nerd teacher [books] reviewed As Red As Blood by Salla Simukka
Not What I Expected
3 stars
I am going to preface this with a few things: I'm not a fan of the weird pro-police and pro-justice sentiment toward the end (particularly with the inclusion of a dirty cop as one of the antagonists); I feel like the stance on drugs is a bit archaic and fails to really reckon with something one of the characters mentions (recreation vs. addiction, among other aspects like how some people will prey on the poor); and I sort of have this mixed feeling on the presentation of the teenagers in the story (for the record, I know it's not super uncommon for teenagers to live alone and near their schools, especially for those who are older and have to travel long distances; it's more just... their behaviour in this situation because it felt like they didn't need to be teenagers).
That said, I don't think it's bad. I think there …
I am going to preface this with a few things: I'm not a fan of the weird pro-police and pro-justice sentiment toward the end (particularly with the inclusion of a dirty cop as one of the antagonists); I feel like the stance on drugs is a bit archaic and fails to really reckon with something one of the characters mentions (recreation vs. addiction, among other aspects like how some people will prey on the poor); and I sort of have this mixed feeling on the presentation of the teenagers in the story (for the record, I know it's not super uncommon for teenagers to live alone and near their schools, especially for those who are older and have to travel long distances; it's more just... their behaviour in this situation because it felt like they didn't need to be teenagers).
That said, I don't think it's bad. I think there are areas where it spends a lot of time conflicting with itself; in some cases, that works (the framing of "Lumikki never asks for help" actually works well in this manner), but there are others where it feels like the contradictions are the result of an external worldview that definitely doesn't gel with mine and is one that I commonly find myself questioning.
As for the resolution of the story, I feel like it also contradicts with itself. There is this feeling of quasi-relief, where some people are "where they belong" while others aren't. And it's just peculiar. But that contradiction is probably what enables this to be a series.