Reviews with content warning for Kidnapping - 龙文身的女孩

Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

龙文身的女孩 by Stieg Larsson

65 reviews

bubothereader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Do you ever read a book that you enjoy, but you also want it very far away from you when you finish it? The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was that book for me. It's mysterious, well-written, and intriguing. But, it's also traumatic, triggering, and brutal—probably the most trigger warnings I've ever put on a book.

I thought Larsson wrote strong characters, created a spooky atmosphere, had great pacing, and had fine writing (though it might be better in its native Swedish). But, I can't get past how graphic this novel is. Some scenes are still scarred in my head and I wish I'd never read them. I skimmed over it where I could, but he also wove important plot points into those scenes, so they weren't entirely avoidable.

And though there are parts of Lizbeth Salander that I like as a character, I woefully dislike that he had Blomkvist refer to her as having Asperger's Syndrome (an outdated term, but not sure if it was when this was written). Larsson wrote her VERY stereotypically for autism if this is the case. As an autistic myself, who's also been through loads of trauma, I find it disgusting to paint this violent stereotype—it's not true, even with PTSD. And even if it is true for some, using her as a character with these characteristics makes neurotypicals feel like all autistics are like this (and she's not an own-voice) or make autistics feel mislabeled and unseen.
It's so frustrating to continue having this harmful narrative spread. It's what causes us to get held against or will, or worse.

Finally, an incest plot. I'm sorry. I can't. If you have to stoop to incest to make your plot interesting, you've got the wrong plot. The characters were horrific enough—at that point it just felt gratuitious.

I really found the mystery intriguing. But, I can't continue with the series for the aforementioned reasons.

Content Warnings

dankilgrave's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Dragons are SCARIER with a tattoo.

Content Warnings

serena_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Make sure to look at trigger warnings before reading. Big plot twist!

Content Warnings

dizzypanda's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

Content Warnings

novelyon's review against another edition

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challenging dark informative mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

A book with a fascinating main mystery, with clear and direct prose that makes the clues and their implications easy to understand. However, the subplots in the novel, such as the character Lisbeth's struggle against her ward and the drama surrounding the protagonist's financial magazine, aren't nearly as captivating. The direct prose and dialogue becomes dry in these segments, and there are some disturbing aspects to Lisbeth's story that would change nothing if they were removed. Lisbeth did not need much to establish that she's hardcore, yet the book goes to some unnecessary lengths to make that impression.

Content Warnings