Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

38 reviews

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

nodogsonthemoon's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Car accident, Child abuse, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Rape, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Blood, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Racism, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, and Incest

kxrxxrcher's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Murder, and Incest

Moderate: Blood

Minor: Animal cruelty, Torture, Alcoholism, Animal death, Stalking, Racial slurs, Kidnapping, Grief, and Forced institutionalization

ivana's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.0

The mystery in this book didn't pull me in like I hoped it would. The writing style wasn't for me either - it felt like big parts filled with exposition followed by big parts filled with dialogue and it never felt cohesive. Not to mention the typical male protagonist written by a man who every woman can't help but want to sleep with.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Antisemitism, Car accident, Confinement, Cursing, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Incest, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Abortion and Transphobia

aoifestardust's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Animal cruelty, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Car accident, Death, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual violence, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Antisemitism, Gun violence, Mental illness, Sexism, Misogyny, Physical abuse, and Kidnapping

Minor: Alcohol and Death of parent

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

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

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

cassiemuree's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-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? Yes

4.5

Dark and challenging but so worth it. It took me a couple tries to get into it and getting through all the Swedish places, landmarks and such was tough. But if you can stick it out through the first 1/4 it takes off and you’re along for an intense and twisting ride. I couldn’t put it down at that point and immediately read all three in the trilogy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Incest, Gun violence, Death, Child abuse, Blood, Animal death, and Animal cruelty

serena_reads's review against another edition

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!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Abortion, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Antisemitism, Blood, Body horror, Car accident, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Incest, Kidnapping, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicide, Torture, and Violence