Review--Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake

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.

Finally read Kendare Blake's Girl of Nightmares and thus concluding the Anna dulogy! It was a pretty good read and went about as expected based on the past reviews I read.

As the description says, it's been months since the events of Anna Dressed in Blood. Time has moved on, but Cas hasn't quite done so. He's still thinking about Anna and how she died to save him and his friends, Thomas and Carmel from the Obeahman, the ghost that had killed Cas's father and dozens of other people, sucking in their souls and tormenting them. Cas thought it was all behind him, but he was wrong.

He begins to see Anna at times when he knows she cannot really be there. She's gone. Yet she haunts him just about everywhere. He soon realizes that he needs to save Anna from the Obeahman, because he's torturing her in hell. Or Anna's version of hell. He travels across the world to get help from his friend Gideon in order to find a way to open a door to hell and pull Anna out so that she can be free, but he doesn't realize how dangerous this mission is going to be.

As the past reviews have said, this was a good read. A little slow at times, but still enjoyable. It still has a very nice creep factor. Cas and his friends do a little ghost-busting around their hometown, traveling a few hours away and what not. But his desire to rescue Anna consumes him. 

Carmel and Thomas were still fabulous friends, although Carmel does have her own issues to sort through and is absent for a time. There's also a new character on the page, Jestine. Cas and Thomas meet her when they arrive in London on their way to Gideon's and Cas soon learns that there is something more to this feisty girl. I admit to having some doubts about Jestine and even debated whether she might be a live love interest for Cas, but that wasn't meant to be. He loves Anna, as he clearly admits to himself in the book.

Cas is still is usual self and I loved that about him. He's snarky at times and sarcastic, but has a good heart. He can kick a lot of ass too! He's definitely an enjoyable main character.

We learn a bit about The Order of the Biodeag Dubh which relates back to Cas's athame. I get the need for this Order, but I think in the end, I don't understand why they were there in the book since it's all over now and their role is finished. I guess it just came down to Cas needing their help to rescue Anna.

The ending was very nice. Ghost books are tough, especially when romance is involved. You practically know a happy ending between ghost and human is impossible, but yet you still hope for it. I was pleased with the ending though, it seemed right and satisfying.


Overall Rating 4.5/5 stars