Review: Girl of Nightmares

Title: Girl of Nightmares
Author: Kendare Blake
Series: Sequel to Anna Dressed in Blood
Publisher: Tor Teen
Find it here: Amazon, Goodreads
Source: ARC, ALA

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.

My thoughts:

Anna Dressed in Blood is one of my favorite young adult horror novels because Kendare Blake does not hold back when it comes to blood and gore! I didn’t expect anything less when I picked up Girl of Nightmares and I’m so glad! All my favorite aspects from Anna Dressed in Blood were alive and thriving in Girl of Nightmares which made for a really exciting read!

One of the reasons why Anna Dressed in Blood and Girl of Nightmares are so amazing is because of the three main characters! They really came together in the former and continued to rely on each other in the latter. The dynamics of Cas, Thomas, and Carmel really works well and they play off of each other’s strengths which always makes for an exciting read! Thomas’ grandfather is one of my favorite characters! He made me laugh a lot! I really wanted to know more about the Obehman. Was he human before he became this monster? Was he a ghost who became super powerful? Is he a demon? I would have liked his origins explored more.

Going into Girl of Nightmares, all I really knew is that Cas was going to try to save Anna from wherever she was. Cas didn’t even know where Anna was! So I didn’t know where this book was going to take the readers but that almost made it more exciting because I had no idea! I really liked that the adventure took the gang outside of their little town into London and then into the Suicide Forest! The secret society of ghost hunters was also very interesting and I would love to see a side book that dives deeper into the history of it!

I really, really liked this book and I’m so glad that Kendare Blake has decided to write horror within YA! I give Girl of Nightmares 4 hearts because even though I loved it, it wasn’t as enthralling or all-consuming as Anna Dressed in Blood!