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abbeyroad1410 's review for:
The Girl Who Played with Fire
by Stieg Larsson
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I have a complicated relationship with these books. On one hand, the main plot of both books has been dynamic and compelling. The friendship between Mikel and Lisbeth is strong and well developed which keeps me coming back for more. On the other hand, there is so much going on here that it is sometimes overwhelming.
The first fifth of this book could have been cut. Why do we need the main character sleeping with a teenager? Why do we need to see her leave an abuser for dead in the middle of a hurricane? None of this was relevant to the main plot. I honestly kept waiting for these plot points to come back, and they never did.
There are also so many characters, and we hop in and out of all of their point of views. Sometimes, I forget what character we are talking about and have to wiki it, so that I'm not flipping back and forth trying to recall. I feel as if Stieg Larsson had chosen a couple of characters whose point of view he chose to highlight, the writing would be clearer.
Of course, this book was still so interesting. I like how it concentrated on fleshing out Lisbeth's background and made that the core of the mystery. After the first novel, I felt like we got a good sense of Lisbeth's personality but no reasoning as to why he was the way she was. In fact, despite being called "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," the first novel really focuses on Mikel's history.
Overall, I think I like the core of this novel more than the first in the series, although I was more confused by the details of it. It is certainly a unique and captivating thriller.
The first fifth of this book could have been cut. Why do we need the main character sleeping with a teenager? Why do we need to see her leave an abuser for dead in the middle of a hurricane? None of this was relevant to the main plot. I honestly kept waiting for these plot points to come back, and they never did.
There are also so many characters, and we hop in and out of all of their point of views. Sometimes, I forget what character we are talking about and have to wiki it, so that I'm not flipping back and forth trying to recall. I feel as if Stieg Larsson had chosen a couple of characters whose point of view he chose to highlight, the writing would be clearer.
Of course, this book was still so interesting. I like how it concentrated on fleshing out Lisbeth's background and made that the core of the mystery. After the first novel, I felt like we got a good sense of Lisbeth's personality but no reasoning as to why he was the way she was. In fact, despite being called "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," the first novel really focuses on Mikel's history.
Overall, I think I like the core of this novel more than the first in the series, although I was more confused by the details of it. It is certainly a unique and captivating thriller.