Review: The Girl who Played with Fire (Millennium #2) by Stieg Larsson

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2006

Pages: 724

Source: Borrowed (Thanks Auntie!)

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Mikael Blomkvist, crusading journalist and publisher of the magazine Millennium, has decided to run a story that will expose an extensive sex trafficking operation between Eastern Europe and Sweden, implicating well-known and highly placed members of Swedish society, business, and government. 
But he has no idea just how explosive the story will be until, on the eve of publication, the two investigating reporters are murdered. And even more shocking for Blomkvist: the fingerprints found on the murder weapon belong to Lisbeth Salander—the troubled, wise-beyond-her-years genius hacker who came to his aid in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and who now becomes the focus and fierce heart of The Girl Who Played with Fire. 
As Blomkvist, alone in his belief in Salander’s innocence, plunges into an investigation of the slayings, Salander herself is drawn into a murderous hunt in which she is the prey, and which compels her to revisit her dark past in an effort to settle with it once and for all.

In short: The Girl who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson maintains the same general layout as its predecessor but as a bonus, Salander's backstory is detailed extensively.

Uh, can I just say ditto? I have pretty much the exact same comments to make on this second installment that I had in my The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo review. Again, this book was an intelligent murder mystery cloaked in a bevy of unimportant details that were completely unnecessary to the plot. Why is it necessary that the reader knows about every single item that Salander buys from IKEA to furnish her new apartment? I just don't understand why things like this weren't edited out. It takes the entire first half of the book to set up the plot and action in the second half.

At least I wasn't as horrified by the plot this time around, now that I know what to expect and have become a bit more accustomed to the terrible and graphic abuse and violence that takes place. The Girl who Played with Fire still had the same disgusting, women-abusing type of bad guy as The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, but I found that I could be - if still a bit horrified - very satisfied to see those sadistic pigs, perverts, and rapists get their comeuppance.

I am also extremely satisfied with the answers we got regarding the backstory of the one-of-a-kind Lisbeth Salander. I stated in my The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo review that she was the only character I developed any investment in and she was the main reason I wanted to continue with the trilogy. In fact, now that I've gotten a good understanding of her (well, as much as anyone can really understand Salander [in other words, not really]), I almost don't feel the need to continue on with The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest.

Still, The Girl who Played with Fire ended with a bit of a cliffhanger that most definitely makes me want to read on to find out whether all the characters made it through that intense final sequence. But it can wait for a while. I'm suffering from some serious YA withdrawal and I need to get me my fix.

*Read as part of the Into the Old World Reading Challenge
*Read as part of the Book Series Completion Challenge

Review: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium #1) by Stieg Larsson

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2005

Pages: 841

Source: Borrowed (Thanks Auntie!)

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Mikael Blomkvist, a once-respected financial journalist, watches his professional life rapidly crumble around him. Prospects appear bleak until an unexpected (and unsettling) offer to resurrect his name is extended by an old-school titan of Swedish industry. The catch--and there's always a catch--is that Blomkvist must first spend a year researching a mysterious disappearance that has remained unsolved for nearly four decades. With few other options, he accepts and enlists the help of investigator Lisbeth Salander, a misunderstood genius with a cache of authority issues. Little is as it seems in Larsson's novel, but there is at least one constant: you really don't want to mess with the girl with the dragon tattoo.

In short: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson presents a damn good mystery and a fascinating enigma in the character of Lisbeth Salander, but could do with a fair amount of editing.

The original title of this book in Sweden is Men Who Hate Women, which, I think, sums up pretty well its truly horrific plot. After months of reading only YA, it was a nasty shock to read about the events that take place in this very adult book. Still, I very much enjoyed the well laid out mystery. With all the pieces of the puzzle in place, the revelation at the end was really well done.

The biggest problem I had with this book was its length. At 841 pages (albeit the mass market paperback version), there was a ton of extraneous and pointless information that could have been left out. I really don't need to read about all the intricacies of hacking and economics. With editing, easily hundreds of pages that were non-essential to the plot, mystery, and characters could have been removed. The two main characters, Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander, did not even meet until half way through.

Out of all the characters, Salander, the girl with the dragon tattoo, was really the only one who stood out for me. Maybe it was just because she was so peculiar that all the other characters paled in comparison. Salander is probably the most fascinating character I've read in years. An utter enigma. She is incredibly intelligent and introverted and violent. Why does she behave the way she does? What is her revulsion to turning to the police for help?

Though I suspect the other books in the Millenium Trilogy will also be just as long-winded, I would like to learn more about Salander and so I will continue on with the series. I also look forward to watching the movies, both Swedish and American alike. The American version trailer was just released and it looks very edgy and cool:

*Read as part of the Into the Old World Reading Challenge
*Read as part of the Book Series Completion Challenge,
*The Letter G in the A-Z Reading Challenge