Ungodly by Kendare Blake [Review]

3.5 out of 5 Robots!

Ungodly by Kendare Blake
Series: Goddess War
Genre: YA Fantasy
Release: September 22, 2015
Hardcover: 368 Pages
Publisher: Tor Teen
My Copy: Purchased
Reviewer: Shannon

Book Summary:

For the Goddess of Wisdom, what Athena didn’t know could fill a book. That’s what her opponents said.

So she was wrong about some things. So her carefully planned assault on Olympus left her team beaten and scattered and possibly dead. So they have to fight the Fates themselves, who, it turns out, are the source of the gods’ illness. And sure, Athena is stuck in the underworld, holding the body of the only hero she has ever loved.

But all is not lost. Hermes is still topside, trying to power up Andie and Henry before he runs out of time and submits to his death, or the Fates arrive to speed it along.

And Cassandra is up there somewhere, too, on a quest for death…with the god of death himself.

Just because things haven’t gone exactly according to plan, it doesn't mean they’ve lost. They’ve only mostly lost. And there’s a big difference.

(Courtesy of the Publisher)

Shannon's Thoughts:

This series is a bit of a conundrum for me.  I LOVE the premise.  It is one of the most interesting takes on Greek/Roman mythology retellings I've read. The gods are alive in our modern day age, but are affected by a disease that is slowing killing them.  Each god and goddess suffer in a unique way.  Athena's lung are filling with owl feathers.  Hermes is wasting away.  Demeter is being stretched out over miles and miles of land.  This book is dark and twisted in a way I like.  So, seriously, A+ on the premise.

But here is where it falls apart a little for me.  I cannot follow the plot.  I would love to explain it to you, but I can't.  Part of it is that I think having some background info on the Trojan Wars is necessary and I was too lazy to Wikipedia it.  The Trojan War plays a big part in the current plot and there are a lot of characters who are related to each other and it is hard to keep it up.  So, not only do you have to keep track of what part everyone played in the Trojan War, but what their current motivations are.  I just didn't follow it all that well.

I do think this was a good conclusion to the story though.  There was an exciting ending and there were some new and interesting characters.  Overall, I would recommend this series if you are a Greek/Roman mythology buff!

Books in the Series:
1. Antigoddess
2. Mortal Gods
3. Ungodly

Mortal Gods by Kendare Blake [Review]

4 out of 5 Robots!

  

Mortal Gods by Kendare Blake
Series: Goddess War #2
Genre: YA Fantasy/Mythology
Release: October 14, 2014
Hardcover:  341 Pages
Publisher: Tor Ten
My Copy: Purchased
Reviewer: Shannon

Book Summary:

Ares, God of War, is leading the other dying gods into battle. Which is just fine with Athena. She's ready to wage a war of her own, and she's never liked him anyway. If Athena is lucky, the winning gods will have their immortality restored. If not, at least she'll have killed the bloody lot of them, and she and Hermes can die in peace.

Cassandra Weaver is a weapon of fate. The girl who kills gods. But all she wants is for the god she loved and lost to return to life. If she can't have that, then the other gods will burn, starting with his murderer, Aphrodite.

The alliance between Cassandra and Athena is fragile. Cassandra suspects Athena lacks the will to truly kill her own family. And Athena fears that Cassandra's hate will get them ALL killed.

The war takes them across the globe, searching for lost gods, old enemies, and Achilles, the greatest warrior the world has ever seen. As the struggle escalates, Athena and Cassandra must find a way to work together. Because if they can't, fates far worse than death await.

(Courtesy of the Publisher)

Shannon's Thoughts:

Mortal Gods is the second book in the Goddess War series.  The basic premise is the immortal gods of Olympus are dying in our modern day world.  There are two sides and the gods are split between them.  War is raging between the two sides.  Things get ugly.

The Good:
- I love how inventive this series is.  I loved the concept of the gods dying, each from a disease that stems from their mythology.  Athena's lungs, for example, are slowly being drown in owl feathers.  Ares' old war wounds continually reopen and bleed.  It is gruesome and disturbing.  I like it.
- I love how the gods fit together in modern day.  I like the inclusion of other well known heroes and warriors such as Odysseus, Hector, Achilles, Cassandra, etc.
- I like that Blake does not hold back.  The series is harsh and dark.  But I think it really works.  I love that she doesn't wrap it in sunshine and rainbows, but keeps it disturbing and bloody.

The Meh:
- I sometimes find it confusing to keep everyone straight.  I have to look at Wikipedia constantly to figure how everyone is related to each other.  I also couldn't remember the plot very well from the first book and spent most of the second book confused.  I do not recommend reading these books far apart from each other.
- It is so angry!  It was exhausting to read in that sense.  I know Cassandra was grieving, but she is so mean and angry in this book and it was annoying sometimes.
- No one is nice.  They ALL have issues.  It doesn't make for a clear side to root for even though we're supposed to root for Athena's side.  But if they lost, I'm not sure I would care all that much.

Overall, I have no real complaints about this book, other than having a little trouble following it.  I like how dark it is, but sometimes I wish it would lighten up!  This second book, in particular, is very angry.  But the ending leaves everyone is great peril, so I will definitely be back for the final book to see how it plays out.

Books in this series:
1. Antigoddess
2. Mortal Gods
3. Ungodly (expected publication 2015)

Antigoddess by Kendare Blake [Review]

4 out of 5 Robots!

  

Antigoddess by Kendare Blake
Series: Goddess War #1
Genre: YA Fantasy
Release: September 10, 2013
Hardcover: 333 Pages
Publisher: Tor Teen
My Copy: Purchased
Reviewer: Shannon
Buy the Book: Amazon

Book Summary:

The Goddess War begins in Antigoddess, the first installment of the new series by acclaimed author of Anna Dressed in Blood, Kendare Blake.

Old Gods never die…

Or so Athena thought. But then the feathers started sprouting beneath her skin, invading her lungs like a strange cancer, and Hermes showed up with a fever eating away his flesh. So much for living a quiet eternity in perpetual health.

Desperately seeking the cause of their slow, miserable deaths, Athena and Hermes travel the world, gathering allies and discovering enemies both new and old. Their search leads them to Cassandra—an ordinary girl who was once an extraordinary prophetess, protected and loved by a god.

These days, Cassandra doesn’t involve herself in the business of gods—in fact, she doesn’t even know they exist. But she could be the key in a war that is only just beginning.

Because Hera, the queen of the gods, has aligned herself with other of the ancient Olympians, who are killing off rivals in an attempt to prolong their own lives. But these anti-gods have become corrupted in their desperation to survive, horrific caricatures of their former glory. Athena will need every advantage she can get, because immortals don’t just flicker out.

Every one of them dies in their own way. Some choke on feathers. Others become monsters. All of them rage against their last breath.

The Goddess War is about to begin.

(Courtesy of the Publisher)

Shannon's Thoughts:

Mythology retellings are pretty hit or miss for me.  Sometimes they are so focused on a YA romance that makes little to no sense and are filled with so much angst.  But sometimes they manage to create an interesting story, mixing the modern with the old. Antigoddess manages to do the latter fairly well.  The strength of the book really lies with Blake's imagination and character profiles. The idea that each god(dess) is dying in some unique way is really fascinating.  Athena is slowing being chocked to death by owl feathers and Hermes is slowing wasting away.  They are desperate to find the cure and are traveling the earth looking for answers.  Intermixed with Athena's and Herme's mission is Cassandra, a mildly clairvoyant teenage American girl.  Only she is THE Cassandra from Trojan War fame - a girl gifted with prophesy but cursed to have no one believe her.  Only modern day Cassandra doesn't remember her past, but she is drawn into the brewing war between the dying gods and the "anti-gods".

I really enjoyed the revealing of the different gods, their relationships and the parts they play.  Again, this is the strongest aspect of Antigoddess.  But there was a part of me that felt a little removed from the story and I had a little trouble staying interesting for long periods of time.  Sometimes I enjoyed the slow unpacking of the plot and characters, but other times I itched for more tension and action. But the action that did happen were exciting and the ending left things pointed in an interesting direction.  I will definitely be back for the second installment.

Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake [Review]

4 out of 5 Robots!

  

Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake
Series: Anna Dressed in Blood #2
Genre: YA Paranormal
Release: August 7, 2012
Hardcover: 332 Pages
Publisher: Tor Books
My Copy: Purchased
Reviewer: Shannon
Buy the Book: Amazon

Book 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.

Shannon's Thoughts:

I really liked Anna Dressed in Blood and was excited to read the sequel.  Anna Dressed in Blood left off with Anna sacrificing herself to save Cas, Thomas and Carmel.  It was such a sad ending.  I was happy there was another book to further Anna's story...and maybe get a happier resolution? 

Girl of Nightmares starts off really well.  Thomas and Carmel now join Cas on ghost hunting missions, which was pretty much awesome.  Cas is still reeling from losing Anna and is very disturbed when he starts to have visions of her.  He comes to realize that these visions are true and Anna is being tortured in the afterlife (after-afterlife?)  Cas, of course, wants to save her even when everyone tells him it is impossible and to leave it alone.  This is where things start to get a little murkier and the plot loses some of its momentum.  There is a fair amount of angst and roundabout while Cas tries to figure out how to save Anna.  There were still a couple of scenes that made my hair raise though.  *Shudder*  I also wasn't very interested in the addition of some new characters (one in particular - I found her fairly obnoxious).  But the towards the end, things started to upswing and it got really exciting and tense.  I was rooted in my seat, frantically flipping through pages to find out what happened next.  Girl of Nightmares ends on a high note with a bittersweet ending.  I don't think I like it quite as much as Anna Dressed in Blood, but Girl of Nightmares does have some spectacularly gruesome scenes and an awesome ending.

Other books in this series in the order that they should be read:
1. Anna Dressed in Blood
2. Girl of Nightmares

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake [Review]

4.5 out of 5 Robots!

   

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake
Series: Anna #1

Genre: Young Adult Paranormal
Release: August 30, 2011
Hardcover: 316 Pages
Publisher: Tor Teen
My Copy: Purchased
Reviewer: Shannon
Buy the Book: Amazon

 Book Summary:
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. (Courtesy of the Publisher)

Shannon's Thoughts:

Part of me can’t quite put my finger on what I liked so much about Anna Dressed in Blood.  I just kind of dug it.  The premise caught my attention early on:  Cas Lowood, Teenage Professional Ghost Killer.  I really enjoyed Cas’ POV.  He is sarcastic and witty and smart.  It is also a nice change to have a male POV in a YA book.  

Cas comes to Thunder Bay, Ontario to kill Anna but finds she is unlike any other ghost he’s encountered before. He becomes intrigued with her after she saves his life and learns there is much more to her than just being a murderous ghost.  Anna was a very interesting character, full of rage but yet still innocent in a way.  The other characters were also a lot of fun: a popular girl who is more than meets the eye, Cas’ kitchen witch mother, a ghost detecting cat, a psychic nerd and a voodoo practicing grandfather all play important parts. 

I also liked the gruesome horror aspect.  These ghosts are not pretty and can do some pretty disturbing things. I liked that the author wasn’t afraid to go dark.  There is an abundance of gruesome images and supernatural violence.  (Side note: this is definitely an older YA book: gore, violence, and some swearing)

The story moves along at a good pace.  I wasn’t sure where the story was headed, so I didn’t see the ending before it happened.  But the ending did feel a little rushed. I was really intrigued by end events and would have liked to see it fleshed out more.

Also: the print verson text is printed in blood red.  Neat.     

The second book, Anna Girl Of Nightmares, is expected to come out in August. And I can't wait to get my hands on it!

 

Giveaway and Q&A with Kendare Blake!

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

Genre: Young Adult Horror

Release: August 30, 2011

Hardcover: 320 Pages

Publisher: Tor Teen

Buy the Book: Amazon

About ANNA DRESSED IN BLOOD:

Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead. 

So did his father before him, until he was gruesomely murdered 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: track, 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, now stained red and dripping with 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.

But she, for whatever reason, spares Cas's life.

About Kendare Blake - 

Kendare Blake lives and writes in Washington state, with cats and a husband who critique the work. Her first literary novel, Sleepwalk Society, recently won a 2011 Indie Excellence Award for crossover fiction. Her second novel, Anna Dressed in Blood, is YA horror, and will be released August 30, 2011, with a sequel to follow in 2012.

Follow Kendare: Website Facebook Twitter

Interview with Kendare Blake! 

How did you go about creating the "rules" for the ghosts in your book? 

This might sound terrible, but the best, most honest answer I can give for this is, by the seat of my pants. 

What other ghost stories, if any, guided you in the way you created the universe that Anna and the other ghosts operate in? 

Growing up watching horror films, and reading ghost stories, a lot of the “rules” of operation are just sort of absorbed. You hear a lot about cold spots and a feeling like someone is watching you. You hear things about ghosts talking in the white noise of the TV or radio, and that just sinks in like common knowledge. Of course, some of it seemed to grow out of the story itself, and some of it I made up to suit my own purposes. Because I’m nefarious like that. In the book I say that ghosts are drawn to water. I thought I made that up, but a ghost-hunting friend of mine said that it’s actually true, so I must’ve heard it somewhere. 

Do you believe that one specific religious tradition more closely relates to the world of Anna Dressed In Blood than any other? If so, which one? If not, is it an amalgam of any specific traditions? 

I don’t think so. Magically, it’s mostly Wiccan. Or eclectic pagan, I suppose you might call it. But as far as the afterlife itself, I don’t think it’s linked to a religion. I wish I had a better answer for this. Like I had based the world of Anna Dressed in Blood on the rules of Scooby Doo or something. Or the rules of Dragon Ball Z. But that would have been too hard to write. People would just keep dying, and being wished back to life by a dragon, and Anna would have to spend three or four episodes powering up the spirit bomb. Nobody here watched Dragon Ball Z, did they? I feel so alone. 

Contest: Who is about to take on Anna next?  

In the first week, we met the ghost hunters.  In the second week, we saw their replies.  This week, we find out who actually makes it to Anna's door!

Each day this week, a final clue will be given for each of the three ghost hunters who accepted Anna's challenge to come to Thunder Bay.  Follow the tour for the rest of this week to find out who among the five is the one who will enter Anna's house on the last day of the tour!  A list of all the tour dates, including the first week's dates where the ghost hunters were introduced, click here.

On the last day of the tour, a link will be provided where you can enter the ghost hunter's name for 15 entries into the contest to win a Anna Dressed In Blood skinned and loaded Kindle 3!  Open US/Canada.

For extra points in the meantime, you can gain +1 point a day by tweeting the following:
Who will make it to Thunder Bay?  Join the contest to best Anna and win an Anna Dressed In Blood Kindle!  Follow #ADIBtour @KendareBlake

  

Kendare Blake Tour Stops 

Monday, September 12th - Rachel, Parajunkee 

Tuesday, September 13th - Stacey, A Reader's Record 

Wednesday, September 14th - Alyssa, Teens Read and Write 

Thursday, September 15th - Heather, Buried In Books 

Friday, September 16th - Jenny, Supernatural Snark  

Monday, September 19th - Melissa, I Swim For Oceans 

Tuesday, September 20th - Tawni, The Book Worms 

Wednesday, September 21st - Alice, Alice Marvels 

Thursday, September 22nd - Julie, That's Swell 

Friday, September 23rd - Angela, The Reading Angel  

Monday, September 26th - Julia, Rex Robot Reviews

Tuesday, September 27th - Ashley, Smash Attack Reads! 

Wednesday, September 28th - Britta, I Like These Books 

Thursday, September 29th - We Fancy Books  

Friday, September 30th (Anna's 1 month birthday!) - Kristi, The Story Siren  

Tuesday, October 4th: Announcement of the big prize winner on Kendare's Site!