This is a spoiler free review of Bizenghast Volume 8 by M. Alice LeGrow.

First off, let me state that I have been waiting for forever to finish this series. Book 7 had left off at such a cliffhanger and it seemed like the world had put everything in the way to stop me from finishing the series. But I did and I loved it. 

My one critique is that after such a climax in the previous book it felt like it ended too quickly. 

But I did love how it ended. I was listening to Centuries by FOB as I read it. Very appropriate considering how it ended. 
The book tied up all loose ends. And it was a "relatively" happy ending. It also opened up the possibility of fan fictions. Heh. 

All in all I loved it. I might just have to reread the series just to get back into the mausoleum's world.

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

Anna Dressed in Blood revolves around Cas, who follows in his dad's footsteps as a hunter of murderous ghosts after his dad is killed by one (somewhat like Supernatural). he travels with his witch mother and ends up in Canada to "kill" Anna Dressed in Blood. She kills everyone who enters her house, in the most gruesome way possible: tearing them apart with her bare hands. But the unthinkable happens when Cas loses control of his case early on: she spares him.

Surprisingly aided by Carmel, the popular girl at school (nicer than you would assume), and Thomas, whose grandfather(?) dabbles in the occult, as he investigates in Anna's past and has to dig up his own dark past in order to stop a horrifying evil.

I loved this book. First of all, i liked how Blake characterized everyone. Cas was this loner who suddenly needs friends if he wants to live through this experience. Anna was such a strong character, tied down by an inexplicable evil, forced into becoming a monster, I felt for her.

While overall the plot was predictable, the ending completely threw me off and left me wanting more (she just could not leave Cas' feels torn in two like that. My own feels were crushed then!)

I did end up reading the second book, which, though not as good as the first, it had a satisfying ending and I actually want there to be more books.

Also note: Stephanie Meyer (of Twilight fame) bought the rights to the screenplay for this. she's gonna make it into a movie! Though I'm not a fan of her writing (yes I read most of the Twilight series, I was a former Twihard fan I know what I'm talking about) I'm excited that the book will be brought to the silver screen.

If you are a bit queasy towards guts and gore, you might not want to read this. But if you like a good strong Gothic/Romance/ghost story this books for you. If you like the tv series series Supernatural, this also might be a good fit for you.

As you can see, Chuck Norris approves.

Lets give this one 4 and 1/2 stars for awesomeness!