Hmmm. I quite like this one!
When I initially picked up AS RED AS BLOOD, the first issue I ran into, believe it or not, was the fact that it was pitched as Six of Crows meets Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. And I know that pitches are usually so very off, and that they mean nothing, but the comparison to SoC a)made me miss that series so much, and b)gave me the impression that AS RED AS BLOOD was either very confident, or is going to be setting itself up for failure.
Apparently, ARaB is very confident, but has absolutely NOTHING to do with SoC. The comparison is misplaced, so do not go into this one thinking the two books are in any way similar.
Another misconception I had was that this was going to be a Snow White retelling, but as a thriller. NOPE. The book seemed to be begging me to Just sit down, Nina, because today is not your day.
Yeah. I'm not sure if I put too much faith into this book, or if I just thought up a million dollar idea by mistake. Who knows.
But misconceptions aside, I quite enjoyed this one! The first chapter is exciting, short, and snappy, and it has this in medias res feel to it, almost (a style that I ADORE).
Lummikki is an amazing lead. She's a bit introverted and shy, but she's very curious? Curious enough to put her life on the line investigating someone else's case (which I really don't get, honestly??), but interesting just the same.
Oh, and this is translated from Finnish! And I believe the translator did a pretty good job, because the writing, for the most part, flows nicely. (As compared to my other 2017 translated read, WONDERFUL FEELS LIKE THIS by Sara Lövestam, [translated from Swedish], whose translations were about as smooth as sandpaper. So, as you can imagine, I was a bit worried going into AS RED AS BLOOD, but thankfully, the English wasn't choppy. Yay.)
Overall? Nice, quick, and easy read, if thrillers and mysteries are your thing.
Thank you, Penguin, for sending me a review copy in exchange for my honest review!