Girl of Nightmares Review

TITLE Girl of Nightmares (Anna #2)
AUTHOR Kendare Blake
PUBLICATION August 7, 2012 by Tor Teen
READ August 2 - 4, 2012

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.

A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

 

I put off reading Anna Dressed in Blood for far too long, and once I had devoured it I am thankful that I had Girl of Nightmares to jump right into. Girl of Nightmares is a more than worthy follow up to Anna. I'm not certain, but I have heard that this is only a two book series and that GoN is the end, and I must say, it is the perfect ending. This book had me hungrily turning the pages as it went in a direction that I had never expected. This is a much darker novel than its predecessor as it explores other realms, voodoo and cults of sorts. But never fear, dear reader, we are still graced with Cas' constant witty remarks and the friendship dynamic is explored much more deeply.

We start off the novel as Cas, Thomas and Carmel are trying to get a hold of their lives following losing dear Anna. Cas is very broody, and rightfully so, what he went through and the scenarios he is forced to face in Girl of Nightmares are shocking to say the least. Anna is now haunting Cas, is it of her own prerogative or is it a desperate call for help, we can't be certain but the visuals Kendare Blake throws at us are enough to make you turn on the light. There is some seriously spooky stuff going on in this one and while we do still have the balance of humor and darkness I feel that in this one the pendulum swung a fair bit more on the side of darkness.

Cas, Thomas and Carmel have formed their own little ghost hunting group, Cas is no longer a lone hunter. I grew to love Thomas even more in this novel as the layers of his personality are exposed and we see him in times of depression and excitement. He and Carmel have a relationship that may only be understood by the two of them but it was so great to see them growing closer together. Of course things can't always go on the straight path for our characters so we get to see things get shaken up a bit as they travel across the world on what some would call a suicide mission.

In writing this review I have found that I am most definitely not a fan of reviewing sequels! I don't want to ruin Anna Dressed in Blood for anyone and I don't want to rehash my feelings for the characters. So this is what you get, I loved it, I loved it, I loved it! It's full of creepy awesomeness and sarcastic hilarity. Girl of Nightmares has more than earned its spot on my favorites list.