Girl of Nightmares Review (aka an excuse to use Supernatural GIFs)

Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake
Published: August 7, 2012

Synopsis from Goodreads: Girl of Nightmares, the acclaimed sequel to Kendare Blake's Anna Dressed in Blood.

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 rating: 4 of 5 stars

You don't understand how excited I was to finally get my hands on Girl of Nightmares. I read Anna Dressed in Blood over Christmas last year - yeah, I know great choice for a holiday book, right? - and I couldn't wait to read the sequel. But, me being a weirdo and liking my series books to match each other, I decided to wait until the paperback of Girl of Nightmares released before reading it. I thought it came out in June but somehow I read something wrong and it released in July. Don't ask how I confuse myself in these ways. I barely understand my own functionality sometimes.

Anyway, Girl of Nightmares definitely has a different tone from the first Anna book. The first book had ghosts and creepiness on practically every other page so much so that I actually wouldn't read in bed at night when I knew no one else was awake. Yes, I'm a scaredy cat, chicken, or whatever you wish to call it and fully I admit it. No shame there. I'm not usually one to read horror stories at all but when I read the synopsis for the first book all I saw was:

 

 Protagonist: "Cas" + Occupation: "Ghost Hunter" =

 The Only Logical Train of Thought:

 

 ...Oh Misha, strange, adorable Misha...

 

I'm sure you'd would immediately make the same connection in your head. Don't lie. You know it's true.

 

 

Back to the point, the sequel though was much different. Ghost hunting wasn't Cas's main focus anymore. He was heartbroken over Anna's sacrifice for him and his friends and even more so when she began appearing to him while being tortured in every imaginable way. Most of the book deals with Cas trying to figure out how to find Anna and how to help her. It wasn't quite what I was expecting after the first book but it held its own even without the amped up creep factor.

My favorite part of the book was definitely Cas's narration. He would take a scene that should have been horrifying and throw in witty sarcasm at the strangest times. It made for the perfect mix of drama, action, and humor breaks.

His skin is black as a struck match, cracked and oozing liquid metal heat, like he's covered by a cooling layer of lava. The eyes stand out bright white. I can't make out from this distance if they have corneas. God I hope they have corneas. I hate that creepy weird-eye shit. - Cas, page 63

 

Carmel and Thomas have their share of great one liners as well. Also, I have to say, they make a really cute couple though for a lot of the book, I couldn't really figure out if they were actually together or not. Then again, Cas was a little confused about that too so it's not a big deal. Still, they were super cute like Sam-lost-his shoe cute.

This book is everything a sequel should be. It shows the impact the events of the first book had on the characters and the ways in which it changed them. It's not just a repeat of the same kind of things that the first book had. A lot of just stuff happened is packed into these pages but it didn't get boring at all. And the end...

 

It was a really perfect ending. Kendare Blake has hinted that she might not be done writing about Cas and the gang yet but even if she doesn't, I will be completely satisfied with how this left me. So, if you like horror, action, all the supernatural stuffs, and romance with tidbits of humor thrown in for good measure, I strongly suggest you pick up these books. They're quick, easy reads but they're definitely worth it.

Top Ten Tuesday #6: Top Ten Books on My Summer TBR List

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/meme created by The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's topic is summer reading TBR. Technically speaking, my last book haul post was my TBR list for the summer. So I won't bore you all by rewriting my blurbs about each book. Instead I'll just post the wonderful covers simply because they're oh so pretty.

Top Ten Books on My Summer Reading TBR List

  

 

Of these summer book haul books, I'm most excited to read Red Rising, Eon, and The Revenge of Seven. Eon is something that 1) I've heard great things about and 2) Tamora Pierce suggests it. Now I have to read it! Red Rising = adult dystopia! Exciting! And I've been waiting impatiently for The Revenge of Seven ever since The Fall of Five ended. That cliffhanger was pretty bad - not Mark-of-Athena-bad for pretty bad still.

 

Books not included in my book haul that I also plan to read are:

 

 

Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell - I've heard really great things about this book. Half my co-workers have read it already and are raving about it. I must know why. Plus, I really liked Fangirl so I'm expecting to like this one as well.

Looking for Alaska by John Green - I've only read TFIOS and Looking for Alaska seems to be the next biggest thing John Green has written. I read the first few pages at work but didn't get very far. It seemed pretty interesting. It's sort of a toss up though whether I want to read this or Papertowns first.

 

The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien - This is just a long, long, long overdue reread. Plus, I've never actually read The Return of the King. I think it's time to now. It was either reread this or reread Harry Potter. I've read Harry a lot more than I've read LOTR though so I'm trying to even that out more a bit.

 

Book Haul Time!!

So I've been really good not really these past few months in the book buying area. I told myself that after my last huge haul over Christmas and my birthday, I wouldn't buy anything again until summer. I mostly stayed true to that. My last haul had me reading Percy Jackson for the first time. Of course, after I finished the first series I had to buy the next one - that was just a given. I've also borrowed a few books since then too. But I read ten out of the thirteen books in my last haul so all things considered, I've been good and I've worked on reading things strictly from my TBR pile. Happy dance with me:

 

I skipped the Top Ten Tuesday topic this week because I knew I wouldn't be doing my summer reading haul until today. So this post is on topic for TTT but isn't exactly a TTT.

 

Summer Book Haul

Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper - This is something that I've been reading on and off during down time at work. It's a middle grade book about a girl, Melody, who was born with a disease that cost her most of her bodily functions. She eventually learns to flip herself over and her thumbs work fine but for the most part, Melody has no control over her body and is confined to a wheelchair. She also can't talk and this is what frustrates her the most because she is incredibly smart and has a lot to say. From what I've read of it so far, it's pretty good. I'm hoping to sit down and actually finish it soon.

The Maze Runner by James Dashner - I've been wanting to read this book for a long time and now that the movie is coming soon. I figured now is as good a time as any. The trailer looks amazing, by the way. Thomas wakes up with no memory surrounded by a bunch of strangers also with no memory. All that's around them is the maze which is always changing and it's the only way out. I honestly don't know much about the plot of this book but I've excited to read it anyway.

 

 

Eon and Eona by Alison Goodman - I have heard great things about these books. AND Tamora Pierce reviewed them! She is one of my favorite authors. Eon is training in Dragon Magic in hopes to become the Dragoneye. However, he has a secret that must stay hidden. He is actually Eona, a sixteen year old girl. Girls are forbidden to study Dragon Magic and if anyone discovered the truth about Eon, she would be sentenced to death. This is a very similar plot basis to Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce which is something I practically read to pieces and I'm really excited to find out more about Eona.

 

 

Red Rising by Pierce Brown - My first non-YA book in a while. It was actually a customer at work who first told me about this book and he basically said it's the adult version of The Hunger Games. This is the first book in a new adult trilogy about Darrow, a Helldiver who lives and works under the surface of Mars. It is said that Mars is uninhabitable and the work that Darrow and his fellow Helldivers do will go towards one day being able to live above the surface. However, Darrow finds out that this is a lie and Mars truly is habitable and has been the living area for generations of people called the Golds. Darrow and other rebels plan to infiltrate the Golds and take down their oppressors. Again, I'm really excited to read this book. I had to order it so I'll have it soon but I definitely can't wait.

 

Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira - Technically, I just finished reading this and I've already reviewed it. Although I only gave this book 3.5 out of 5 stars, I liked it enough to want to buy it after I only borrowed it from work. There were a surprising amount of quotes in here that I really really loved and now that I actually own the book, I can go about tagging my favorites.

Books I'm Anticipating This Summer

 

Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake -  expected publication: June 17, 2014. I know that this book is old and is out already but since I only read the first part last December, I figured I'd wait until the paperback came out to buy it so my set could match. Yeah, I'm weird like that. Basically in this book, Cas can't get over Anna's sacrifice and he begins to see her everywhere in dreams and in waking nightmares but wherever she shows up, she's being tortured and now it's his turn to save her. I really liked Anna Dressed in Blood a lot more than I thought I would actually. Plus, I'm pretty sure Kendare Blake is a Supernatural fan. Dudes, her main character's name is Cas and he's a ghost hunter. Whether she's a fan or not, she gets bonus points anyway just because the book reminds  me of Supernatural without being a rip off.

 

The Revenge of Seven by Pittacus Lore - expected publication: August 26, 2014. Does anyone read these books? Tell me I'm not the only one out there who reads these. DON'T WATCH THE MOVIE!!!! I repeat: DO NOT WATCH THE MOVIE!!! I think the movie killed this series' fandom which is unfortunate because these books are awesome. This is the fifth book in the main series. I have to catch on the little mini-books but I have time for that and they aren't absolutely necessary to the main story. I don't like the cover though. It's kind of gross looking - like moldy slime. I'm not going to go into a summary of this book because to say anything would give away spoilers to the previous four. Let me just say that, if for some reason you have watched the movie, Four (not Tobias/Four but John/Four - who came first, by the way) is so much cooler in the books. And his hands aren't massive flashlights. And he has an awesome shape-shifting dog. And Nine. I swear if Nine dies... The whole Walking Dead phenomenon if Daryl dies? Yeah, that will be me if Nine dies. Nine isn't allowed to die. Or BK.

 

 

Well, folks, that's it for my summer book haul! I'm sure I'll add a few things here and there but these are the books that I'll definitely be reading this summer. Have you read any of them? Is there anything you think I should add? (Excluding City of Heavenly Fire - sorry, I'm just not going there.)

 

Are you one of the rare Lorien Legacies fans? LET ME KNOW IF YOU ARE!!! I need to fangirl with you.