Title: As Red As Blood
Series: Lumikki Andersson Trilogy #1
Author: Salla Simukka
Year: 2013
Rating: 3/5
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I am big on fairy tale retellings and elements in YA and urban fantasy literature. But, as it turns out, this is not what “As Red As Blood” is about. This is not a supernatural story, yet it is still the story of a young girl named Snow White who gets involved in some very unusual events.
Lumikki Andersson is a student in a prestigious art school who has spent most of her high school life avoiding to associate with any of her classmates. Living on her own and trying to forget her dreadful past, she is focused on graduating and building a life for herself away from trouble.
Everything is going according to plan until one day she walks into the school’s photography room to find a bag of bloodied money. After that she is quickly swept into a world of dirty cops and notorious drug kingpins, a world that might prove deadly for a seventeen-year-old girl.
The Plot
While I found the plot exciting and engaging, I also thought it was fairly implausible. I am not going to comment on a seventeen-year-old girl living on her own, far away from her parents because I am used to seeing teenagers moving away for school and yes, some parents can afford to get their children studio apartments, even though not many seem to allow them as much freedom as Lumikki’s family does.
But this is not my main problem with it. Lumikki doesn’t talk to anyone at school but when the popular kids get in trouble and find out she also knows about the money, one of them calls her to go and keep her company and Lumikki just… agrees? And she keeps on helping them until they get to the bottom of the story and even puts her life in danger? Oh, and how comfortable that she has the exact set of physical and mental skills that they need to carry out their plan successfully .
I have to admit, all of this was very entertaining to read and I will always be a big supporter of the notion that girls need examples in literature and other media of female characters who are unapologetically strong and skillful, who are stoic and aloof and who have been scared by their dark pasts. But I also support the idea that girls deserve well developed characters and plausibly structured plots and story arcs.
The Setting
I feel like a certain quality of Simukka’s writing style must have been lost in translation as the sentences often lacked elegance and fell flat. However, I still found the Lumikki’s Tampere very atmospheric – I could feel the cold surrounding the city, I could imagine the snow enveloping the characters.
The Characters
As I previously said, I love the idea of unapologetically strong female characters and in that aspect, I like Lumikki. She maybe spends a bit too much of her inner monologue judging other people but she still remains very likable.
Unfortunately, none of the other characters receive much depth – safe for Elisa, that is, and even she tends to feel one-dimensional and undeveloped. The friendship between Elisa and Lumikki, however, is a pleasant surprise and I wish it had deepened within the book. I think the two of them have a lot to learn from each other – a companionship which would make for very interesting story arcs.
The Verdict
“As Red As Blood” is not exactly a brilliant novel, however it is intriguing and engaging enough to keep you reading for a few days. Most definitely aimed for younger audiences who would be charmed by the novel and Lumikki herself.
The Book Palace 