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4.27 AVERAGE
4.27 AVERAGE
Glacially slow. Occasional sharp edged characters. A surprising lack of Ah Hah! Moments for a thriller/crime novel.
note: I'm doing this review as if it was the end of the series. It's not but there is a new author who I am sure writes different then Stieg Larsson. So for that sake, I'm writing this review as an overall assessment of the series.
This book was good. Not super great by any means. There were some parts that were just really dull and boring. However, I understood why they were there. Every sentence was needed and nothing was wasted. It provided background information for the trial and Lisbeth's entire life. It didn't stop it from being boring though. I had to read my other book as a breather because I couldn't handle all the information at times. As a someone who loves information in books, that was kind of a problem.
One of my favorite things about this book is Lisbeth. Well she has been my favorite the entire series. But this is the book that Lisbeth finally stops being the victim. For years, she has been subjected to abuse and neglect on so many levels. There were things were done to her that a lot of us couldn't even begin to imagine. I can see why she was so socially stunted and why she hated authority. My heart bleeds for this poor girl.
Lisbeth took control of her own life and that meant putting herself on the line. She is an incredibly private person so letting people in to help her was a huge challenge for her. Talking MAJOR challenge. She doesn't trust easily and with good reason. It was just so damn refreshing to see Lisbeth gain control of her life. She was finally allowed to do whatever she wanted.
I still don't know how I feel about Mikael. On one hand I admire his courage and tenacity. He is a social justice warrior but a good one. He simply wants to make sure that the criminals are exposed for the horrible things they do. But on the other hand, he is kind of an ass. He will disappear for weeks at a time and then get all frustrated when people don't get a hold of him when they have news. He worked his employees to the bone. That was just a real problem for me.
I think Mikael is just a little too intense for me. He engages in activities, as a journalist, that puts other people at risk. He doesn't think about those consequences until later when they happen. There is totally nothing wrong with wanting to do what is right but at the same time, he has to think about his employees and how their lives could be at risk.
If you have started this book and found it to be dull, preserve. The trial of Lisbeth Salander is worth it. Completely and utterly worth it. I won't put it into detail because spoilers but man, I was grinning from ear to ear.
Overall, I could have easily been happy with the series ending with this book. It had all the closure you could ever want from a triology. However, there are two more books so I'm excited to see what mischief Lisbeth gets into with Mikael. This was a real good series with a great ending. I highly recommend if you can get past the amount of information in this series.
This book was good. Not super great by any means. There were some parts that were just really dull and boring. However, I understood why they were there. Every sentence was needed and nothing was wasted. It provided background information for the trial and Lisbeth's entire life. It didn't stop it from being boring though. I had to read my other book as a breather because I couldn't handle all the information at times. As a someone who loves information in books, that was kind of a problem.
One of my favorite things about this book is Lisbeth. Well she has been my favorite the entire series. But this is the book that Lisbeth finally stops being the victim. For years, she has been subjected to abuse and neglect on so many levels. There were things were done to her that a lot of us couldn't even begin to imagine. I can see why she was so socially stunted and why she hated authority. My heart bleeds for this poor girl.
Lisbeth took control of her own life and that meant putting herself on the line. She is an incredibly private person so letting people in to help her was a huge challenge for her. Talking MAJOR challenge. She doesn't trust easily and with good reason. It was just so damn refreshing to see Lisbeth gain control of her life. She was finally allowed to do whatever she wanted.
I still don't know how I feel about Mikael. On one hand I admire his courage and tenacity. He is a social justice warrior but a good one. He simply wants to make sure that the criminals are exposed for the horrible things they do. But on the other hand, he is kind of an ass. He will disappear for weeks at a time and then get all frustrated when people don't get a hold of him when they have news. He worked his employees to the bone. That was just a real problem for me.
I think Mikael is just a little too intense for me. He engages in activities, as a journalist, that puts other people at risk. He doesn't think about those consequences until later when they happen. There is totally nothing wrong with wanting to do what is right but at the same time, he has to think about his employees and how their lives could be at risk.
If you have started this book and found it to be dull, preserve. The trial of Lisbeth Salander is worth it. Completely and utterly worth it. I won't put it into detail because spoilers but man, I was grinning from ear to ear.
Overall, I could have easily been happy with the series ending with this book. It had all the closure you could ever want from a triology. However, there are two more books so I'm excited to see what mischief Lisbeth gets into with Mikael. This was a real good series with a great ending. I highly recommend if you can get past the amount of information in this series.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This read like the author's own wish fulfillment fantasy, and it's not even fanfic. I also think there's a lot of Nice Guy stuff in here disguised as feminism. Double yuck.
I still consider this a solidly intriguing thriller since it explores financial journalism in a way that somehow kept me engaged for almost 700 pages. The plot was just twisty enough that it wasn't over the top. Only ... 3.25 stars because this book is far too long, and the amount of sex made me uncomfortable. Blomkvist f*cked every woman in this novel, it was obnoxious. I welcome sex scenes in a novel, but this was written by a man. At times the consensual sex was too much, since it was paired with a lot of gruesome sex crimes/sexual abuse. And because Larsson continually describes Salander as looking like a child...
I remember having only good opinions of this book when I read it 8 years ago, so it was interesting to do a reread and see how I've matured as a reader.
I remember having only good opinions of this book when I read it 8 years ago, so it was interesting to do a reread and see how I've matured as a reader.
Unlike in the first one I loved all the characters here including Lisbeth. My main problem here was that the plot and the mystery took too damn long and while they were interesting the first 50 pages it was just predictable and meh for the rest of the book and it brought down my enjoyment.
AMAZING! It took me about 100 pages to get into it, and then I couldn't put it down. This book was insane - definitely lived up to the hype! Can't wait to read books 2 and 3.
Read it a few years ago and stumbled on it on the website. Saving my rating so maybe one day I'll notice I only read the first one in the series and go back to read the others.
This wrapped up well considering that Larsson didn't actually intend for it to be the last book of this series. I absolutely love these books. Larsson's overly detailed and descriptive way of writing would normally bother me, but for some reason he gets away with it and I find it fascinating. I don't know why I am so happy to know how many coffees a character has throughout the course of the day, or what Lisbet had on her sandwich, but I am. These books are seriously good - disturbing, complicated, fascinating. I love them and I wish he had had the chance to finish this series.