WWW (35) and Waiting On Wednesday (March 7th, 2013): Antigoddess by Kendare Blake

W. W. W. Wednesday is hosted by Should Be Reading a great blog that I subscribe to. Here's how it works... Each Wednesday I will answer the following questions:

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you'll read next?

So, this is the first WWW/WoW I've done since going back to work for the first time in 11 years because I am FINALLY learning to manage my time!  I've not had as much time for reading, and even less for blogging, but I think I'm beginning to catch up...

What are you currently reading?

Fuse by Julianna Baggott~ I totally loved Pure, the first book in this trilogy (read my full review HERE), but I'm having a difficult time getting into this one.  I'm kind of on a hiatus from it right now, so I can read something else...

Spellcaster by Claudia Gray~  I just started this one, and am already really liking it.  I love stories about witches, and this one is quite different from the standard fare.  Look for a review early next week.

The Wishing Spell (The Land of Stories, Book #1) by Chris Colfer~  So, who knew Kurt from Glee could write?  I'm reading this one to my eight year old daughter, and really loving it!




What did you recently finish reading?

Notes From Ghost Town by Kate Ellison~  LOVED this one!  I wasn't all that impressed with Kate Ellison's debut, The Butterfly Clues, but I thought her second go was amazing!  Read my full review HERE.

Breaking Point by Kristen Simmons~ I really enjoyed this one too.  I finally read Article 5 in preparation of reading this, and thought it was great.  Breaking Point was a fantastic second installment.  Read my review HERE.



What do you think you'll read next?

Mind Games by Kiersten White~  I'm kind of behind on my review reading, and this is one of the books that I am dying to read.  It looks fabulous, and I've heard wonderful things about it from other bloggers.

Dear Life, You Suck by Scott Blagden~ Another one I'm looking forward to.  Scott's a funny, funny guy, and I am super excited to read and review his debut!

"Waiting On" Wednesday is another fun blog event. Hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, this event gives us a chance to talk about the books we anxiously await the release of. Since there is ALWAYS a looooooong list of books I'm waiting on (I actually keep a spreadsheet), I figured this is one that I MUST do.

I haven't done one of these in ages, but I really wanted to profess my love and excitement for this upcoming book.  I had the honor of introducing this wonderful author at the Decatur Book Festival this past summer, and she was just great (very gracious about my fangirling).  I loved her first two books, Anna Dressed In Blood (read my review HERE) and Girl of Nightmares (read my review HERE), so it only stands to reason that I would be looking forward to her next book...

Antigoddess by Kendare Blake

Old Gods never die…

Or so Athena thought. But then the feathers started sprouting beneath her skin, invading her lungs like a strange cancer, and Hermes showed up with a fever eating away his flesh. So much for living a quiet eternity in perpetual health.

Desperately seeking the cause of their slow, miserable deaths, Athena and Hermes travel the world, gathering allies and discovering enemies both new and old. Their search leads them to Cassandra—an ordinary girl who was once an extraordinary prophetess, protected and loved by a god.

These days, Cassandra doesn’t involve herself in the business of gods—in fact, she doesn’t even know they exist. But she could be the key in a war that is only just beginning.

Because Hera, the queen of the gods, has aligned herself with other of the ancient Olympians, who are killing off rivals in an attempt to prolong their own lives. But these anti-gods have become corrupted in their desperation to survive, horrific caricatures of their former glory. Athena will need every advantage she can get, because immortals don’t just flicker out.

Every one of them dies in their own way. Some choke on feathers. Others become monsters. All of them rage against their last breath.

The Goddess War is about to begin.

(Courtesy of Goodreads)

Publisher:  TorTeen

Publication Date:  September 10th, 2013

My Expected Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★  

What are YOU Waiting On?

ARC Review: Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake

Publisher: Tor Teen

Publication: August 7th, 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.

(Courtesy of Goodreads)

I absolutely LOVED this book's predecessor, Anna Dressed In Blood (read my review HERE)!  It was high up on my Top 25 Books of 2011, and I had super-high expectations for Girl of Nightmares.  It was one of my most anticipated books of 2012, not only because of the amazing cover, because I've had a burning desire to know what comes next.  Did it meet my sky-high hopes?  Abso-freaking-lutely!  I will admit that I liked Anna Dressed In Blood a tiny bit better, but don't let that lower your opinion of this book, because it was phenomenal!  Wanna know more?

Girl of Nightmares picks up a couple of months after Anna sacrifices herself in order to drag the demonic Obeahman into hell, saving Cas, Thomas, and Carmel from certain death.  Nobody really knows exactly where they went, they just know that they are gone...  Now, months later, Cas is having dreams and daytime hallucinations of Anna being tortured,and it is driving him mad.  He feels like he has to find a way to help her, so he begins to search, against the advice of everyone he knows, for a way to free her. His search takes him to London, where a secret society, the very one that originally forged his ghost-killing blade, can give him the assistance he needs.  Is he willing to pay the price for their assistance, is the question...

This storyline of this book was just as mind-mending as the first book.  The characters were still awesome, the pace was once again perfect, the scary parts kicked just as much butt, it was just as action-packed, and there was just enough emotional tension to keep me turning the pages.  In respect to the setting, I thought the world-building was even better this time around.  Kendare Blake's descriptions of Hell were terrifying, and even more than those were her description of the "Suicide Forest".  She paints an unnerving picture that I won't soon forget!  Seriously nightmare inducing!  So, why was this book not quite as good for me as the first one?  Not enough Anna, pure and simple!  Anna doesn't really get much play until toward the end, and then she just wasn't the kick-ass Anna I grew to love in the first book.  She was tortured and pathetic for the most part, and although we do see some glimpses of the real Anna, it wasn't enough for me.

I don't believe there will be any more Anna books.  The story wrapped up neatly and in a way that I didn't expect.  Cas is even more of an awesome character because of how he let Anna's story come to a close, and I remain staunch in my opinion that he is one of the most swoon-worthy male characters in YA because of it.  I was satisfied with this closure in a very melancholy way because I will miss these characters, none of whom more than Anna, but I think it ended as perfectly as a story such as this could end.  Bravo, Kendare Blake, for another job well done!!

My Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★  

Grade Level Recommendation:  I put this book right where I put Anna Dressed In Blood, grades 6 and up (ages 11+), for swears and violence.

Review: Anna Dressed In Blood by Kendare Blake

Publisher: Tor Teen

Publication Date: August 30th, 2011

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 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: track, 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, 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.

But she, for whatever reason, spares Cas's life.

(Courtesy of Goodreads)

Oh boy!  Someone is getting bumped off of my "Top 10 YA Books of 2011" list, because this book just earned a place high on it!  Wow!  What an awesome read!  This is one of those books that does not let go once it has you in its clutches!  It is really difficult for me to believe that this is Kendare Blake's debut novel because she writes like a seasoned pro.  She did a bang-up job with the character development, world building, plot, and pacing.  I just don't have any complaints.  I am officially a Kendare Blake fangirl!  Now that I've said that, I can delve a little deeper into why...

First off, I'm a sucker for books that are told from a male protagonist's POV; there are not enough books like this, and I usually find myself loving them.  Add to that the fact the male in question is an epic character.  Cas is a ghost hunter- he "kills" the worst of the dead, the ones who kill humans where they haunt- and he's damn good at it.  As you can imagine, a teenage boy with his job might have some morbidity issues.  Compound that with the fact that his occupational predecessor was killed on the job, and also happened to be his father.  Cas is a complicated character; dark, mysterious, sexy, and detached.  All he needs is the right woman to bring out his feelings, right?  But what if that woman happens to be a violently murderous ghost that he is responsible for taking out?

And that brings me to another reason I loved this book- Anna.  She was terrifying, tragic, and absolutely believable.  The mysteries surrounding her were so unpredictable and utterly riveting.  An YA mystery that isn't predictable is a rare, rare thing, and I was so impressed that I never figured her out.  As far as the other characters were concerned, while I didn't like them all, I never felt like anyone was flat.  They all had their stories and reasons why they were who they were.  I think it's important to be able to connect on some level- like, love, or hate- with supporting characters, and Kendare Blake makes sure her readers do.

As far as the story itself is concerned, it was fabulous!  It was gory and mind-bendingly scary much of the time, but at other times, it was tender and full of emotion.  One thing it never was, was dull.  It's pace was quick, but even; I stayed up far too late the first night reading it, starting again the moment I woke the following morning.  In the meantime, I dreamed about it.  It was that good.

Finally, I have to comment on the aesthetics...  Is the cover not to die for?  I love the black and white image, with just the smallest bit of red.  As is the case with a lot of the books I read, I was initially drawn to the cover, and I can tell you that this cover did not let me down!  Another small, but satisfying feature was the dark red type the book was printed in; it was exactly the color of dried blood and it was just perfect.  Small details like this make me happy.

Book #2, The Girl of Nightmares, comes out August 7th, and I cannot wait!  If it is even a fraction as good as Anna Dressed In Blood, it will be worth the long, long wait!

My Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★+

Grade Level Recommendation:  This book has a bunch of swears, some teen drinking, and rather graphic violence.  No sex.  I'm not all that bothered by swears, so if you are, you probably want to add a couple of years to my recommendation.  That said, I would recommend this book for grades 6 and up (ages 11+).

**Don't forget to enter my 400 Follower Giveaway for your chance to win a SIGNED hardcover copy of Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins!  Click HERE to enter!**