Waiting on Wednesday, #49

Waiting on Wednsday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine. WOW spotlights upcoming releases that you are dying to read and can't wait to get your hands on! 
                                                                                                                           

Girl of Nightmares, by Kendare Blake
(Anna, #2)
Publisher: Tor Teen
Release Date: August 7, 2012
Pre-Order: Amazon

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.

 Why Do I Want it? I just finished Anna Dressed in Blood not too long ago and I'm dying to read this one! So excited to continue the story and see what happens next. Hopefully it's just as spooky as the first one!

Anna Dressed in Blood, by Kendare Blake

Series: Anna, #1
Author Info: Website / Twitter / Facebook
Publisher: Orchard Books (UK) / Tor Teen (US)
Release Date: July 5th, 2012 (UK) / August 30, 2011 (US)
ARC: 367 pages
Genre: Young Adult - Paranormal
Buy: Amazon
Read it in: 10 days
Source: Publisher
Challenge: TBR Pile, Book Blogger Recommendation
Rating: ★★★★

Just your average boy-meets-girl, girl-kills-people story...
Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead. 
So did his father before him, until his gruesome murder 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: move, 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, but now stained red and dripping 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.
And she, for whatever reason, spares his life.

I've been wanting to read this for a long time, so once I saw it on the review list from Orchard Books I knew I had to get it!  I'm so glad I had the opportunity to review this, even though it took me forever to read it once I started it. That had nothing to do with the writing or anything either, more the fact that I was a chicken and wouldn't read it at night if my hubby was working and I was also reading an eBook at the same time. So it took me ten days!

I don't know where to begin with this book. It was downright creepy. I looove creepy things, but this nearly gave me nightmares! Which, of course, I did love! This is such a unique idea and I fell in love with it. Sometimes I have trouble getting into reading through books that have male point-of-views, but I didn't have an issue with this book at all. I got dragged in from the start.

Cas, the main character, is sarcastic and such a great guy. Yes, his occupation/hobby isn't normal for someone his age, but that makes him so interesting. He doesn't have a lot of friends, but he knows how to make his way to the top if he has to. Which really helps when he's looking for information on the "ghost stories" around his new town.

Cas makes two new friends when he comes to Thunder Bay: the beautiful popular girl, Carmel, and the scrawny outcast Thomas. When Carmel came into the picture, I thought she'd be the stereo-typical annoying popular cheerleader, but after a few events happen in the book she becomes a lot more than that and you actually see real personality there and I really liked the REAL side of her.

I really liked Thomas' character and his grandfather, Morfran. They added a lot to the story and Thomas is very helpful and a great guy. Him and Cas are hilarious together.

Anna was really creepy at first and I didn't like her. I just wanted her gone so we could continue with the story. But she WAS the story, which even though the title IS after her, I thought that by the end of the book she'd be dead and boy was I wrong! By the end of the book she wasn't as creepy, she could have her moments, but she was a great character and I'm glad we got to know her a bit.

Overall, this was a great book and I'm dying to read the sequel. I definitely recommend this to those who love a great story and a great creepy type novel. There is even a little bit of romance in it! I'm definitely adding Kendare Blake to my author watch list because she definitely knows how to write and definitely knows how to creep someone out. Great job Kendare Blake! I love your name too, by the way!

The sequel to this is called Girl of Nightmares. It will be released in the US on August 7th, 2012. 

Note: A lot of people got confused when I kept putting up the UK information for Anna Dressed in Blood. I live in the US, but I do reviewing for Orchard Books which is in the UK. Anna Dressed in Blood has already been released in the US by Tor Teen and is now newly released in the UK by Orchard Books. 

Slated, by Teri Terry

Slated, by Teri Terry
(Slated, #1)
Author Info: Website / Facebook / Twitter
Publisher: Orchard Books
Release Date: May 3, 2012
ARC: 446
Genre: Young Adult - Dystopian
Buy: Amazon
Read it in: 5 days
Source: Publisher
Challenge: Debut Author, Dystopian
Rating: ★★★★
To learn more about my rating badges, click here! 

Kyla’s memory has been erased,her personality wiped blank,her memories lost for ever.
She’s been Slated.
The government claims she was a terrorist, and that they are giving her a second chance - as long as she plays by their rules. But echoes of the past whisper in Kyla’s mind. Someone is lying to her, and nothing is as it seems. Who can she trust in her search for the truth?

To be honest, when I first saw this book I thought the summary sounded intriguing and I wanted to read it, but the cover just didn't do anything for me. Then when I got it for review, I was happy, but was also groaning inside. I kept putting it off and putting it off for review because I was worried that the summary sounded better than it probably actually was. But I was wrong! I'm so happy I was wrong!

The book was way better than the summary lets on. Don't let the weird cover fool you, though I do admit that now after reading it I get the cover. It does fit it, though I would still like a different cover. But I do love the eyes!

I'm not sure if this is going to be out in the US yet, but I did get it from the UK. It's a debut novel and a great one! This is a fresh dystopian that will have you at the edge of your seat. Some things were weird, but it was still intriguing and had me flying through the pages.

At first, I was a little worried by the main character Kyla. Due to her memory being erased, she was basically like a child. She had to learn everything all over again. She was also put into a family's home who wasn't hear "real" family. She was expected to call the woman "mum" and the man "father". It was just...normal in their situation, if that makes sense. In the home is also another slated girl named Amy. She was kind of annoying at times, but she was funny too at times.

My favorites were Kyle and Ben. Kyle is a lot different than the "normal" slateds. They are supposed to do what they say until they turn 21. They wear "levos" that tell their mood and if their mood levels get near the low 3's or to the 2's, they blackout. Slateds are those who have done something wrong and instead of locking them up in jail or killing them, they wipe their mind clean and give them another chance.

Kyla starts remembering things though. Snippets of things. She doesn't know if they are real memories or things that are just made up in her mind from things she sees.

Ben, who is also a Slated, is a bit different too. But only because Kyla draws that out of him.

The dad kind of creeped me out. He was weird. The mom was pretty nice though after a little while, you can tell she kind of has a rebel side. She doesn't fully agree on everything the government thinks.

Overall, this story was great. I don't want to get too into detail because I'll start rambling on and give away the whole story. I'm definitely looking forward to book two, this time with a full intention on reading it immediately. No worries! If you love Dystopians, you definitely don't want to miss this one!

The sequel, Fracture, will be released in May 2012. 

The Season, by Sarah MacLean

The Season, by Sarah MacLean
Publisher: Orchard Books
Release Date: March 1, 2009
Hardcover: 343 pages
Age Group: Young Adult
Buy: Amazon
Source: Library
Challenge: A to Z, Support Your Local Library
Rating: 


 To learn more about my rating badges, click here!

Seventeen year old Lady Alexandra is strong-willed and sharp-tongued — in a house full of older brothers and their friends, she had to learn to hold her own. Not the best makings for an aristocratic lady in Regency London. Yet her mother still dreams of marrying Alex off to someone safe, respectable, and wealthy. But between ball gown fittings, dances, and dinner parties, Alex, along with her two best friends, Ella and Vivi, manages to get herself into what may be her biggest scrape yet.When the Earl of Blackmoor is mysteriously killed, Alex decides to help his son, the brooding and devilishly handsome Gavin, uncover the truth. But will Alex's heart be stolen in the process? In an adventure brimming with espionage, murder, and other clandestine affairs, who could possibly have time to worry about finding a husband? Romance abounds as this year's season begins!

I'll admit, this book was a little hard to get into. I guess because I haven't read any historical romances lately, but after a little while I found myself completely entranced. By the end of the book, I didn't want it to finish. I wanted to keep reading about Alex, Gavin, Ella, Vivi and the Stafford brothers. All the characters were so lively and funny. They were real to me. 

I've been wanting to read this book for a while, since hearing about it back in 2009 before it was released, but I just now got to it. Thanks to the A to Z challenge! I added it to my challenge list so I would finally pick it up. It's funny with me and historical fiction. Most sound good to be, especially the historical romances. Those are my favorite. It will sound good to me, and then when I get it I'll be all, "Ugh..." and procrastinate starting it. But then when I get into it and read it, I love it! Why is that? Ha! I'm weird. 

I kind of figured out who killed Gavin's dad in the beginning, but at the same time I wasn't completely sure. There were a few possibilities. But it didn't take away from the story much. I'm so happy about Gavin and Alex, and that is all I'm going to say. I love Gavin! He was such a joy to read about, plus, he was so cute!

Overall, I loved this book. I had a few issues, like not being able to get into it right away, but none that were too big. This was a great book. It had it all; great writing, mystery, romance, great characters and a lovely setting! I was able to picture everything as if I were there. Reading this has let me know I definitely need to pick up for historical romances soon. Also, I will definitely be picking up Sarah's adult series soon! 

I really like the cover as well. Really captures Alex, Vivi and Ella.