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