Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

37 reviews

theatomicblonde22's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Grief, Hate crime, Blood, Forced institutionalization, Cursing, Death, Gore, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual content and Animal death

ladyzbyrd'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? 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Antisemitism, Blood, Car accident, Child abuse, Death, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gore, Hate crime, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Torture, and Violence

sammygordon13's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Blood, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Animal cruelty, Gun violence, Death of parent, Death, Confinement, Violence, Sexual content, Incest, Child death, Animal death, Child abuse, and Car accident

Moderate: Stalking and Antisemitism

Minor: Abortion and Suicide

creepy_little_thing's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense

• 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Violence, Rape, Sexual violence, Sexism, Sexual assault, Misogyny, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Car accident, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Murder, Alcoholism, Animal death, Antisemitism, Death of parent, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, and Physical abuse

Minor: Blood, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Gore, and Kidnapping

alexandrajjjk's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Suicide, Gore, Incest, Physical abuse, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual harassment, Violence, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Abortion, Antisemitism, Child abuse, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Stalking, and Torture

whitemaleego_andablunt's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

The book was great and all of the characters had great character development and depth, unfortunately for me I decided to start reading it during a period of time when I was having a really hard time staying engaged and finding the motivation to read. The slow pace of this book caused it to be almost impossible to finish, I found the ending a little underwhelming however I understand why it was the way it was since the whole point of the book was to capture corporate greed and corruption. All in all it was a great book however I had a hard time finishing it. Will re-read soon since I’m sure there were small details of the story I missed!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Torture, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Animal death, and Pedophilia

taricianr's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Death, Sexual assault, Violence, Animal cruelty, Blood, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Antisemitism, Emotional abuse, Rape, and Religious bigotry

aileron's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Antisemitism, Child abuse, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Forced institutionalization, Animal death, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Animal cruelty, Torture, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, Gun violence, and Confinement

Minor: Abortion, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Ableism, Death of parent, Dementia, Suicide, Cancer, and Domestic abuse

aserra's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-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? No

2.5

Not much to add that hasn't been said before. To summarize:

• Slow start
• Michael Blomkvist falls into the trope of middle aged white man with suspiciously impressive sexual prowess
• There's a weird amount of description and focus on Salander's body...
• Interesting mystery
• Some people seem to really dislike the writing but, honestly, it's far from the worst I've ever read (it's also far from the best, but it's not terrible y'all)

Personally, despite a lot of tired tropes and my misgivings, I was intrigued enough by the end to continue to book 2, but that's because I already had it. If I didn't, I wouldn't have gotten it.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Cursing, Car accident, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Confinement, and Death

Minor: Sexual content, Rape, Murder, Emotional abuse, Biphobia, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Incest, Antisemitism, and Forced institutionalization

rachelditty's review

dark mysterious 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

4.5

I really liked this! Picked it up on impulse while visiting my grandma, who said she would read it after I was finished with it. Definitely going to warn her that this gets very, very dark, but is overall very entertaining and well worth following along with the mystery!

I'm not one to pick up mysteries very often, but something about this was very gripping right from the start. I think it was a mix of having two different points of view as well as our narrator being reluctant to be working on Harriet's case in the first place. Mikael was very likeable, I thought; I enjoyed watching him work and walking alongside his thought processes. He was a very respectable guy and treated everyone with respect, which I was kind of surprised by--I thought he would be another main character womanizer who believes he's better than everyone else, but I was happily surprised! Lisbeth was admittedly a bit more frustrating as the story went on, especially toward the end. I really loved seeing her work and cheered her on when she got revenge on the people who hurt her, she was absolutely right for that. But toward the end she accused Harriet of being a bitch and a coward for fleeing after everything that happened with her brother, and that really bothered me. 

I think my biggest gripe with the story was the unnecessary romance between Lisbeth and Mikael. I was worried that when their two points of views met in the middle, we'd see them fall in love, or at the very least having sex. Given that he was twice her age, I hated their engagement with each other immediately, and just found it an unnecessary catalyst for the rest of the story. I understand that it was partially needed for Lisbeth to break down some of her walls, but I think the same thing could have been accomplished if they had just become friends, as Mikael had suggested and pushed.  By the epilogue, when Lisbeth had admitted she was in love with him, I was rolling my eyes. Maybe it's just not my cup of tea, but I would have loved it so much more if the two of them had just become really close friends after such a fucked-up series of events that had pulled them together. 

I also found it just a tad strange that Harriet took over as CEO and was also on the board for Millenium, which I know was explained by the fact that she ran the sheep farm in Australia and therefore had a good idea of business, but she had just gotten back from being in hiding for thirty years, it seemed like it was so rushed to make that choice. Maybe time just moved faster because I read the ending so quickly, I don't know.  

SO glad Harriet's uncle was able to see her alive at the end. The awful brother and mom both died, the Nazi has cancer, and the corrupt business was thrown to the dirt. You love to see it.

VERY interested in picking up the rest of the series!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Incest, Medical trauma, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Car accident, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Antisemitism, Blood, Body horror, Death, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Emotional abuse, Stalking, and Torture

Minor: Dementia