Reviews tagging 'Sexual harassment'

龙文身的女孩 by Stieg Larsson

76 reviews

emnnn's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

Gripping, but nothing special. Liked the female theme. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Murder, Pedophilia, Death of parent, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Death, and Domestic abuse

the_english_reader's review against another edition

I found the premise of this book to be really exciting. Thought it would be everything I wanted from a book. All the hallmarks of a new all time favourite were here, inside these pages. However, from the moment I picked up the book I was bored.

I found the lengths chapters too long. I also found that the whole topic around the legal side of things incredibly boring and long winded. In my opinion it really didn’t need to be what felt like the soul purpose of the book. It just went on far too long. More emphasis could have been made on the actual storyline. I know people will argue that this is the story but I failed to grasp the importance of the long winded chapters just about the legal proceedings. 

On a very positive note, I loved how strong and independent Lisbeth is. However, it did make my skin crawl slightly that when we are first introduced to her we get a description of her that is unnecessary and far too sexualised. We do not need to focus on the physical aspect of her appearance so much that  we are going into detail about the size of her chest. Unnecessary. 

Overall, I am so disappointed in how much I didn’t enjoy this book. I really thought this would be the one I recommend to everyone. I have since watched the film with Daniel Craig. The ending of the story is spectacular and I didn’t see it coming. I just wish the book had kept me engaged long enough for me to experience this properly. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Sexual content

emmacjmeyer's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Torture, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Incest, Kidnapping, Violence, Misogyny, Murder, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

ellensmith's review against another edition

challenging mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.75

It was good but unsure why everyone has to sleep together 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Sexual content, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Incest, Drug use, Eating disorder, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Antisemitism, Misogyny, Car accident, Death, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Religious bigotry, Torture, Violence, and Xenophobia

starsnstitchin's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Antisemitism, Child abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Violence, and Sexual violence

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. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Drug abuse, Abandonment, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Ableism, Death of parent, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, and Violence

debosmitathereader's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

“It doesn't matter how good the enemy's weapons are. If he can't see you, he can't hit you. Cover, cover, cover. Make sure you're never exposed.”
― Stieg Larsson, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
       I enjoyed my time while reading the book. Though I cannot say it is my favorite. I loved the character building of the two protagonist (Lisbeth is my most fav) and the mystery was well bound. The investigation in the book was captivating. It hooked me up to the solution of the mystery. The family mentioned in this book was creepy as hell. I had a good time reading about the dysfunctional family. 

Now,let's come to what I didn't enjoy--
 1)The last 40 pages. It bored the hell out of me.
 2) Pointless details that end of the book didn't matter.
 3) The author not deciding whether he wants to refer to people by their last name or their first name, so he switches back and forth and it is confusing.
    Moreover I liked Stieg's angry voice against sexual violence. Everything seemed okay until some things (I made the point) messed up the book for me.
    

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Animal death and Death

dracovich's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Incest, Antisemitism, Car accident, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Death of parent, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Misogyny, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Torture, and Violence

chxska's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense slow-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

4.0

I made 2 guesses throughout the book and I was wrong both times HAHA

It is really hard for me to read books this long, and I’m not sure if I only read it this fast because I was motivated by the new year. It was exciting though, and the switching between perspectives kept things interesting.

It was also really cool to find how the two main characters would “find” each other.

It was also soooo intense and messed up. An extremely dark book, but it did make me realize that I enjoyed thriller.

That said, the reward of the ending wasn’t satisfying enough to make up for the fact that it’s so long (for me). I’m also not super interested with reading the rest of the series; the book wrapped everything up really well so I’m not sure how the world building(?) would work after the first book. It was still enjoyable though!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Violence

banana_milkshake's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

4.0

The first half of the book is pretty slow as it is told in dual perspectives of Lisbeth, a genius hacker with photographic memory, and Mikael, a journalist. Once these two meet to investigate the Vanger families secrets, things really start to pick up. I watched the movie right after and it was a great experience. The movie didn't include much dialogue so reading the book before helped me to understand the scenes as it was almost the same. Lisbeth ridiculously girlbosses and I love her character but some. of the things she goes through are slightly concerning so please check trigger warnings if you are easily triggers by certain contents. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Torture, Violence, Gun violence, and Blood

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death

Minor: Drug use