This is going to be a long one so get yourself a snack because you will need it if you are going to read me fangirling about my new favourite trilogy! Already using exclamation marks and it’s not even midday! So let’s get into it …
Title: As Red as Blood (book #1 in the Lumikki Anderson trilogy)
Author: Salla Simukka
Translator:y: Owen F. Witesman
Genre: YA, Mystery, Thriller, Finnish Literature, Realistic Fiction, Coming of Age
Pages: 274
Published: January 1st 2013 by Skyscape
Blurb form Goodreads
In the midst of the freezing Arctic winter, seventeen-year-old Lumikki Andersson walks into her school’s dark room and finds a stash of wet, crimson-colored money. Thousands of Euros left to dry—splattered with someone’s blood.
Lumikki lives alone in a studio apartment far from her parents and the past she left behind. She transferred into a prestigious art school, and she’s singularly focused on studying and graduating. Lumikki ignores the cliques, the gossip, and the parties held by the school’s most popular and beautiful boys and girls.
But finding the blood-stained money changes everything. Suddenly, Lumikki is swept into a whirlpool of events as she finds herself helping to trace the origins of the money. Events turn even more deadly when evidence points to dirty cops and a notorious drug kingpin best known for the brutality with which he runs his business.
As Lumikki loses control of her carefully constructed world, she discovers that she’s been blind to the forces swirling around her—and she’s running out of time to set them right. When she sees the stark red of blood on snow, it may be too late to save her friends or herself.
The Review
The story started off quiet chunky with a little bit of info dumping here and there . I didn’t connect to our protagonist right away and in that sense reminded me of Katniss Everdeen from the Hunger Games, now I know that you will reprimand me for comparing characters and I should judge a character on their own merit but I couldn’t help it! It does get better because I warmed up to Lumikki when I was in the middle of the book. The writing style was easy to get into and flowed throughout the trilogy after I was past the 50 page marker. The story line progressed quickly after that marker as well and moved at a steady rise and as a result I was immersed into this world and all the dodgy goings on that Lumikki had managed to get herself into. The ending was really satisfying and was wrapped up nicely but at the same time it left you reeling for more.
Rating
4/5 stars
Title: As White as Snow (book #2 in the Lumikki Anderson trilogy)
Author: Salla Simukka
Translator:y: Owen F. Witesman
Genre: YA, Mystery, Thriller, Finnish Literature, Realistic Fiction, Coming of Age
Pages: 224
Published: March 3rd 2015 by Skyscape
Blurb form Goodreads
The heat of the summer sun bakes the streets of Prague, but Lumikki’s heart is frozen solid.
Looking to escape the notoriety caused by the part she played in taking down Polar Bear’s crime ring, seventeen-year-old Lumikki Andersson escapes to Prague, where she hopes to find a few weeks of peace among the hordes of tourists. But not long after arriving, she’s cornered by a skittish and strange young woman who claims to be her long-lost sister. The woman, Lenka, is obviously terrified, and even though Lumikki doesn’t believe her story—although parts of it ring true—she can’t just walk away.
Lumikki quickly gets caught up in Lenka’s sad and mysterious world, uncovering pieces of a mystery that take her from the belly of a poisonous cult to the highest echelons of corporate power. On the run for her life again, Lumikki must use all her wits to survive, but in the end, she just may discover she can’t do it all alone.
The Review
It had me paying attention from the very start, even though it was very disorientating as it may not seem like the sequel to As Red as Blood but this may be due to this book taking place in Czech Republic rather than Finland. Again, I found Lumikki to be too cold and blunt for her own good but had become a better person to read about than she was in the first book. More characters are introduced and for the most part they are all relevant to the story and three-dimensional. The writing style is pretty much the came but more to the point so much so that I couldn’t believe that the story was over when I was on the last page.
Rating
4.5 stars
Title: As Black as Ebony (book #3 in the Lumikki Anderson trilogy)
Author: Salla Simukka
Translator:y: Owen F. Witesman
Genre: YA, Mystery, Thriller, Finnish Literature, Realistic Fiction, Coming of Age
Pages: 151
Published: August 4th 2015 by Skyscape
Blurb from Goodreads
After a harrowing summer in Prague, Lumikki Anderson is back in Finland at her prestigious art school, concentrating on graduation. She lands the lead role in the school’s modern-day adaptation of “Snow White” and finds herself facing a new distraction—Sampsa, the boy playing the role of the huntsman, who has an undeniable allure that makes Lumikki conflicted about what, and who, she wants.
As Lumikki starts falling into something more than just her role on stage, a shadow is cast over the production when she begins receiving creepily obsessive love notes. Lumikki can’t ignore the increasingly hostile tone of her admirer’s messages, and when the stalker threatens mass violence at the play’s premiere, Lumikki knows she must discover who is behind the menace and stop the person at all costs.
With a foe who has a heart as black as ebony, does Lumikki have any hope of saving those she loves?
The Review
The same blunt writing style is carried into this book which melds with the love triangle in this book; even though I am not the biggest fan of love triangles, this one was done tastefully and was not the main thing that was driving the story line. There was delicious character development and insight into Lumikki’s childhood which we did not know much about prior to this last installment in this series. There is also some big plot twists which kept me guessing and the ending was really satisfying with everything wrapped up in a neat bow.
Rating
5 stars
So that was it, I didn’t manage to fluff it up and reading back my reviews make some sense although I don’t think they got my passion across, just in case you couldn’t tell I loved this trilogy and for me it is up there with HP and Tracy Beaker!
1booklife 
I believe that writing judgments of characters “on their own merit” when parallels clearly exist in your mind is intellectually dishonest. I agree that we should aspire to be without bias, but it’s a fool that believes themselves truly impartial. Good for you hanging a lantern on it, though.
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Thanks, because there’s a lot of backlash on either sides if you do not just put it out there that you do value each character/book as they are.
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