Cover Reveal: Mortal Gods by Kendare Blake

I'm so excited to share this awesome cover for Kendare Blake's Mortal Gods, the sequel to Antigoddess!

Hmmm . . . . The lightning bolts make me wonder if Zeus might make an appearance in this one?

Review: Antigoddess by Kendare Blake

Antigoddess (The Goddess War #1)
By Kendare Blake
Publisher: Tor Teen
Format: Hardcover
Source: Library

To Sum It Up: The Greek gods and goddesses still exist among us in modern times—but barely. They’re dying, and Athena, for one, is determined to find a way to escape death. She and Hermes set out on a search for the famed seer Cassandra, who’s been reincarnated and is supposed to be the key to saving the deities. Cassandra recalls nothing of her past life, however, and is living in quiet Kincade, New York. Athena isn’t the only immortal looking for Cassandra, either, and these beings are willing to kill each other to reach her first.

Review: I never get tired of reading Greek mythology retellings. I love seeing how different authors put their own unique stamp on these legendary tales, and I was especially excited to see what Kendare Blake would do with these stories. I’d seen some mixed reactions to Antigoddess when it was released, and now, I find myself echoing their sentiments. While I really liked Blake’s imaginative portrayal of fabled figures such as Athena, Hermes, and Odysseus, the plot couldn’t seem to find its focus or momentum.

Antigoddess sports an intriguing premise—some of the gods and goddesses are dying, and in alarming ways. Athena’s body is sprouting feathers inside of it, while Hermes is growing thinner and thinner. The pair, spurred on by Athena’s drive to preserve their immortality, travels far and wide in search of a solution. And when I say Athena is determined, I mean doggedly so; all of her experience leading armies onto a battlefield really kicks into high gear. She can be arrogant and single-minded at times, focused only on halting death and doing whatever she believes is necessary to achieve her goal. I appreciated the fact that Athena and her fellow deities weren’t perfect, though; their character flaws lent them depth and made them seem quite . . . human.

Initially the novel switches between following Athena and Hermes as they attempt to track down the reincarnation of the seer Cassandra of Troy and the life of the present-day Cassandra herself. The latter has no idea who she really is/was and believes she’s just a high school student—who has visions of the future. It takes some time for the two story lines to converge, and I often found the chapters that focused on Cassandra and her friends slow going. I preferred reading about Athena and Hermes’s travels, which were heavier on the action. Once certain characters get (re)acquainted there’s a noticeable pickup in the book’s pacing, but I think the wait for that to happen is a tad too long.

I also found myself rather confused about the war between the gods and goddesses that’s supposed to be going on in this book. That meanie Hera and her cohorts are bumping off other immortals, but exactly why . . . I still don’t know. This remained a nagging question throughout the novel, and one that was never satisfactorily answered.

Thanks to a few bumpy spots here and there, Antigoddess falls a little short of Blake’s superb Anna Dressed in Blood. Antigoddess still manages some creep-tastic moments, though; if you ever wondered what the result of combining Greek mythology with a touch of scary would be, that book is right here. I certainly enjoyed this enough to continue with the series, despite the couple of issues I had with it.

All in All: I definitely think that Antigoddess is worth checking out for anyone who loves mythology retellings. It’s not perfect, but I really love Kendare Blake’s characterizations here; they’re fresh and creative and sometimes even a little frightening.

Review: Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake

* This review may contain spoilers for the previous book, Anna Dressed in Blood. *

Girl of Nightmares (Anna #2)
By Kendare Blake
Publisher: Tor Teen

To Sum It Up:

The ghost of Anna Korlov saved Cas Lowood and his friends, but now Anna is trapped in Hell. Cas sees visions of her being tortured, and despite being told that there’s no way to bring Anna back, he’s determined to help her. Cas faces a lot of obstacles to his plan, including a secret organization that believes all ghosts, regardless of whether they’re peaceful or evil, should be permanently banished from the mortal world.

Review:

I’d seen quite a few mixed reviews for Girl of Nightmares from readers who, like me, had loved Anna Dresssed in Blood. So I didn’t really know what to anticipate from the sequel and maybe even went into reading it with slightly lowered expectations. While I can now see why this may not have garnered quite as much love as the first book did, I was far from disappointed with Girl of Nightmares.

I think the most common gripe I’d seen about this novel was how little Anna was in it. And she really isn’t, at least not to the extent you might assume from the title and the cover (which is fantastic, by the way). Yes, I felt a little let down about this, but my biggest concern was how Cas was going to handle her loss. I was worried that he was going to act all mopey and angsty throughout the book. Now that would have upset me immensely because one of the things I loved about Anna was Cas’s snarky narration. Fortunately, he holds himself together reasonably well. I mean, I wouldn’t call him cheerful, and his distraction over seeing glimpses of Anna being tortured in Hell nearly gets his friends, Thomas and Carmel, killed. On the whole, though, Cas avoids turning into a one-man pity party and still manages to make plenty of biting comments, a Cas Lowood specialty.

Speaking of Thomas and Carmel, I’ve really grown to like these two. Okay, so I was kind of mad at Carmel for a few chapters while reading this, but I understood her reasons for her actions. Plus, she eventually worked her way back into my good graces (Yay, Carmel! I knew you were a good person at heart!). To think that I found Thomas sort of annoying when I first met him in Anna—man, I love that kid! I love his geekiness and his loyalty to his friends, and I love that he’s found a clique with Cas and Carmel. Thomas seems a lot more confident here, too, and at times his wit rivals even Cas’s. Oh, and I’d also just like to say that Thomas’s grandfather, Morfran, is like one of the coolest, if not the coolest, grandpas in YA.

You know which character I didn’t like in Girl of Nightmares? Gideon Palmer, the friend of Cas’s family whom Cas consulted for advice in Anna. Here I was thinking that Gideon was this happy-go-lucky English chap/supernatural expert, and he turned out to be a secretive jerk, emphasis on “secretive.” I felt foolish for taking a liking to him in the previous book. He’s not a villain here, exactly, but I’d certainly never trust the guy again.

So why didn’t Girl of Nightmares quite measure up to Anna Dressed in Blood in my mind? Well, I didn’t think it was as scary as the first book, and the fright factor was, surprisingly for a chicken like me, a big reason why I enjoyed Anna so much. There’s also a lot of focus in Girl of Nightmares on how Cas’s athame (i.e. his ghost killing knife) might be more than merely a weapon. The knife probably ended up in more pages than Anna did, and really, I wasn’t all that interested in the athame’s story. But, this was still a very, very good sequel, and I was sad to see the story come to a close.

All in All:

I really liked this, even though I had a few small quibbles with it. It’s not the all-out horror read that Anna Dressed in Blood was, but I still think Girl of Nightmares is totally worth reading.

Review: Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake

Girl of Nightmares (Anna #2)
By Kendare Blake
Publisher: Tor Teen

To Sum It Up:

After Anna Korlov, aka Anna Dressed in Blood, disappears through a gateway to Hell in order to save ghost-hunter Cas Lowood and his friends, Cas refuses to move on. He has to know for sure that Anna is safe. So, when Cas begins to see Anna being tortured everywhere he turns, he begins a dangerous quest for answers. The answers Cas finds may kill him, but Cas knows it's his turn to save Anna.

Review:

I loved Anna Dressed in Blood so much, I almost died having to wait for Girl of Nightmares. I was relieved to find that everything I loved in the first book carried over into the sequel.

Cas was as sarcastically charming as ever, and his friends, Thomas and Carmel, grew on me even more. They are the most loyal friends anyone could ever have. They pull out a side of Cas you only caught a glimpse of in Anna Dressed in Blood. Cas knows that hunting ghosts puts his friends in danger, a realization that plagues him throughout the book, but Thomas and Carmel are not going anywhere.

The only thing (and I mean the ONLY) I didn't love was the lack of Anna in the book. I wish readers could have seen more of her experience in Hell than what they did through Cas. On the other hand, it might have been too grotesque for some readers. When we did get to see Anna in Hell, I was engrossed in the world Kendare Blake had created. Wow, it was so creative and detailed and original! Not only did she create this entire Hell in her head, but she translated it so well to the reader through words.

My pet peeve with books is when they raise questions that are never answered, leaving holes in the plot. There were so many questions left unanswered in Anna Dressed in Blood, I was afraid this might happen. GOOD NEWS: It didn't! Everything that required an answer was given one, and anything left unanswered, worked. If the author explains everything, there is nothing left tying the reader's thoughts to the book after it has ended.

All in All:

It’s really sad that this was the last book, but it ended beautifully. I loved Girl of Nightmares, and I know fans of Anna Dressed in Blood will too. So, I guess I'm saying: Go read it!

Review: Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

Anna Dressed in Blood (Anna #1)

By Kendare Blake

Publisher: Tor Teen
Format: Hardcover
Source: Borrowed

To Sum It Up: Being a ghost hunter/killer necessarily involves seeing things which are out of the ordinary. Cas Lowood has certainly witnessed his share, so when it comes to all things supernatural, there isn’t much that can surprise him anymore. Cas’s next destination is Thunder Bay, Ontario to investigate the legend of the ghost whom the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood. The real Anna Korlov was a 16-year-old girl who was killed on her way to a school dance; now her ghost is rumored to kill anyone who sets foot in her old home. Cas thinks that this is going to be just another routine job until he comes face-to-face with Anna for the first time. She’s the most powerful ghost he’s ever encountered, and he knows that she won’t be easy to kill. Cas hopes to find her weakness by looking into her past, but instead he finds a tragic story that makes him question whether he can finish the task that he set out to do.

Review: Wow, wow, and wow! This book just may have turned me into a horror fan. Because I am an utter wuss, I usually stay away from any book or movie that is remotely scary. I’ve been attempting to be braver lately by trying books that normally, I’d shy away from. The zombies in Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Infinity weren’t bad at all, and I had a lot of fun reading about the evil Crits in Emma Silver’s Blackbrooke. Since I was on a bit of a roll with the creepy creatures books, it was an ideal time to give in to my cousin Melissa’s pleas to read Anna Dressed in Blood, which she’d loved. Melissa was right: this book was amazing!

With a pretty eerie-sounding title like Anna Dressed in Blood and a pretty eerie-looking cover to match, I expected this to be one bone-chilling read. It was in some parts, but the book was also surprisingly moving and even laugh-out-loud funny thanks to Cas’s frequent sarcastic remarks. I loved Cas’s snarky demeanor; even when facing imminent death, he still managed to crack a joke. Cas is also really smart, and I admired his determination to avenge the death of his ghost hunter father, who was killed by a ghost. I’ve read several YA books this year with strong male protagonists in them, and Cas is definitely among that group.

The secondary characters are also very well-developed. I really grew to like Thomas Sabin, a geeky telepath and classmate of Cas’s whom Cas regards as a bit of a nuisance at first. By the end of the novel, though, Thomas has proven himself to be a brave and loyal friend. Another character who surprised me with her depth was Carmel Jones, another classmate of Cas’s who also turns out to be a true friend to him. When Cas initially meets her, he pegs her as the Queen Bee of the school. Carmel is actually made of steelier stuff, though, and along with Thomas, aids Cas in trying to unravel the mystery behind Anna’s death.

As for the title character, Anna is beyond terrifying when we first meet her. I happened to read about one of her more frightening appearances in the book at about 12:30 in the morning. I knew that continuing to read this part in the middle of the night wasn’t the brightest idea, yet I couldn’t put the book down. One of the best things about Anna Dressed in Blood was how Kendare Blake had me frightened of Anna at the outset of the novel and then had me feeling nothing but sympathy for her once the tragic history of her life was revealed. Anna may be a ghost, but Blake imbues her character with a stunning amount of dimension.

I can’t rave enough about how well-written and perfectly paced this book is. Reading it took me on a fantastic roller coaster ride of reactions: amusement at Cas’s humorous narration, outrage and sadness upon learning the truth about what really happened to Anna, and of course fear whenever Anna was in murderous-ghost mode. I can’t wait to read the sequel, Girl of Nightmares!

All in All: This is an absolute must-read. It even won over a non-horror fan like me. I definitely want to buy a copy of this book for my shelves.

Favorite Quote: You’ll be just like those four chaps in the movie. You know the one, with the oversized marshmallow.—Gideon Palmer, an old friend of Cas’s family, Chapter 13