Author: Salla Simukka
Genre: Young Adult/Drama/Action
Publication: Tammi (Finnish), Clavis (Dutch)
Release Date: August, 2013 (1st published in Finnish)
Pages: 237
Spoilers: Not much, only on some particular scenes that don’t uncover anything too important.
So this post is gonna be a bit more complicated, since this book hasn’t been translated yet to English. So I translated the title (Valkea kuin lumi) myself, I cannot confirm whether this is the real title or not, but I think it suits well. Since there’s no English Goodreads page of this book, I will tell you myself what happens to Lumikki in the sequel to As Red As Blood. (THANKS AGAIN, CLAVIS BOOKS, FOR THE DUTCH REVIEW COPY, WIT ALS SNEEUW!)
“After all the crazy incidents last year, Lumikki decides to travel to Prague. It’s summer and it’s very very hot. She was so looking forward to spend some time on her own, to relax, but unfortunately, she gets wrapped up in another event. Zelenka, a young woman, approaches her, stating that she is Lumikki’s long lost sister. Even though Zelenka seems to be honest to Lumikki, she instantly feels she is hiding something. When trying to figure out what happened to her own family, Lumikki gets stuck in a sect that Zelenka is part of. Both of their lives are in danger, and it’s up to Lumikki to save them.”
Another thrilling story by Salla, I think. At first I was a bit disappointed that the story didn’t completely related to the first book. (Later on, I talked to Salla about this). The three stories are supposed to be stand alone books, with a thick red thread that is Lumikki herself. She develops, but the events aren’t related to each other. After realizing that this was the thing, I got to like the story more. I had high hopes since the first book was damn good, and I hoped I wouldn’t get disappointed.
I wasn’t.
I surely hoped Zelenka was one of the good guys, and not one of the bad guys. I liked her right away, but wanted to scream at her that she had to be honest to Lumikki. I didn’t wanted to see her miss leaded. Unfortunately, things I don’t want, mostly always happen (damn you, author).
To me, getting to know more about that sect, was something thrilling and exciting, but I also got terrified by all of their ideas. Like: how can they even justify their actions? Lumikki thought the same, only she couldn’t really help getting all wrapped up in the crazy world of Zelenka. She’s just too helpful, smart and sharp. She notices everything, almost unhuman. But her feelings make her very much human, which is something I started to appreciate more through this book. It’s like Salla uncovered a bit more about Lumikki’s past and parents, but also made me think about even more questions that I already did.
As for the story line, I was a bit disappointed at the beginning, but got blown away by it in the end. I loved how the excitement was always there. But mostly, I loved how visual Salla wrote her book! I mean, the scene on the bridge, it’s so real! I felt like I was actually there, standing on the bridge, watching what happened. I even imaged BEING Lumikki. This was one of my favorite scenes, which I will spoil no more.
At some points, I think the story missed depth, but that didn’t take away the excitement I felt.
I think this book is a great follow up, even though I didn’t really get that the first few pages. The ending was just TOO excited for me. I couldn’t eat, sleep or pee. I just needed to read it, just like what happened during reading the first book.
Mission accomplished I’d say?
Review #1
Review #3
