Reviews with content warning for Gaslighting - Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

I never read mystery but this was actually very good!
definetly was a good book to make into a movie cause the dialogue in the book feels like a movie script.
I 🖤 lisbeth salander
i feel like I'm probably not gonna read the other books in the series but you never know

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hasinashah's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.0

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ladyzbyrd's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

HO. LY. SHITAKE.

While I definitely did make a number of correct guesses in the first half of the book for the ending, there was still one puzzle I didn’t figure out, and I quite enjoyed the entertainment that was acted upon in solving that last mess. This was a thrilling ride of torment and love (not together).

Note: know your personal triggers and what you can handle. Sexual abuse and violent crimes against women is a theme that pops up several times and is graphically described.

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helenamichelle's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

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bubothereader's review against another edition

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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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