossible to hold the world of magic at bay any longer.

For witches are not the only otherworldly creatures living alongside humans. There are also creative, destructive daemons and long-lived vampires who become interested in the witch’s discovery. They believe that the manuscript contains important clues about the past and the future, and want to know how Diana Bishop has been able to get her hands on the elusive volume.

Chief among the creatures who gather around Diana is vampire Matthew Clairmont, a geneticist with a passion for Darwin. Together, Diana and Matthew embark on a journey to understand the manuscript’s secrets. But the relationship that develops between the ages-old vampire and the spellbound witch threatens to unravel the fragile peace that has long existed between creatures and humans—and will certainly transform Diana’s world as well. From the Deborah Harkness website.

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Series: Number one in the All Souls Trilogy

Cover: Appropriate, suits the setting, classy. 1 of 4 different versions.

Genre: Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy

Pages/Words: 759/224,449

POV: Alternating person views between the main character and the love interest. Though it only switched from the first person (main character) to the third person (love interest) once so I found it rather unnecessary.

Setting: Present Day Oxford

Language: Little if any at all

Sexual Content Rating: G

Publisher: Penguin Books (February 2011)

My thoughts: I couldn't finish this one, though I did try. However, since I didn't want to suffer through another book solely because I was being stubborn, I finally stopped at page 144. In the words of Mark Twain,'It is chloroform in print'.

The story is very slow and incredibly detailed; there's practically no progress at all. The best way to describe it is by liking it to a person who has nothing interesting to write about and so they fill their diary by describing every tedious and mundane thing that happens to them. It results in a heap of everyday tasks that no one cares about. What makes it worse is that it feels as though you are experiencing it all in real time.

The characters themselves aren't much better as they too are very boring, even though the main character happens to be a witch and the love interest a vampire. In fact, they were so normal and boring that I couldn't understand why anyone would want to write about them, let alone read about them. Also there were a lot of inconsistencies and contradictions in the main character that didn't sit well with me.

Truthfully, I don't see much appeal in this one.

Cover Image from Google Books