Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake: Interview and Review

Published: August 2012

Publisher: Tor Teen

Pages: 332

Copy Provided by: Library

Summary: Goodreads

Summary:

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.

Interview:
So I gotta be perfectly honest with you and let you know now that after reading Girl of Nightmares, I had SO many unanswered questions and I just felt obsessive about this title.  So what did I do?  Oh, well I stalked the author of course and bullied her into doing an interview.  Kidding.  She volunteered...what a nice gal eh?

What inspired you to come up with the plot for the Anna series? 

I wanted to play Silent Hill, and no one would play with me. I missed blood and guts and ominous darkness. And then Anna Dressed in Blood popped into my head and I thought, "who, what what, now?"

 

As a Canadian, I noticed many references to Canada throughout your two books. Are you originally from Canada? Why Thunder Bay? 

Oh excellent! I'm glad you noticed. Canadian readers have been so incredible. One was even pleased that I noticed your paleness. I'm not originally from Canada, but when I wrote Anna I lived in Minnesota, which was near enough to Thunder Bay for me to do location research hands on. So I went there and felt out the town. I knew immediately it was the right place. It was where Anna lived. And died. Awesome to hear!  I really hope you went during the summer because the weather can be brutal during the winter!

 

I loved these two books. The way book#2 ended made me wonder if you would continue with the series or if it was just going to end. Will there be a book #3? 

I don't think so. Cas isn't talking right now. Though sometimes I wonder, so you never know. I'm really really  really crossing my fingers for Cas to say something....anything...

 

If your series were to be a movie, who would you cast as Cas, Anna, Thomas and Carmel? 

Hm. I have no idea. Cas looks like a younger Kevin Zegers in my head. Anna...is harder. She's so many different things. Guileless. Brutal. Practical. And of course, dead. It's a lot to get into a face. That would be an interesting piece of casting, but I have no idea. Thomas could be Logan Lerman with glasses. Carmel...any golden blond beauty with a glint of clever mischief in her eye.

 

Do you have other books in the works now?

Yes. Am working on Book 2 in the ANTIGODDESS trilogy. ANTIGODDESS comes out next September. It's about dying Greek gods and the teens who love them :)  Added to my Goodreads list!

 

What are you reading now? 

Right now I'm reading BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA by April Genevieve Tucholke. Also BAG OF BONES by Stephen King, and CONFESSIONS OF A FIVE-CHAMBERED HEART by Caitlin R Kiernan.

 

Do you have a favourite series? 

I'm going to say series is more than a trilogy, to help narrow it down. And in that case, it's The Vampire Chronicles and Harry Potter.

 

Will you be going on tour? Do you do book signings? 

I just wrapped up a tour last month. I love traveling to festivals and doing book signings and talking to people. I'm keeping pretty quiet until about February, and then I might find myself back on the road a bit.

Canada.  Canada's a good place to stop...like say Alberta.... 

Thanks for having me by The Paperback Princesses!!

Thank you SO MUCH for taking the time to answer my questions and stopping by our blog.  To those of you interested in a signed bookmark by Kendare, please leave a comment with your email address so we can contact you!  We will draw randomly from all comments received.  If you don't feel comfortable leaving your email address, you can email me directly using the link above at the top left hand corner of our blog. And now for my review....

Let me just say that I think I've been on a thematic reading roll lately.  Last month I was all about Steampunk.  This month is horror/fantasy/the supernatural dead.  Must be October Halloween.  

I was waiting for this title.  Ever since I read the first Anna book, I could not wait for the second.  But I did...I waited...because my TBR list is so freaking long that I've resorted to using the library like my own personal bookstore.  I put holds on the newest titles and then wait patiently for them to arrive, biding my time with other books from my TBR list...and so the circle continues.

It took me 4 days to read this.  Four days is quick when you have a family and two jobs. But it was good.  Good, exciting and a quick read.  So what do you do when your dead ghostly murdering girlfriend saves your butt by pulling an equally powerful murdering entity down to hell?  Organize an insane rescue party of course!  Welcome to the world of Theseus Cassio Lowood, ghost hunter extraordinaire.  Once you get to know him, you'd wish you had a guy with this level of crazy mooning after you too! 

The characters in the Anna series are fabulous.  Somehow the head cheerleader, class nerd and outside loner become close buds secretly fighting the resident boogeymen around town.  Each bring their own spunk to the mesh and somehow it all works well together.  They all have such differing personalities yet bring out the best in one another.  

Like most 2nd books, I was a bit worried how the title would read.  Would it stand up to the greatness of book #1?  Well, it did.  Ms. Blake didn't sugar-coat it either.  The ending was exactly as it should have been.  Well done Kendare!  So the next time you are looking for an oddly creeptastic romance, pick up the Anna series (Anna Dressed in Blood and Girl of Nightmares).  BTW, this would be a great series to get you in the mood for Halloween.