GoodRead - As Red As Blood

I really wanted to write a blog post about last night's Doctor Who and my thoughts and reaction on it. Like I said before and will probably say again, this blog is going through a bit of a change - a slow change - but I want it to be more fun and less stress-panicky on me.

But after binging on this week's Neighbours (no idea why!) and seeing family, I have time this weekend to read. To read and not feel guilty!

And I have just finished this book and I really want to talk to you about it. Remember, I am fresh out of it so... yeah...

As Red As Blood follows Lumikki Andersson, a girl who is familiar with secrets that she has made it a rule to never get involved into other people's affairs. Until she walks into her school's darkroom to find blood strained money hanging to dry. She leaves, trying to think of her next step, only to return to find the money gone...

Her rule put to the test, Lumikki slowly finds herself in the heart of Finland's criminal underworld. And soon, she no longer is someone hiding in the shadow - someone you could easily miss. She's a target, she knows too much...

Lips as red as blood, hair as black as night, bring me your heart, my dear, dear Snow White...

This book is surprisingly short - only 236 pages - and yet it is a very intense read. I thought I would read it within a few days, and yet I was still reading it within a week, going "Where on earth is this going?" and "This is a first in a series?" and "This is a translation!"

Yes, this is a translation and it is so refreshing to read a translation book as I think, in YA, we have a heck of a lot of books set in the US from US authors and it's about time we read from all over the world!

It is dark and moves at a fast pace, with moments I found myself on the edge of my seat going "No!" and it's a gritty crime. YA is slowly getting more crime and thrillers but this might be one of the darkest/tensest I have read in a while.

With it being a translation, there was one or two times I did go "That translation doesn't flow right" but you can forgive it. That is one of my main issues. That and the times we were looking into Lumikki's history and you never knew if it was happening now or if we were looking back in time for a page or two...

But saying that, if you are a crime nut and want to read something dark, this is the book for you. I know I have read reviews that have called Lumikki the next Lisbeth Salander and this series is going to be the YA version of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo/The Millennium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson and, as someone who hasn't read the books (only the Swedish films of the first two films - and even then, it was watching through my fingertips), I couldn't possibly say. But If you are a fan of Lisbeth Salander, you might want to check out Lumikki Andersson.