Anna Dressed in Blood

By: Kendare Blake

Narrated by: August Ross

Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

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 atheme, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. They follow legends and local lore, destroy the murderous dead, and keep pesky things like the future and friends at bay.

Searching for a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas expects the usual: track, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage. She still wears the dress she wore in the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, it is 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. Yet she spares Cas's life.

©2011 Kendare Blake (P)2012 AudioGO

Great story for YA readers but ...

How did the narrator detract from the book?

The narration was a bit off - full of odd pauses and unnatural emphasis on words. Also the accents and voice characterizations were awful and distracting.

Was Anna Dressed in Blood worth the listening time?

No. Do not listen to the audio version of this book. This is a great book for YA readers looking for a "creepy" read, but this audio version does not do the story justice and is very disappointing.

Finally a great ghost story with weird romance

Love Kendareblakes work! Every single one of her storys are dark, twisted with a hint of romace. Love her.

Meh story, meh narration

I did finish this book, but the story didn't make sense at times and the character development was really lacking. The narrator made the popular but smart girl sound like the girl from Clueless but even more dumb, and used the same bro voice for all the teenage guys. The narrator didn't even attempt a Cajun accent when it was called for, and totally missed an opportunity to use a super creepy voice when called for. Overall not terrible, but I think the author and narrator are both pretty new at their trades.

awesome

such a good book dude I love this book I hope Kendra makes the rest soon

Interesting Twisty Story, Terrible Narration

Every time I thought I could predict what would happen next, the plot through me for a loop! Genuinely enjoyed the story and all the characters within.

But the narrator didn't have enough range. His voice for a teenage girl was vapid, even though the character was not. Similar to the male best friend. His Haitian accent was non-existent, so I was a bit disappointed.

But I did enjoy the story.

Great story, not so great narration

This tale was fun and pretty fast after you get into it. I really enjoyed it after I got past the poor narrative.

Mild but intriguing ...

Although I would rate this story as pretty mild, I really enjoyed the premise of the overall story. The characters were well written and enjoyable. The only qualm I have is that the narrator is very robotic.

Great ghost story

Great ghost story. I read the book years ago. I think for the time the audio version is fine but if it was updated it would be great. This is one of my favorite stories. Kendare is a terrific storyteller.

Just ok

August Ross's narration is pretty painful at times, other times it's just plane bad. It's an ok story in all, but nothing special. Basic teen /horror / love story, not super original or well written, mediocre. It's an easy enough read/listen but it wasn't worth the 1 credit I used.

Wrong Category

This book was good and interesting, but definitely isn't a romance novel, it's young adult. The whole plot, the characters, even the narrator screamed YA. If I'd downloaded it thinking it was a YA novel, I would've given it 4 stars, but being a romance, I felt it was far too childish. The narrator is very young sounding and doesn't do great with voices. His female voices remind me of Trevor Noah doing a gag impression of his mom. The story did have a semi-unique take on the supernatural though. If you have the romance package and don't have to pay for this, I'd say to give it a listen, but if you have to use money or your monthly credit, skip it for now.