Scan barcode
A review by onceuponanisabel
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
4.0
Yes, yes, okay. This book was ~good~. The mystery was compelling. The characters were interesting.
But I want to take this opportunity to highlight the two reasons I don't read much Adult Literature. (trigger warning for sexual assault, violence)
1. Unpleasant and frankly unnecessary graphic violence against women (particularly rape). I understand why these books are written. I understand that many people find the exploration of dark themes to be good material for a book. Personally though, I see far more than enough violence in real life. I have absolutely no interest in reading about violence against women. I understand that these themes in this book likely lead to the development of Lisbeth's character, as we saw her get angrier and angrier as the book progressed. I don't care. There were more women in this book that were named as victims of a serial rapist and murderer than there were women who were primary or secondary characters (and even some of these women were victims of rape separately from the serial murdering). I'm just exhausted by this use of rape as something that can cause a strong reaction from readers when there is very little discussion of rape culture or healing.
2. The inSANE attention to detail, far far far beyond what was necessary and what veering into absolute insanity. I have absolutely no need for a two-paragraph catalog of the books on a character's shelf. I don't need to know the specifications of each character's laptop. I don't care about this level of minutiae and I kind of struggle to imagine a person who finds these details helpful or entertaining.
But I want to take this opportunity to highlight the two reasons I don't read much Adult Literature. (trigger warning for sexual assault, violence)
1. Unpleasant and frankly unnecessary graphic violence against women (particularly rape). I understand why these books are written. I understand that many people find the exploration of dark themes to be good material for a book. Personally though, I see far more than enough violence in real life. I have absolutely no interest in reading about violence against women. I understand that these themes in this book likely lead to the development of Lisbeth's character, as we saw her get angrier and angrier as the book progressed. I don't care. There were more women in this book that were named as victims of a serial rapist and murderer than there were women who were primary or secondary characters (and even some of these women were victims of rape separately from the serial murdering). I'm just exhausted by this use of rape as something that can cause a strong reaction from readers when there is very little discussion of rape culture or healing.
2. The inSANE attention to detail, far far far beyond what was necessary and what veering into absolute insanity. I have absolutely no need for a two-paragraph catalog of the books on a character's shelf. I don't need to know the specifications of each character's laptop. I don't care about this level of minutiae and I kind of struggle to imagine a person who finds these details helpful or entertaining.