As Red As Blood

I requested As Red as Blood a while ago from Netgalley, but had not been able to read it yet. As such, the premise of this book had slipped my mind and I went into reading this expecting more of a fantasy/fairy tale based on the title/cover. It was nothing of the sort and instead is a YA thriller, a genre that has, so far, not really been my cup of tea.

I think the main reason for this is that in YA thrillers, and As Red as Blood is no exception, the main detecting/thrilling needs to be done by teenagers and it is incredibly difficult to pull this off in a way that is even remotely believable. Will teenagers safe the world? Books try to make you believe this, but I have a hard time buying it.

At the center of the story is a strong female character, who somewhat strangely falls into a bigger plot which has to do with Mafia and the like. Naturally, she and some others decide to take them down by themselves because there might be a leak in the police force.

I’m not sure about this novel. The story was a little bit too unbelievable for my liking and while the main character is very strong (she seems inspired by Lisbeth Salander) I didn’t like her judgemental attitude towards everyone and everything. The writing was a bit awkward at places, which might have been a consequence of the translation. I also have the next books in the series, so I will continue sometime soon.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!