Review of Girl of Nightmares and US giveaway of a Signed Copy

I admit it. I'm totally obsessed with Anna. But I know I'm not the only one. Who here isn't totally excited about the sequel to Anna Dressed in Blood, which was one of my favorite reads this year? Totally inventive, unique, and Anna is probably the coolest character I've come across in recent times. The only issue I have with the sequel is I want MORE ANNA. Right. Told you I was obsessed.

Goodreads Book Description:  
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.

I rated this book 4 out of 5 stars. And I'm totally thrilled that Kendare Blake, the amazing author of these two books is offering a signed copy of Girl of Nightmares!

Amazon Review:
"Haunting and darkly funny at the same time, a worthy finale to Anna Dressed in Blood"
I haven't been as excited for a sequel since the Hunger Games. And that's saying something!

Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake takes place a few months after Anna Dressed in Blood ends. We rejoin our favorite trio, Cas, Carmel and Thomas as they try to figure out what Hell Anna has disappeared to at the end of the last book. Cas knows it's not a good place, and sees nightmarish visions of what is happening to Anna. His hunt to find her leads them abroad, and on their journey, they meet new friends, new enemies, and new adventures.

Anna Dressed in Blood was, if not my favorite read of the year, pretty darn close to it. So Girl of Nightmares had a lot to live up to. Just keep in mind as you read this review that I had very high expectations for this book. While still very well written with that same wonderful dark humor and gothic feel, it's not as strong as the first book. The reason I say this is because for most of the book, I am waiting for things to happen, and most of all, waiting for Anna, my favorite character from the last book, to make her grand entrance. Unfortunately, don't expect to see her much in this book. If I had realized that to begin with, I think I might have come away less disappointed.

That said, I still blazed through the book, and I completely love Blake's sense of humor, and I found myself laughing out loud multiple times throughout the book. I love the world she has created, and her female characters still pop with more energy and sass than any other ones I have seen recently. I love the three dimensionality of all the characters. Plus, Anna does get her moment, at last, and I have to say that it was a beautiful reunion.

Blake is super talented, and I know I'll be watching out for her books in the future. This book is still a must read, as it closes the curtain on a story that is properly finished in a worthy climax. 

Vote on my Amazon review and get an entry to the giveaway! Kendare's awesome interview will be up tomorrow and Tuesday!
Girl of Nightmares review

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Saturday Updates

Hello, my dear followers! I have some exciting updates!

1) I can't believe how many followers that I've accumulated in just over two months! If I get over 500 followers before the 300 giveaway is over, then I'll add a new winner!

2) Also, please visit my new page, Rants: Curmudgeon's Corner. It's currently my favorite place on my page and you can gain mad entries to my giveaways if you respond thoughtfully to the posts.

3) I am thrilled to have scored a Kendare Blake interview, which will be up on Monday and Tuesday, and she is generously giving away a signed copy of her new book, Girl of Nightmares (US only), the thrilling conclusion to Anna Dressed in Blood! Go ahead and start signing up for the giveaway.

4) See my updates on my Interview/Giveaway page. I have some exciting new authors that have been generous enough to offer interviews and giveaways.

Thanks for all of your support!

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Feature and Follow (6)

Welcome back, everyone! Thank goodness it's Friday :-) It's been a long week, but the weekend is finally here. And so is this great blog hop!

Feature and Follow Friday is a blog hop hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read


Here are the rules to the blog hop!
To join the fun and make new book blogger friends, just follow these simple rules:

• (Required) Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Hosts {Parajunkee & Alison Can Read}
• (Required) Follow our Featured Bloggers

• Put your Blog name & URL in the Linky thing. You can also grab the code if you would like to insert it into your posts.
• Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say “hi” in your comments and that they are now following you.
• If you are using WordPress or another CMS that doesn’t have GFC (Google Friends Connect) state in your posts how you would like to be followed
• Follow Follow Follow as many as you can, as many as you want, or just follow a few. The whole point is to make new friends and find new blogs. Also, don’t just follow, comment and say hi. Another blogger might not know you are a new follower if you don’t say “HI”
• If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love…and the followers
• If you’re new to the follow friday hop, comment and let me know, so I can stop by and check out your blog!

Q: What would you do over if you were to start your blog again from scratch?

My blog is pretty new as it is-- only a couple of months old. And part of the fun is the evolution of the blog-learning what works, and what doesn't. I didn't even have a followers button for the first few days because I didn't know what that was! Several good friends who already had their own blogs gave me great tips. A few weeks later, I learned about memes and regularly participate in this one as well as Waiting on Wednesday. I learned the ins and outs of Rafflecopter and how to set up interviews and giveaways. I invited my sister to do guest blogging and in the past week, set up my rants page, Curmudgeon's Corner, which is currently my favorite place on my blog! So this is a long answer to the question, but essentially, I wouldn't change anything because the process of learning and evolution was probably one of the best parts of having a blog!

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Curmudgeon's Corner: Villains, villains, villains

How I love me some villains. If a book has a good villain, it likely wins an extra star from me. It's hard to do, and many authors don't do it successfully.


I've actually been pretty disappointed with villains recently. Take Gone by Michael Grant. The two villains (Caine and Drake) are very one sided-- the way their "evilness" is described is basic psychosis. They are just inherently evil. That's really boring in my opinion. That said, Diana, the other baddie, is really intriguing to me. She calls herself the "bad girl," but then she makes decisions that "helps" other people. Allegedly, she still does it for her own gain, but I have my suspicions. To me, she is the most interesting character in the book.

Even great authors such as Orson Scott Card, whose Ender books still remain on my top favorite books of all time, struggle with this issue. Take Achilles from the Shadow series. He was just born that evil. Again, very two dimensional.

I absolutely LOVE when we can't even figure out who the evil person is because they are so three dimensional. One of my new favorite books is Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake. We are led to believe that Anna is an evil ghost that must be killed because she is inherently evil just by being paranormal. But is she? I love how Blake makes it so hard to dislike her, even though she is set up initially to be the Big Bad. To me, that is a huge triumph.

Another couple of recent reads come to mind. Neither of these books are perfect, but one thing they have going for them are their villains. Pale by Chris Wooding is a new novella that centers on an unpleasant boy who really is no more than a bully. To me, he is the evil character. But we see him develop throughout the story, and come to terms with what he has done and who he used to be, and to me, this is the true strength of the novella.


The second book that comes to mind, is Insignia, by SJ Kincaid. While I struggled with how it patterned other books (i.e. Harry Potter and Ender's Game), one of the coolest characters I've seen recently was the "villain," Medusa. Again, it's tough to say, is she really the villain? In some ways, I think the main character ends up being the real villain. But the fact that it's hard to say speaks volumes for how three dimensional these characters are.

Who are your favorite villains and why?



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Waiting on Wednesday (8)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases we're eagerly anticipating.

One of the first dystopian YA novels that I read post Hunger Games when I was craving for more was Matched by Ally Condie. Needless to say, I stuck around for the second book and am excited about the conclusion to the trilogy!



Goodreads Book Description:
Cassia faces the ultimate choices in the long-anticipated conclusion to the New York Times bestselling Matched Trilogy

After leaving Society and desperately searching for the Rising—and each other—Cassia and Ky have found what they were looking for, but at the cost of losing each other yet again: Cassia has been assigned to work for the Rising from within Society, while Ky has been stationed outside its borders. But nothing is as predicted, and all too soon the veil lifts and things shift once again.

In this gripping conclusion to the #1 New York Times bestselling Matched Trilogy, Cassia will reconcile the difficulties of challenging a life too confining, seeking a freedom she never dreamed possible, and honoring a love she cannot live without

Why I am excited:  Cassia is a great protagonist and the world that Condie creates is fascinating-- and scarily, I can see how it might be a better world in some ways than ours (without all the killing of old people and such). It reminds me in bits of The Giver by Lois Lowry, one of the great dystopians.

Why I am worried: I never seem to be on the right side of love triangles. I've never really wanted her to be with Ky, although I can see the appeal. Xander, the boy she was originally matched with, seems like much the better catch (totally rooting for him). This society must be on to something-- I bet a lot of heartbreak could be avoided if people were matched in this way :-)

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