The beginning of this book was very hard to get into and the first 40 pages were heavy going but from there on in it is brilliant with engaging characters, a well thought out plot and people you actually cared about.
Cannot wait to start the second book of the trilogy.

Average Rating:

Rating: - Fascinating read
The beginning of this book was very hard to get into and the first 40 pages were heavy going but from there on in it is brilliant with engaging characters, a well thought out plot and people you actually cared about.
Cannot wait to start the second book of the trilogy.

Rating: - A Superb Read
No sooner had I put down 'The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo' than I had to get hold of the 'The Girl Who Played With FIre'. Lisbeth Salander is a magic character. The problem with a magic character is that the narrative sags a little when she isn't it.
There are three gripping plots within this one great book. So interesting that I hardly noticed the translation awkwardness. I mourn the loss of Mr Lasson.

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Rating: - I could not put it down
When in Denmark on vacation, everyone was talking about these books. Knowing that I don't often enjoy Danish bestsellers, and that I thought the whole story sounded a bit strange, I was not attracted to it until a good friend, who is usually very trustworthy on books, highly recommended it. I bought the book for a transcontinental flight, and was absolutely unable to put it down!
The main characters, Mikael Blomkvist, Lisbeth Salander and Henrik Vanger are all imperfect and with their own quirks (in particular Ms. Salander, who really comes out as the most fascinating character in any thriller I have read), but are weaved perfectly into a story that kept feeling evermore closer with many references to so many things that are "everyday life" if you live in Scandinavia. At the same time, the thriller and detective story was hair-raising, and kept me just wanting to read on!

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Rating: - Doesn't Have to be Technically Perfect
I did wonder what all the fuss was about until I got 200 pages into it, and then, when the whole story about the missing girl kicked in, it all made sense. The main investigative plot was like Agatha Christie on a good day, in a bad mood. I particularly loved the investigation into the photos. It reminded me of the scene in Blade Runner when Deckard is zooming into the photo for clues into the whereabouts of the replicants... And here it was told in an engaging, precise, and convincing way.

I also loved the twists and the revelations, and I thought they were totally worth waiting for.

But - and there's always a but - there were a few things wrong with the novel. Minor things, like the translation, which wasn't anywhere near as bad as a lot of people have said (if you've read Miss Smila Feeling for Snow, you'll know what I mean), a few cliches, and some cheesy dialogue - but all those things didn't affect my enjoyment of the book. Not too much anyway.

Not even the way the main character fell into bed with one of the suspects, or even the other main character, Salander, impaired my enjoyment too much because, let's face it, most genre books suffer when it comes to their love stories. Although, I have to say, when the two main characters met up for the first time mid-way through the book, it WAS a really pleasing moment, but was then spoilt five pages later he said to her, 'You have beautiful eyes,' and she replied, 'You have nice eyes yourself.' That was a definate 'groan' moment for me.

The other criticisms I had was that after the main mystery is solved, the novel then dragged on for another 100 or so pages, which might have tied up the other story strands, but was completely boring none the less. I also found Salander's character bordering dangerously on the unbelievable, and found it hard to work out what she was really about. At turns intelligent, then dumb, I'm sure she was supposed to embody some complex contradictions, but there were times when this didn't work for me. (I read a review about the second book to see if I should carry on with the series and found out she get's herself some big breasts - so there goes your feminist interpretation [and no, I won't continue with the series purely based on that big-breasts-as-significant-character-development-rubbish alone]) Another thing I didn't like was the cliched way the killer bragged about what he'd done while pin-pointing his own motivations for doing so - this just sounded like the crumby bit in the Bond film when the bad guy boasts about his plan to take over the world just before Bond escapes.

Having said all that, TGWTDT was a really enjoyable novel, and was worth the four stars I've given it, despite it's flaws.

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Rating: - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
A stunning and refreshing style of fictional writing. The best book I have read in many years. Whilst it involves crime its genre is more that crime. Such a complete story told in an amazing way. It is so well translated from Swedish that you are not aware unless told. I must have counted only two or three places where it was not exact English in 500+ pages.

The second book of the trilogy 'The Girl who Played with Fire' is equally as brilliant.

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