“It wasn’t a request or a command, simply a statement. A fact. Never give people opinions, just give them simple directives. Don’t beg or demand, just tell them how things are.”
As Red as Blood by Salla Simukka (Lumikki Andersson #1)
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 244 pages
Publisher: Crown Books for Young Readers
Published: January 17th 2017
Genres: Young Adult, Mystery, Thriller, Fiction, Mystery > Crime
Review:
I’m a sucker for retellings and when I saw that this was also a crime/ thriller, I was more than curious to see how it all played out. As Red as Blood is told in third person and a through few different characters, but our main protagonist is Lumikki Andersson, a high school student who doesn’t like to get involved in other business. She would rather keep to herself, but when she finds thousands of Euros and three of her classmates involved, she get’s roped into not just helping them out, but also a web of lies and deception.
I really liked that this wasn’t just a fairytale retelling but also its own book. It wasn’t overshadowed and it had Snow White references in the beginning of a few chapters that fit perfectly with what was going on in the book along with the setting/ atmosphere. This book takes place in the winter, and the snow covered setting compliments everything going on.
The main character is Lumikki Andersson. She’s a high school student who lives by herself and enjoys being left alone. She was an interesting character because right off the bat we learn that although she stayed in the sidelines, people remembered her name. She was the one who played Ophelia in a school play very well, but also didn’t participate in pranks or parties. From the very beginning, she’s a puzzle piece that makes you want to read more about her. As we keep reading we quickly realize that she’s very smart but also hesitant. But she handles herself a lot differently than most high school students would. She seemed more if an adult than a young adult, which worked fine for the story line.
The plot was also very well written. We are thrown into the mystery from page one. It didn’t take pages of build up and background. The only thing was that it was slow at times, but the chapters were short enough that they don’t discourage. The book is to the point and doesn’t give room to put down, which is a good thing. Every time my attention would start to waver (which it did occasionally), something would happen and the plot would pick up.
However, I didn’t like that some of the other characters seemed less than intelligent. In fact, some of the scenes and decisions where a little too cliché for my taste. Because of this, I wasn’t able to get sucked into this book as much as I had hoped, but the plot and everything going on was intriguing enough to keep me going.
Overall, I’m a sucker for retellings and when I saw that this was also a crime/ thriller, I was more than curious to see how it all played out an fell together. Reading this story had its ups and downs. It was slow in some parts, but it always managed to pick back up. I really liked the main character Lumikki Andersson. She was independent and really smart, but she was more of an adult character than young adult. It was a quick and light read and overall, I liked how it wasn’t just a retelling, but also its own story.
My Rating:
.5
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Note: I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.
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