Anna Dressed In Blood Review

I'm currently away at BEA, so I thought I'd share some of my favorite reads so far this year that I haven't reviewed yet. 

Anna Dressed in Blood
by Kendare Blake
From Goodreads:

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.

My Thoughts:  This is what happens when I have too many books on my tbr shelves!  It takes me forever to get to the books I was once super excited about reading.  Which is a shame, because this is not the first awesome book that's gathered some dust on my (in this case, Kindle's) shelf.  I really need to stop putting certain books off.  Maybe I need to rate my tbr books by what stars I think they'll get, and tackle them that way... Hmmm..

So I loved this book.  It was like the awesomeness of Supernatural with only one hot ghost hunter dude so that I don't have to pick which hot guy to crush on (although it would be Dean.  Which is how, despite how he's described as looking, I pictured Cas.  Don't judge me.). And here be ghosts!

I loved how obsessed Cas became with Anna before he even met her.  How her image stayed with him, always at the top of his thoughts even when he was hanging out with the beautiful Queen Bee Carmel Jones. 

This book reminded me of good times I've had with friends and family, telling ghost stories, and how much I wish we still gathered around the campfire or living room table to scare the snot out of each other.  Lots of people grow up and move away from ghost stories, but readers like me never let go.

I realize  from the title that I should have realized that Anna was going to be of the violent ghost persuasion, but I was a bit unprepared for how bad ass she was.  Less than a quarter of the way through the book, she put me in my place by ripping a wrestler dude in half.  I was both sickened and just a wee bit impressed.  Skills like that could come in handy. 

I think part of the reason it took me so long to read Anna Dressed in Blood was that maybe I was afraid it wouldn't live up to it's title.  That maybe because it was YA it'd be all watered down like watching a horror movie on Lifetime, all the actually scariness and blood edited out, but it's not.  Anna is as fierce as her title. 

Should you read this book?  Hells, yeah!

Should you send me a copy of second book ARC?  Yes, immediately.  :)

It's Quote Time!

They have rationalized their fears away.  People shouldn't do that.

I'm no superhero.  If anything I'm Rorschach from Watchmen.  I'm Grendel. I'm the survivor in Silent Hill.

God, living people are irritating.

Anna Dressed In Blood gets a Midnight Book Rating of:

The cover gets a Midnight Book Cover Rating of:

What My Best Friend Did Review

What My Best Friend Did
by Lucy Dawson
From Goodreads:

From Lucy Dawson, author of "His Other Lover," comes a smart and chilling look at the shadowy side of friendship.
For Alice, life's a bit too boringly grown-up lately--weekends at weddings and baby showers; celebrating friends' transitions to a life she isn't quite up for yet; and a sweet, stable boyfriend she suspects she's outgrown. So when she meets Gretchen for the first time, it feels a bit like falling in love. Gretchen, with her air of impulsiveness and intuitive style, is that rarest of treasures: a true friend who knows how to have fun. Plus there's Gretchen's gorgeous brother, Bailey, who might turn out to be exactly what Alice needs. Before she knows what's hit her, Alice's brilliant new best friend is turning her world upside down--seemingly for the better.
But Gretchen has a dark secret, which, like a time bomb, won't stay hidden forever. The explosion may teach them both more than they ever wanted to know about how female friendships can go frighteningly wrong.

My Thoughts: What My Best Friend Did was a total impulse buy.  I'm still a member of Doubleday even though I long ago fulfilled my membership requirements because they still have the occasional awesome sale on hard back books.  This book was bought in one of those buying sprees where I find my cart filling up magically.  On it's own.  Honestly.

So of course, like most impulse books purchases, this book was lingering on my TBR bookcase (no longer content with just a single shelf or two, it has taken over an entire large book case).  Thankfully I'm taking my 2012 tbr challenges seriously, reading books off my shelves or my kindle back log.  I picked this one because I just love the cover and the title is definitely intriguing.

Sadly it didn't quite live up to my expectations.  Alice as a main character is pretty unlikeable.  She's mean to her nice, albeit boring, boyfriend, and she flings herself into a friendship with Gretchen and a relationship with Bailey, Gretchen's brother, with all the maturity of a YA character.  But What My Best Friend Did is not a YA novel.  

I almost gave up a few times, but once the book gets to the back story of Gretchen's mental illness and we begin to get hints that the latest episode with her was not as it appears to be, I was sucked in.  I might not like Alice too much, but it was hard not to yell in horror at some of the things Gretchen did to her.  Plus, even though I've just said I don't like Alice, she was refreshingly flawed.  She gets caught in lies, she makes mistakes, and she has a toxic female friendship.  Which is probably why I don't like Alice, she's just a bit too much like me. ;) 

The ending did surprise me a bit, and while I thought it ended when it should have, I kind of wanted to stick around for some of the fall out.  This isn't a book I'm dying to share with my friends and fellow book bloggers, but it's a fairly quick read in the vein of a very toned down Single White Female.

Another thing that makes me hesitate to recommend this book is the way it deals with mental illness.  In some ways its a perfect look at manic depression, but it might offend some people by the way the mentally ill character uses her illness to manipulate others.  I think it does bring up an interesting argument, how much can be attributed to mental illness and just plain old bad behavior? 


What My Best Friend Did gets a Midnight Book Rating of:

The cover gets a Midnight Book Cover Rating of:

I love the colors, and I'll probably just keep the book to decorate my yellow shelf (yes, some of my bookcases are organized by color).

Across the Universe

Across the Universe
by Beth Revis
From Goodreads:

 Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.

Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone - one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship - tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next.

Now, Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.

I was a fan of Beth Revis long before I finally read this book. I follow Revis on her blog and twitter accounts and I get the feeling that I'd be friends with her if she lived on my street. Perhaps that's why Across the Universe has lingered so long on my shelf. I was afraid that I wouldn't like it, the same way I would feel if my a friend handed me her manuscript.  I know my friend can write, but I'm fearful of not loving it as much as I think I should.

Fortunately my fears, once again, proved groundless. I am not a huge science fiction fan, preferring the fantasy aspect of science fiction to the actual sciencey part of the genre. Now, like the Host by Stephenie Meyer, Revis doesn't try too hard to go over my head with the details about space travel. Maybe that will bother science fiction purists, but I think it makes for a great intro to sci-fi for the YA audience.


Across the Universe is thought provoking YA novel- which is kind of funny because most of the YA I read in the late 80's and early 90's during the time I actually qualified as young adult were designed much more to entertain and not to make the reader think. The entire story takes place on a ship heading for a new planet- a new Earth. The ship is fueled as much with lies and secrets as it is anything else. Amy, our heroine, was meant to sleep her way across the universe, waking only when the ship arrives at the new planet, but someone awakens her early and life aboard the ship is as alien to Amy as Earth is to the ship's inhabitants.

The romance between Amy and  Elder is subtle, and not the main focus of the book. When Amy is awoken early from hibernation, her memories of Earth feel like yesterday, and not 200 years ago. It makes sense that she'd be preoccupied with what's happening on board. It also makes sense that she wouldn't be quite ready for romance if she still has memories that feel like yesterday of the boy she left behind.

Elder is faced with many moral dilemmas and it was his character I most enjoyed reading about, if only because there is so much Amy's character was kept in the dark about. Side characters, especially the shadowy Orion, helped invest me in the goings on aboard Godspeed. I'm hoping to meet even more characters in the next book!

(Spoilerish)
I'm interested in Elder's struggles as Eldest. Will he become a leader who rules through fears and lies or will he continue to try to follow his heart? While Amy would probably say his path is clear,  and that truth and honesty should rule the ship, I think that Elder realizes that leadership is not that easy. I think the most interesting aspect of the next book will be Elder's continuing awakening along with the rest of the people on board. Although Elder has Amy by his side, he's been "raised" by Eldest, so who knows how Elder will rule?

I can't wait to read A Million Suns. The only benefit to waiting as long to read Across the Universe as I did is that now I don't have to wait long for the second book! Across the Universe was part of my Mount TBR challenge and I'm glad that I finally got around to it! I don't read too much of this kind of genre (lately it seems I only read dystopian, which I still love, but it's nice to have a change of pace).  I'm even thinking of going back and re-reading my Xanth novels by Piers Anthony, which were my first real introduction into sci-fi.

Across the Universe gets a Midnight Book Rating of:

The cover of Across the Universe gets a Midnight Book Cover Rating of:

I love the colors!  And I love the image of figures, it's as if Elder is leaning down to kiss Amy as she lays sleeping in hibernation. 

Drive Review

Drive
By James Sallis
From Goodreads:

Much later, as he sat with his back against an inside wall of a Motel 6 just north of Phoenix, watching the pool of blood lap toward him, Driver would wonder whether he had made a terrible mistake. Later still, of course, there’d be no doubt. But for now Driver is, as they say, in the moment. And the moment includes this blood lapping toward him, the pressure of dawn’s late light at windows and door, traffic sounds from the interstate nearby, the sound of someone weeping in the next room....”

Thus begins Drive by one of the nation’s most respected and honored authors. Set mostly in Arizona and L.A., the story is, according to Sallis, “about a guy who does stunt driving for movies by day and drives for criminals at night. In classic noir fashion, he is double-crossed and, though never before has he participated in the violence (I drive. That’s all.), he goes after the ones who double-crossed and tried to kill him.”

My Thoughts: A lot different from the movie, but in someways even better. Driver's quest for revenge is even more bloody and successful in the book. While characters like Shannon in the movie have a smaller role in the book, great side characters like Doc and Manny add flavor to the story. Plus, I was still able to picture Driver as Ryan Gosling, so the book was a total win. It does not have the sweet, subtle romance that the movie had, but you get Driver's back story which helps you understand why he is the way he is and how he's able to do what he needs to do in order to survive.

Seriously, even if the summary doesn't interest you even if my opinion doesn't sway you, buy the book just for the yummy Ryan Gosling cover. 

Drive get's a Midnight Book Rating of:

The book cover gets a Midnight Book Cover Rating of:

Because Ryan's so delicious!

And my attempt at a Ryan Gosling meme:

Life Support Review

Life Support 
by Tess Gerritsen
First published in 1996
From Goodreads:

The overnight ER rotation at Springer Hospital is a calm one, which suits Dr. Toby Harper just fine. While Toby is fiercely proud of the stripes she earned as a resident in a big-city ER, she's come to appreciate the pace at Springer. But no hospital could have been prepared for the man Toby admits one quiet night. Delirious and in critical condition from a possible viral infection of the brain, he barely responds to treatment. And then he disappears without a trace. Under fire from the hospital administration for literally losing a patient, and fearful that she's missed a life-threatening diagnosis, Toby knows she must find the patient. Her hunt is intensified when a second delirious patient dies in the hospital's care. But even more chilling is the discovery that the infection can only be spread through direct tissue exchange.

My Thoughts: A few years ago I read my first Gerritsen novel- The Surgeon.  I quickly devoured the Rizzoli and Isles books, while I collected her other stand alone books.  Last year I finally read one- The Bone Garden, which turned out to be one of my favorite reads in 2011.  As part of my resolve to read the many, many unread books I already own this year, I picked up Life Support.

I don't know if I picked the best time to read a medical thriller, as I read it while keeping watch over my mom in the hospital (she's doing much better and will be coming to live with us once she gains strength at a physical rehabilitation center). Fortunately the plot had more to do with Alzheimer's and genetic experimentation than the pneumonia and congestive heart failure that my mom was busy fighting.

Let me start with what I did like- Life Support gives a very real portrayal of Alzheimer's disease and what it's like for the family members and care takers.  The science behind the genetic experiments, while disgusting and perhaps unrealistic, was thrilling and there were some great plot twists throughout the book.  Some of the information in the book was a little outdated, but this is one of Gerritsen's earlier books, and the woman knows how to craft a plot.

Where the book failed to grab me was the main character.  I never felt connected to Toby and didn't much like her, although towards the end I did feel bad for her plight even if I kind of blamed her for some of the trouble she found herself in.  To be honest though, it took me a couple of books to warm up to Jane Rizzoli and Maura Isles too.  Probably because I don't have much in common with there tough, driven women, but Gerritsen creates great female characters- they may be successful, but they're hardly one dimensional and suffer from the same issues all women deal with, in this case Toby has pretty much put her life on hold in order to care for her ailing mom.  Normally Tess Gerritsen book's get me so wrapped up in the plot that I soon find myself caring for characters that are hard to love (Rizzoli in The Surgeon is a particularly prickly pear).


Life Support was okay, but not great.  It will not deter me from reading the rest of Tess Gerritsen's books- I tend to be pretty author loyal.  This book was a fairly decent medical thriller, it just didn't grip me as tightly as her previous books have done.

Life Support gets a Midnight Book Rating of:

The cover of Life Support (at least the edition I own) gets a Midnight Book Rating of:

The cover's slightly pornographic looking and has little to do with the plot.

More 2012 Challenges!

So, you know I can't resist a Reading Challenge... although I am pretty resistant at finishing them... Oh, well, 2012 will be a new year so you never know when they'll come up with a cure for procrastinator's like me!

Here's some more challenges I'm joining, you can find the complete list on my left hand side bar.

Read Your Name Challenge:

Basically all this challenge requires is for you to pick book titles (the first letter in each title) that spells out your name. Now obviously, Midnight Book Girl would be a ridiculous choice, so I'm going with KATE.  It seems like a fun challenge, and one that's within my powers to actually finish!!

What's In A Name 5 Challenge: 

I did this challenge in 2011 and actually finished it!  I love the treasure hunt aspect to this challenge, and this year I'll have to read books who's titles refer to: topographical features, something you'd see in the sky, creepy crawly, type of house, something you'd carry in your pocket, purse or backpack, and something you'd find on a calender.  This one can be a bit tricky, but it's 6 books in all and I'm hoping it will lead to some creative reading on my part!

Mount TBR Reading Challenge: 

What I like about this challenge is that I have already decided that I have to do something about my crazy TBR shelves.  Most of them are books I really, really want to read!  It's insane to keep piling up books that I'm not reading.  So no more of that!  I'm going to focus on trying to get it under control so that I can enjoy shopping for new books without the guilt of those dying a slow death on my shelves.  There's different levels for this challenge, but I'm choosing Mt. Ararat, which is 40 books.  I hope to go higher, but I want to keep it realistic too.  I read 175 books or so in 2011, there's no reason on earth that I can't get to 40 books off my own darn shelves in 2012!  I plan on getting to 3-5 books on my tbr shelves a month, which would put me at 60 tbr books, but I don't want to push my luck.  

Bucket List Reading Challenge:

I'm going big on this one, since it coincides with my Mount TBR challenge.  I'm choosing to do the Semi level and here's the 13 books I plan on getting to:

1. Across the Universe

2. Bran Hambric and the Fairfield Curse

3. Anna and the French Kiss

4. Matched

5. Anna Dressed in Blood

6. The Invention of Hugo Cabret

7. Twenty Boy Summer

8. Drive

9. What My Best Friend Did

10. The Forest of Hands and Teeth

11. Feed

12. Uglies

13. The Screwtape Letters 

Books You Can Read In A Day Challenge:

I'm going with Level 1 on this challenge, which is to read 15 books- not all at once, but separately, in one day.  Here's a (partial) list of books I already have in mind:

1. Digit: She's Got Your Number by Annabelle Monaghan

2. Drive by James Sallis

3. Anna Dressed in Blood

4. Bewitching

5. Smokin' Seventeen

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

A-Z 2012 Challenge

I love this challenge and am so glad that Kim of Page After Page is hosting it.  I had a huge problems with letters K and Y, but was able to pull out a win in 2011.  Of course I got lucky with some of my letters, like Queen of the Dead, Zombies Vs. Unicorns, and XVI... so 2012 might be a bit more difficult!!

 
Reading Challenge Addict!

Feeling as addicted to reading challenges as I am?  Then this is a great group to join!  Plus it's a great way to learn of even MORE Reading Challenge!!