The Girl Who Played with Fire (Millennium, #2)

My rating:

add to my books

The Girl Who Played with Fire (Millennium #2)

by Stieg Larsson, Reg Keeland (Translator)

4.14 · rating details · 153,615 ratings · 19,563 reviews

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 publi...more

Paperback, Large Print, 823 pages

Published July 28th 2009 by Random House Large Print (first published January 1st 2006)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

There is a good chance some of your friends read this book. Sign in to see!

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

This book is currently not featured on any Listopia lists. Add this book to your favorite list »

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 212,284)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Dec 19, 2011

Sandybanks rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: mystery-thriller, 5-star-reads, 2009

ILLUSTRATED!

What I learned from this book (in no particular order):

1. Swedish billionaires furnish their multi-million dollar apartments with IKEA --- well, at least ONE peculiar Swedish billionaire.

Poang Chair $40

2. Asperger's Syndrome may give you the idea that a T-shirt that says ‘I’M AN ALIEN’ is acceptable office wear, but also photographic memory and phenomenal mathematical ability.

3. "Sweden is one of the countries that imports t...more

like 462 likes

· see review

Jun 21, 2011

notgettingenough rated it

· review of another edition

Much later. After such insistence on preserving my idea of my father, my memory of our last meeting, this happened a couple of Fridays ago. I opened up some photos taken by my brother and there my father is, dead in his coffin. I must confess to being quite distressed. And I still don't understand why on earth is this something to preserve? I don't get it one little bit.

----------------
Hooked. Totally, completely, utterly hooked. I read this book yesterday during lunch even t...more

like 48 likes

· see review

Jan 25, 2009

Bernadette rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: read-2009, sweden

The Girl Who Played With Fire starts about a year after the events in the first book in the series. Lisbeth Salandar has cut off all contact from Mikael Blomkvist for reasons he cannot fathom. While she travels the world Mikael faithfully but fruitlessly visits her apartment regularly and, at the same time, becomes something of a celebrity as everyone wants to interview him about the explosive events known as the Wennerstrom affair. As Mikael becomes somewhat jaded by the attention he's asked to...moreThe Girl Who Played With Fire starts about a year after the events in the first book in the series. Lisbeth Salandar has cut off all contact from Mikael Blomkvist for reasons he cannot fathom. While she travels the world Mikael faithfully but fruitlessly visits her apartment regularly and, at the same time, becomes something of a celebrity as everyone wants to interview him about the explosive events known as the Wennerstrom affair. As Mikael becomes somewhat jaded by the attention he's asked to consider a proposition from a young journalist: publish a well-researched book about the awful trade in the trafficking of teenage girls into the country. The journalist is prepared to name names of powerful people in Sweden but before the book can be published events take a dramatic turn.

Larsson is a first rate story teller. He spins a page-turning, edge-of-your-seat yarn and has, if anything improved since The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (his first book in this series which was no slouch in the great story stakes). In this outing there are still multiple threads but he seems to have a better handle on them all and he connects them better than in the first book. There are, again, stories within a story, but they're satisfyingly resolved and don't detract from the overall novel even when they have little to do with the main events (such as Lisbeth's adventure on the night a tornado levels a tropical island at the beginning of the book). The best thing of all is that he doesn't take the predictable course of action and for that I, as a reader, am eternally grateful.

However, no matter how good the stories, I'll always remember this series for the characters. Lisbeth Salandar again features as the troubled young woman with disconcerting, sometimes downright abnormal, social skills. She's also intelligent, determined and highly moral. She's quite unforgettable. But the other characters too are well depicted. It doesn't matter if they've a bit part to play or a starring role, whether they're bad guys or good they are believable and complex and rounded rather than the caricatures that appear in a lot of fiction.

Importantly, for me anyway, Larsson has a much better control of his social conscience in this book. My only big criticism of the first book was that he stepped outside the narrative more than once to lecture readers about his undoubtedly important message. Here though that message is in some ways stronger it is far more delicately incorporated into the story and, consequently, packs a more powerful punch. I have no objection to an author with a message, especially not one as close to home as the ongoing mistreatment of women across the world is to me, but I hate being badly preached at in my fiction.

I'm glad I read the book with as little expectation as I could achieve by not reading reviews or any of the chat that's been clogging up the corner of the internet where I hang out. I started the book with a tingly anticipation of re-visiting characters I'd enjoyed but no more than that and was able to dive right into the book and appreciate it on whatever merits I could find. For the record I don't think it's perfect. The first 100-150 pages could easily have been more tightly edited for example. But I don't care. I love it despite, or perhaps because of, its flaws. As I raced towards the end I started experiencing that internal conundrum where you want to keep reading because you have to know what happens but you don't want to finish because you don't want to say goodbye. I am quite inconsolable that I have to wait 12 months for book three in the series.(less)

like 42 likes

· see review

Jan 30, 2009

Meghan rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: crime, european, thriller

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. OK I put this down minutes ago so this is going to be detailed and disorganized and inside baseball, okay? Plus since it'll be a year since I can read the next one I'll probably want to refer to this. THANKS FOR THE SPACE GOODREADS.

This is a brick, first of all, my shoulder will thank me now that I no longer have to carry it around town. I was thrilled to be able to jump into it a day after finishing DRAGON TATTOO; basically when that one was over all I wanted to do was learn more a...moreOK I put this down minutes ago so this is going to be detailed and disorganized and inside baseball, okay? Plus since it'll be a year since I can read the next one I'll probably want to refer to this. THANKS FOR THE SPACE GOODREADS.

This is a brick, first of all, my shoulder will thank me now that I no longer have to carry it around town. I was thrilled to be able to jump into it a day after finishing DRAGON TATTOO; basically when that one was over all I wanted to do was learn more and more and more about Lisbeth Salander. So it's good that I felt that way when I started because for about 75 pages this book is a lot of mysterious interludes broken up by accounts of Lisbeth's IKEA furniture. And yet, I cared.

DRAGON TATTOO is complicated, I think we can all agree, and the writing is deliberate, methodical. It works out well because the hook is a cold case, and in order to turn up anything new it makes sense to take the details slowly. FIRE is driven by current events, but the same deliberateness is applied--more IKEA furniture, more Apple commercials, even several sections where scenes are repeated. You'll first read them from one character's POV, then 25 pages later you'll see them again from another character's POV. Every single time you start to think to yourself that maybe you'll just quit because there's no way you'll make sense of anything going on, Larsson revs up into some ridiculous action sequence. His action sequences incidentally are kind of great, and ridiculous, and completely insane. Halfway through the one with the celebrity boxer vs. the giant I was basically just laughing because why, how, what? Celebrity boxer? Come on. That's funny. I'm glad we're all having a good time here.

The accounts of the violence are brutal, and if you had any trouble with the violence against women in the first book, this won't be any better for you. It's not exploitative or titillating, though--Larsson gives it the same treatment as anything else. It's journalistic if it's anything, it's the facts and he makes no bones about his own opinions of the creeps who commit those crimes. You can see his education and his years studying these crimes peering through every single sentence, and the accounts are sometimes so somber you just know they're not entirely fiction. I've spoken to some folks who couldn't get beyond the first chapter, and I really would urge everyone to continue--when you've completed the book, you'll find out that the first chapter isn't exactly what you think.

Over and over again I was impressed with the victories Larsson gave Lisbeth, just because it feels so unusual to see a girl kick ass so so so so much. A girl who people constantly misjudge, you know, it's such a simple conceit but so powerful to me. However, if you really pile those victories up against each other, there are maybe too many. Possibly that's why the boxer gets in the act, otherwise it's just scenes of Lisbeth ruling everyone. I appreciated what he did with the ending--I appreciated the point he made, how much it really takes to incapacitate her. Maybe over the top but I kind of teared up anyway. If Lisbeth was Faith in the first book, she was latter-day Buffy in this one.

Uhhhh what else. Oh: plot holes? The police work seemed unreasonably shoddy to me, particularly considering how far the circumstantial evidence is taken. Also why did it take anyone so goddamn long to go talk to Palmgren? Did the cops never even consider it? I did like the variety of police characters offered up, I also like that Armansky is given a little role of his own and it looks like he'll be back for the third round. Also hoping to learn more about Camille. Not entirely sure if I care about what's gone on with Berger; she got short shrift towards the end of this one.

Also I realize I've gone this whole huge review without saying a word about Blomkivst. I'm with Lisbeth on this one, I think. Dude means well and I secretly love him, but also, I wouldn't necessarily answer his calls. (less)

like 17 likes

· see review

Jan 25, 2009

Laura rated it

· review of another edition

Recommended to Laura by: Casey

Larsson keeps up the terrific thriller and suspense work he started in 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,' even though that had to be one tough act to follow! I ordered the British edition of this second novel of Larsson's Milennium trilogy from Amazon.uk. No way could I wait until September 2009 and the American release of the book for my second Lisbeth Salander, Mikael Blomkvist fix!
Here Lisbeth Salander is in another boatload of trouble (of course), though she's richer and dresses a lit...more

like 24 likes

· see review

Sep 07, 2011

Manny rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: swedish-and-norwegian, too-sexy-for-maiden-aunts, older-women-younger-men

Unfortunately not as good as Män som Hatar Kvinnor. He has gone too far, and Lisbeth Salander is no longer a fully credible person; also, the puzzle isn't as satisfying as in the first one.

Start geek-rant: as a former mathematician, I was annoyed by his sloppiness concerning Fermat's Last Theorem. To start off with, he misquotes it several times. And the whole idea that Lisbeth is able to solve it on her own in just a few months, with no formal mathematical training, is cheap. If thi...more

like 17 likes

· see review

Jul 27, 2009

Fiona rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: crime-thriller, library-book, series, 2009, foriegn-translation, setting-sweden, original-language-swedish

This is the sequel to The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and it was immediately as good as the first but this time I knew this from the very first page.

The first one I felt was slightly more clumsy at the beginning and took a while to truly love it. I speak only for myself of course. This one it starts off with a bang and you know immediately from the first page it is going to be just as good if not better.

Blomkvist takes a back seat here and Salander takes the lead. She aft...more

like 31 likes

· see review

Jan 25, 2011

Maria M. rated it

· review of another edition

Recommended to Maria by: Henni

Shelves: 2008, 5-stars, suspense, owned, danish, 2011

I haven't read a book this quickly since Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

The sequel to The Girl with the dragon tattoo is just as good as the first one. Well written, well researched and impossible to put down. The only thing I missed was a bit of a conclusion at the end, but rumour has it that will come in the last book in the trilogy, which makes sense as this one tied up some lose threads from the first book as well. I can't wait to get my hands on the last one.

like 14 likes

· see review

Jul 30, 2009

Allison (The Allure of Books) rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: mysteries-thrillers-truecrime, own-it, 2009

I have this really funny picture in my head of Stieg Larsson having had a list mounted on the wall of his office, and I can just see him going down and checking off one by one as he just verbally decimates every single political idea/government corruption/way of life he despises. I know that is a very silly idea, but it doesn’t change the fact that every cause he is passionate about shows through brilliantly in his writing. He has a way of making you feel exactly as he does, it is brilliant.
...more

like 19 likes

· see review

Dec 10, 2009

Kemper rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: scandinavian-mayhem, crime-mystery, thriller

You do NOT want to get on Lisbeth Salander’s bad side…

The anti-social genius computer hacker is back in this terrific thriller that improves on The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.

Following the events of the first book, Lisbeth has left Sweden and been traveling abroad for over a year. She’s angry with Mikeal Blomkvist and has broken off all contact with him, but he has no idea why since Salander is far too socially awkward to ever explain herself or try to mend a damaged...moreYou do NOT want to get on Lisbeth Salander’s bad side…

The anti-social genius computer hacker is back in this terrific thriller that improves on The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.

Following the events of the first book, Lisbeth has left Sweden and been traveling abroad for over a year. She’s angry with Mikeal Blomkvist and has broken off all contact with him, but he has no idea why since Salander is far too socially awkward to ever explain herself or try to mend a damaged relationship. Blomkvist is busy himself since recent events have made him an extremely famous journalist and the magazine he co-owns, Millennium, is still riding high based on his work.

As Salander returns to Sweden, she’s unaware that an old enemy is plotting against her. Meanwhile, Blomkvist and the Millennium staff are preparing to publish a special edition and book based on the work of a free-lance journalist who has collected a damning amount of material on the Swedish sex-slave trade and the government officials and customers who have allowed it to flourish. When Salander gets word of this, she takes a personal interest, but in typical Salander fashion, she does it on her own terms and still won’t contact Blomkvist. This time, her independent ways backfire and she ends up framed for murder.

Misperceptions of her background soon make her tabloid fodder as she’s on the run and the most wanted person in Sweden. A handful of friends, including Blomkvist, are convinced she’s innocent and try to help, but Salander is far more concerned with getting revenge than clearing her name.

As with The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, the main appeal of this book is Salander. Lisbeth would be a huge pain in the ass to know in real life, but she makes for fascinating reading. Her continued refusal to engage an authority figure for any reason, and her pursuit of complete revenge against those she perceives as enemies make Lisbeth a wildly original character. She only has three ways to deal with other people. Mild acceptance of those she tolerates, completely ignoring the vast majority, or the scorched earth policy she uses against her enemies. There’s no compromise or quitting for Lisbeth, and with personal grudges to settle in this one, she’s pulling out all the stops.

Reading the first two books by Larsson is a kind of enjoyable torture since we know that he only wrote one more before his death in 2004. I sincerely wish he’d have been able to write a dozen books with Salander and Blomkvist because I already know I’m going to miss them after the third one is released here in the U.S.

Like the first book, this one also has a strong theme of exploring the misogyny and exploitation of women in Swedish government and culture, and that leads to some frank, but not graphic, scenes of rape and abuse. And to anyone interested in these books, I’d definitely recommend reading The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo first because reading this one completely reveals the entire plot of that one.
(less)

like 18 likes

· see review

Oct 29, 2009

Georg rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: english, crime, reviewed-2008-2009

The praise I gave The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo can easily be extented to the # 2 of the Millenium series. The story is in my view even better and surprising until the last page. Larsson is The Master of Suspense and it is really a challenge to put this book down only for some hours.

But the deficiencies I mentioned (accordingly to many other reviewers) are still there. Maybe after more than 1,000 pages I got even more aware of them, so I will wait for some weeks before I attack the...moreThe praise I gave The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo can easily be extented to the # 2 of the Millenium series. The story is in my view even better and surprising until the last page. Larsson is The Master of Suspense and it is really a challenge to put this book down only for some hours.

But the deficiencies I mentioned (accordingly to many other reviewers) are still there. Maybe after more than 1,000 pages I got even more aware of them, so I will wait for some weeks before I attack the third tome (which I will definitively do, probably sooner than I think now).

Two main objectives: The good characters (Blomkvist, The Girl, Modig, Palmgren, Berger, Svensson, are purely good. They smile, they consider and reconsider, they worry about others’ fate, they are empathic and unselfish. The evil characters (Zala, The Giant, Björck, Sandström, Bjurman ) are purely evil beyond reason. They are not even intelligent and have no reasonable motives, they are either drunk or too lazy to do anything else than plan their next pointless crime. Even the bad guys in the James Bond movies are more credible than these Swedish retarded monsters. This black-and-white-painting even applies for the “bad cops”. Faste is only a macho, without thinking and an IQ obviously under 50.

I am a little allergic of highlighted thoughts in a text. You know that: the major character contemplates the situation, and suddenly one phrase is set in italics. I know this technic from novels by Koontz or Brown, and I just can’t stand it. I (as reader) want to decide what is important and what is not, and I don’t want to have the impression that the rest of the text is of minor importance. It is even more disturbing if the highlighted thought is particularly banal. (“Please cll me. It’s important.”; p. 392). But it gets funny when the text in italics pretends to contain the solution to Fermat’s Theorem, without explanation, though (“So that’s what he meant. No wonder mathematicians were tearing out their hair.”)

So why still 5 stars? Read it, and you will know.
(less)

like 9 likes

· see review

Jun 28, 2010

Michael rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2010

As was the case with "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," this one takes about 200 or so pages to really get rolling, but once it does, it's a pretty entertaining ride all the way to the end. The big difference is that with the characters of Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist firmly established from the first book, we have a quicker entry into the world of "Fire."

It's been a year since the events of "Dragon Tattoo" and in that time, the friendship betw...moreAs was the case with "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," this one takes about 200 or so pages to really get rolling, but once it does, it's a pretty entertaining ride all the way to the end. The big difference is that with the characters of Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist firmly established from the first book, we have a quicker entry into the world of "Fire."

It's been a year since the events of "Dragon Tattoo" and in that time, the friendship between Salandar and Blomkvist has eroded. Salandar decides to travel the world with her new-found wealth and continues her obsession with becoming nearly invisible to the world-at-large.

Meanwhile, Blomkvist is working with a couple on a book and articles about the sex-trafficking trade in Sweden. The expose could prove to be explosive and damning to many of those discussed in the trade, but what Blomkvist doesn't know is the roads will all lead back to Salandar and an incident that happened to her when she was 12 years old. (The book constantly refers to it before finally revealing what happened in the last third of the story. The foreshadowing is a bit obvious at times and it feels like Laarson is trying to say, "Pay attention because this will be important later.")

Returning from her trip, Salandar hacks into Blomkvist's hard drive and discovers what's going on. She goes to confront the couple writing the articles, to give them a piece of the puzzle. Then the couple is found killed as well as her guardian. Saldandar becomes the prime suspect, but thanks to her efforts early in the book to stay off the grid, she can go to ground without much trouble and elude the authorities. She and Blomkvist also are able to correspond via her hack of his computer and he sets about proving her innocence in the affair, all while uncovering how it all ties back to her.

As with "Dragon," I found myself wondering how much of Blomkvist was based on Larsson's life and how he viewed himself. At one point, Saldandar reflects on her various romantic entanglements and sees how she never let anyone get to her, except, of course Blomkvist. And, of course, his status as that middle-aged stud who the women can't resist continues. There's also a section where his lover, Berger, reflects on his skills and how she needs what he provides as well as what her husband provides.

Those details aside, the novel works well enough and while we know that Salandar didn't commit either murder, the central mystery of who did and why keeps the book going. The novel does stumble a bit in the middle segment, while Salandar is the prime suspect in that it moves her off-stage for this segment. She's referred to and speculated on, but not seen or heard from. This leads to the story having to double back a bit and repeat some portions once she does enter the story again, much to my frustration.

The book is a good one and Salandar is an intriguing character. The moments when the story explores her and what makes her tick are fascinating and the final third as the mystery begins to finally unravel is worth the investment. (less)

like 11 likes

· see review

Aug 05, 2009

Jane Maritz rated it

· review of another edition

I struggled through this 514-page book.

To begin with, all the homo, bi, double-partner, and heterosexual talk was a bit much. Way beyond my comfort level.

To be fair, once I got about half-way through the book - after all the characters' sexual preferences were clearly established - it did become a page-turner as I raced to find out the ending.

If you like books with lots of character sketches, this might work for you. I was tempted to get out a notepad and sk...more

like 20 likes

· see review

Jun 22, 2011

Amanda rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: kick-ass

If loving the Millennium books is wrong, baby, I don't want to be right.

In scanning through the other reviews, I have to concur with many of the problems mentioned: superfluous detail (specific IKEA furniture is mentioned several times--as if I know what any of it looks like just because I have the model number provided, sandwiches are made, coffee is brewed, Billy's Pan Pizzas are consumed); there's a real dearth of poetic or stylized language; there's a cast of hundreds (maybe not...moreIf loving the Millennium books is wrong, baby, I don't want to be right.

In scanning through the other reviews, I have to concur with many of the problems mentioned: superfluous detail (specific IKEA furniture is mentioned several times--as if I know what any of it looks like just because I have the model number provided, sandwiches are made, coffee is brewed, Billy's Pan Pizzas are consumed); there's a real dearth of poetic or stylized language; there's a cast of hundreds (maybe not quite, but it can certainly feel like it); people whose physical injuries should kill them miraculously survive; there's suspense build-up that has all the subtlety of dramatic chipmunk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1Y73sPHK...

And you know what? Don't care. Don't give a shit. Because all I ask of genre literature is that it tell a helluva good story and Larsson, for all of his sins against the church of high literature, can tell a helluva story. Because a book like this relies so much on plot, here's the basic summary without any spoilers: Lisbeth Salander returns to Sweden after months of living abroad on the billions she stole from Wennerstrom; Mikael Blomkvist is now a media celebrity, though he continues to doggedly search for Salander; Millennium plans to publish a book on the Swedish sex trade (and they plan to name names of police officers and politicians who are involved, as well as bring charges against them upon the date of publication); both Salander and the author of the book become obsessed (for very different reasons) with finding a man named Zala; IKEA's 2010 spring catalog is described in detail; Salander is accused of a double murder and has to go into hiding; Blomkvist doggedly attempts to prove an uncooperative Salander innocent. Of course all of these plot threads, as well as many others, are brought together in the end.

What makes this novel really work is the character of Lisbeth Salander. In The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Salander is established as a bad ass you do not want to tangle with. In the movies, we have become accustomed to our female action characters as being towering Amazons with pouty lips, glamorous wardrobes, and double D's spilling out of Victoria's Secret push-up bras. The irony of strong women in film (and many books) is that they have to be model beautiful and highly sexualized femme fatales that are desired by fanboys everywhere. And in Lisbeth Salander, Larsson has created the antithesis to all of that hyper-feminine-but-I'll-kick-your-ass-and-look-good-doing-it bullshit. Salander is not tall, she is not glamorous, she is not beautiful. She's described by others as looking like a rag doll or a teenage boy. She's the last person you would expect to hand you your ass on a silver platter. But if you cross her, you can expect things in your life to go very wrong very quickly.

The other genius thing Larsson has done with Salander in this novel is that she's beginning to evolve. Using her unexpected wealth, Salander has traveled the world and learned more about herself. She's begun to question her previous lifestyle and has realized that she has few true friends--and that it's her fault. Being anti-social and emotionally closed off has always been a defense mechanism for her, but it's beginning to dawn on her that the price she has paid for keeping her guard up may be too high. For the first time in her life, she has the opportunity to live a different life, but she's not quite sure how to go about it. There's an unexpectedly poignant scene in which Blomkvist looks around Salander's mansion-sized apartment and finds that she is only living out of 3 of the 21 rooms. He notes that, despite all of the new furniture, her home is soulless and completely devoid of mementos, photographs, or anything personal; it's as if she's uncertain how to make this a home and the loneliness of her life is evident. Despite this, she certainly hasn't lost her edge and she still lives a life of stringent moral standards, punishing her enemies without mercy and basically ignoring her friends. I also appreciate that Larsson does not set her up as someone who should be emulated (when Blomkvist blames Salander's mental state on her past, Holger Palmgren tells him, "I hope you understand that there really is something wrong with Lisbeth . . . Her problems go way beyond problems she had at home"). To me, Salander is a tragic figure. Sure she's MENSA-level intelligent, has a photographic memory, the ability to kick ass and take names, but who would want to be her? We also learn much more about her troubled background in this novel, which further explains some components of her behavior.

As for the central mystery of the novel, I didn't find it as compelling as that of Tattoo and there's a twist at the ending worthy of a soap opera reveal, but I still enjoyed the ride enough that I've already ordered my copy of The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. (less)

like 18 likes

· see review

Mar 17, 2010

Tatiana rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: fans of "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"

Shelves: 2010, mysteries-thrillers-horror, series-finished-good

To follow the style of the original title of "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," I think this book should have been named "A Woman Who Hates Men Who Hate Women." Too convoluted? Yes, but oh so true to the story!

On the surface, "The Girl Who Played with Fire" is about sex trafficking and prostitution in Sweden and high-ranking men who abuse underage girls. But, just like the first novel, it's not quite that simple - the story gradually morphs into a tale o...more

like 14 likes

· see review

Aug 04, 2010

Brad rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: swedish-lit, mystery, popular-culture

I am confident that Stieg Larsson has a reason for this, but Lisbeth Salander is not much of a heroine. Let's list her transgressions from The Girl Who Played With Fire (and these will be deliberately out of context):

1. She forces herself on a 16 year old boy in Granada.
2. She kills a man on the beach during a hurricane.
3. She shuts out Blomkvist for a very long time for a perceived slight, giving him no explanation.
4. She fails to take or show the necessary care wi...more

like 36 likes

· see review

Sep 02, 2007

Peter Haglund rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: swedish

It cost me a good night's sleep. I started reading it in the evening and just couldn't stop. It's not often I read a book continuously.

like 16 likes

· see review

Jan 21, 2012

Tanu Das rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: favorite, suspense-mystery, favorite-protagonist, kickass-female-chick, well-developed-plot, emotional-drama, cringe-worthy, human-cruelty, social-issues, all-time-favorite

When I had started reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, I promised to myself that I would never pick up the sequel. The beginning was so slow, with unnecessary details, complicated names and this really irritating character named Lizbeth Salander. I honestly didn’t get the hype and really regretted my decision. Still I read on and somewhere towards the middle of the novel, I was so engrossed that I sacrificed my dinner and sleep. The plot was great, no doubt , the writing was all right, and ...more

like 8 likes

· see review

Jun 23, 2010

Shannon rated it

· review of another edition

Recommended to Shannon by: Kiwiria

Shelves: 2010, crime, mystery-suspense

My friend Maria from Denmark got me onto these books and I'm so so glad she did. I read the first book, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, last year, and as soon as book two came out in paperback a couple of months ago I grabbed a copy (I did pay for it). Then she told me it has a real cliffhanger ending, and that she'd send me book 3 (which wasn't even out here at the time). I waited till it arrived and then last weekend I took this one up to the cottage. It's perfect sunny day, waterside reading...moreMy friend Maria from Denmark got me onto these books and I'm so so glad she did. I read the first book, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, last year, and as soon as book two came out in paperback a couple of months ago I grabbed a copy (I did pay for it). Then she told me it has a real cliffhanger ending, and that she'd send me book 3 (which wasn't even out here at the time). I waited till it arrived and then last weekend I took this one up to the cottage. It's perfect sunny day, waterside reading.

The main events are set about a year after the end of the first book, and aren't directly related to the mystery of that book. Lisbeth Salander, twenty-five, less than five feet tall and a skilled computer hacker, has broken off all communication with Mikael Blomkvist, the journalist she helped and had a relationship with in the first book. She has her stolen billions from the corporate criminal Wennerström and takes a year off, travelling around the world. When she returns to Stockholm, she makes some changes in her life. She buys an expensive condo and a car, reconnects with her friend Mimmi, and checks up on her state-appointed guardian, Bjurman.

She can't resist hacking into Blomkvist's computers and seeing what's he's working on: a feature and a book written by another journalist, Dag Svensson, on sex trafficking. Dag's partner, Mia Johansson, is doing her PhD on the same topic, though from a different angle. It's an absorbing project that Mikael is editing, and Salander doesn't become really interested until a name turns up in the research: Zala.

On the same night Lisbeth visits Dag and Mia to find out what they know about Zala, the couple are murdered. The murder weapon is a gun owned by Bjurman with Lisbeth's fingerprints on it.

Suddenly Salander is a fugitive, wanted for mass murders. Her history - or choice parts of it - are splashed across the papers and embellished. Only Blomkvist is sure of her innocence - and he intends to prove it. Of course Salander has her own plans, and everything centres on the mysterious unknown figure of Zala.

This is one very tight novel. While book 1 started off slow and had some even slower patches to get through, this second book is fast-paced and never dull. I was deeply engrossed and read most of the hefty book in one day (it helped to be lazing around at the cottage with few distractions!). From the beginning it held my absolute attention. The characters, established in the first book, become so much real here. Lisbeth in particular becomes the main attraction, and even reading about what she buys from IKEA for her new apartment engrossed me. (For readers who complain about "irrelevant" details in books, they'll no doubt hate this. Larsson's style is very detail-oriented at times.)

We learn about Lisbeth's past, and get her side of the story - as well as the psychiatrist's. Continuing the theme from book one of "men who hate women", The Girl Who Played With Fire has several note-worthy bigots, chauvinists, misogynists and downright arrogant bastards (the original Swedish title of book 1, Maria told me, translates directly into English as "men who hate women". But I can see why they changed it and went with "the girl who..."). It's interesting, men like these populate a lot of fiction, TV shows and movies, and we just accept them. They tend to be clichés, true to type, and familiar. But we never really see the damage they do, the bigger context such attitudes creates, how they really affect women - as a gender. That's what's really highlighted in The Girl Who Played With Fire. It threads its way through the entire novel, not front-and-centre but consistently present. And it helps you see just how far we haven't come.

The maths references were beyond me, and I could only vaguely get the metaphors at the beginning of each part. Frankly it was like reading another language. I was still interested in Salander's mathematical hobby, but at the end where she suddenly figures out Fermat's equation, I'm impressed at her skill but have no idea if it was meant to be clear to me as well. I don't even understand what the puzzle was! (and please don't bother trying to explain it to me. I just don't have a mathematical background to follow.)

I was glued to this book - for someone who doesn't read and doesn't care for crime fiction, detective stories etc (unless they're literary, which sounds so snobby, but just means that I need better character development and greater detail than you get from the actual genre), it seems like a big deal to me. This isn't just a crime to be solved, a mystery to puzzle out, a whodunnit. It touches on deeper social issues, is dark and gritty and unabashedly violent but never, I think, gratuitous; and every character is one that becomes tangible. It's like those rare TV shows where the characters become so familiar they're like an extended family - which is what every network hopes to achieve with every show, don't they? I'd say Larsson succeeded exceptionally well with the Millennium books. As soon as I'd finished this one, I picked up the third, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. Let's just say that my challenge-required reading has been, ah, delayed!(less)

like 6 likes

· see review

Oct 29, 2009

Lisa Eskra rated it

· review of another edition

The first book was for the most part plot-driven. The 40-year old mystery took a while to unfold, but was interesting when it did. So was Lisbeth, although she wasn't the main focus. Enter, The Girl Who Played With Fire. The story has now turned character-driven with Lisbeth as the protagonist. But instead of having much of a plot of any character revelations about her early on, we read about her buying a new apartment, grocery shopping, and what furniture she picked out at IKEA in *great* detai...more

like 44 likes

· see review

Sep 08, 2009

Nancy rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: scandinavian-crime-fiction-and-myst

This book is the second of three in Larsson's series featuring Lisbeth Salander, the young woman who has her own sense of morality and acts on it accordingly. As this book opens, we find young Lisbeth in the Caribbean after the events of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Meanwhile, the erstwhile reporter Kalle Blomkvist and the team at Millennium are sitting on top of a goldmine of a story. With the help of a woman who is finishing her PhD thesis and that of her husband, who is writing a book ...moreThis book is the second of three in Larsson's series featuring Lisbeth Salander, the young woman who has her own sense of morality and acts on it accordingly. As this book opens, we find young Lisbeth in the Caribbean after the events of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Meanwhile, the erstwhile reporter Kalle Blomkvist and the team at Millennium are sitting on top of a goldmine of a story. With the help of a woman who is finishing her PhD thesis and that of her husband, who is writing a book based on her findings, Blomkvist is ready to publicly uncover a scandal in which some high-ranking officials are involved in sex trafficking from Russia and other parts of eastern Europe into Sweden. Eventually Lisbeth returns home, and goes into hiding. After a triple homicide, the police become interested in finding her (as does Blomkvist) because the clues at the murder scenes lead directly back to her. At this point, Blomkvist, who is absolutely convinced that Lisbeth is innocent, begins his own investigation, working from a different starting point than that of the police.

I love Lisbeth's character -- she refuses to be a victim even though her life is on the line. She's a take-charge kind of person, apologizing to no one, and she is definitely an example of someone whose past has created her present. She's a heroine unlike any other you'll find in crime writing -- very flawed, dark, unafraid, with a sense of morality that she acts on even if it goes against the social grain. There are very few people in her life whom she trusts, and definitely has no love for official institutions. The book is fast paced, with never a dull moment, and is a solid sequel to Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. I would definitely recommend that anyone thinking about this book start with Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, because there are a number of references in the 2nd book that you won't understand if you don't, and because once things start unraveling, you need to have the background of events from the first book, especially with the relationship between Lisbeth and Blomkvist.

Girl Who Played With Fire leaves some things hanging, which I'm sure will be picked up in the upcoming third book (hopefully, since it's the last one). I would recommend it to anyone who wants a good, solid mystery novel and who doesn't mind that the characters are all a bit flawed. Not a cozy mystery at all, so if that's what you're looking for, skip it. Otherwise, sit back and try to clear your day because you won't want to put this one down. Fans of Scandinavian crime novels will absolutely not be disappointed. (less)

like 4 likes

· see review

Jul 04, 2009

Vicky rated it

· review of another edition

I had a great time reading the 2nd book of the Millennium Trilogy. This book takes you in and does not let you go till the last page. I don’t know if I liked the “Girl with the dragon tattoo” more than the second one, but they are both fantastic. You can read these books as an antidepressant, because, all the problems will disappear, while you are reading it.. I can not even say that it is a good translation, or the language is very good, but the main character compensates for all the bad edit...more

like 7 likes

· see review

Aug 27, 2009

Genya rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: mysteries

More fully realized than Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I enjoyed having Lisbeth as the main character, she seems a more interesting character. It was a better read than the first one, however, the ending felt labored and artificial - the tone of the climax was different somehow than the rest of the book. I'm looking forward to the next one though.

like 6 likes

· see review

Aug 07, 2009

Roxanne rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: page-turners

This is my kind of thriller. Woman protagonist who can do it all, tatooed, armed and dangerous. Also, did I say brilliant computer hacker? She is my hero. Rebels against the good old boys and wins. We need more characters like her.

Stieg Larsson's second of three in a series. His first, "The Girl With the Dragon Tatoo" was every bit as riveting. Read this first if you can. His third and final novel has yet to be published. Sadly, he died in 2004 just after submitting his th...more

like 11 likes

· see review

May 23, 2011

Dennis rated it

· review of another edition

I think I understand what all the hype is about. Or do I? I can't be so sure.

Lisbeth Salander's story is interesting in the sense that it's unusual and at times gripping. She's a brilliant, fearless, introverted heroine with an unconventional life story and an axe to grind with contemporary Swedish society. Framed for the murder of two authors set to publish an expose on the illicit sex trade in Sweden, the tiny, dark, pierced and tattooed Lisbeth by day, blonde Norwegian alter e...more

like 5 likes

· see review

May 10, 2011

Kim rated it

· review of another edition

I just finished Stieg Larsson's book The Girl Who Played With Fire and loved it! I liked it so much that I immediately posted this review.

This book is the second in a series. The first book in the series, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, introduces Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist. Lisbeth is a strange character and in the book we learn that she most likely has Asberger's syndrome (a form of autism). This makes her an especially interesting heroine! Mikael Blomkvist is a j...more

like 3 likes

· see review

Mar 20, 2009

Boof rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: Thriller lovers, suspence fiction lovers

Shelves: read-in-2009, thrillers-mystery-crime, my-most-amazing-books, scandanavia

The second in the Millenium trology and every bit as good as the first. This is on-the-edge-of-your-seet fiction; pege-turning at its best. I cursed having to go to bed, hell even having to prize myself off the sofa to make a coffee, such was my desire to keep reading.

In this book, Salander is hiding from the authorities after becoming the prime suspect in a tripple murder investigation. Blomkvist doesn't think she did it and goes about setting up his own investigation to prove her ...more

like 4 likes

· see review

Jan 16, 2012

Gary McTiernan rated it

· review of another edition

I decided to read this after seeing the wonderful film made of the first in the series. The first half is a dull, plodding record of Lisbeth's homecoming. An entire chapter describes a day of shopping at IKEA. I thought maybe it was some kind of product placement deal and I was thinking about quitting. I'm glad I stayed with it. Once the murder investigation got under way, I was hooked. Despite some initial difficulty keeping all the characters' names straight, I started to see what all the fuss...more

like 2 likes

· see review

Jan 29, 2011

Thomas rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: own-electronic

The middle book of the Millennium series, The Girl Who Played with Fire breaks away from the mystery genre of its predecessor and turns into a thriller of dramatic proportions - all while setting the stage for what is sure to be a climatic ending of the series, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest.

Salandar is the most salient aspect of these books, and there is no doubt that she deserves the spotlight. Sometimes when she was not the main focus I was waiting impatiently for her persp...more

like 4 likes

· see review

May 20, 2010

Rise rated it

· review of another edition

Funny how a 700-page book can be a fast read but this was one. I don't understand some things about the popularity of this series. The procedural aspect is oddly amateurish. All the reliance on specific models and brands gets clunky over time. Sometimes Larsson seems clumsy in how he sets up the people in the scenes: here's someone conservative reacting badly to or again underestimating this radically attired, tattooed young woman who metes out her own justice as she sees fit, a one-woman vigila...more

like 5 likes

· see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 7076 7077 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
The Girl Who Played With Fire > The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo??	21	85	19 hours, 18 min ago
coffee obsession?	47	319	Feb 09, 2012 11:29am
movie tribute	2	28	Jan 16, 2012 06:43am
reading The girl who played with fire before Millenium #1	19	257	Dec 01, 2011 10:53am
Wesley's 50 in 2010	3	74	Jul 17, 2011 02:17pm

combine
Other Editions (112)

More editions...

Videos About This Book

The Girl Who Played With Fire - US TRAILER

2 comments

Genres

Mystery

2,043 users

Thriller

841 users

Mystery > Crime

606 users

Thriller > Mystery Thriller

239 users

Suspense

255 users

Adult

158 users

Adult Fiction

122 users

Contemporary

129 users

Book Club

104 users

European Literature > Swedish Literature

89 users

See top shelves...

Readers Also Enjoyed

Frelseren
by Jo Nesbø
Sidetracked
by Henning Mankell
The Draining Lake
by Arnaldur Indriðason
Arctic Chill
by Arnaldur Indriðason
The Likeness
by Tana French

About Stieg Larsson

Stieg Larsson (born August 15, 1954 in Skelleftehamn, Sweden as Karl Stig-Erland Larsson) was a Swedish journalist and writer who passed away in 2004.

As a journalist and editor of the magazine Expo, Larsson was active in documenting and exposing Swedish extreme right and racist organisations. When he died at the age of 50, Larsson left three unpublished thrillers and unfinished manuscr...more

More about Stieg Larsson...

Books by Stieg Larsson

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Pin It

Trivia About The Girl Who Play...

78 trivia questions
1 quiz

More quizzes & trivia...

Quotes from The Girl Who Played wi...

“There are no innocents. There are, however, different degrees of responsibility.” — 306 people liked it

“Don’t ever fight with Lisbeth Salander. Her attitude towards the rest of the world is that if someone threatens her with a gun, she’ll get a bigger gun.” — 99 people liked it

More quotes…

Groups That Shelved The Girl Who Play...

The Next Best Book Club

8328 members

last activity 18 minutes ago

shelf: read

Challenge: 50 Books

3937 members

last activity 9 minutes ago

shelf: read

The Mystery, Crime, and T...

3599 members

last activity 9 minutes ago

shelf: read

title link	preview: The Girl Who Played with Fire
avg rating	preview: The Girl Who Played with Fire Goodreads rating: 4.14 (153615 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5935555-the-girl-who-played-with-fire?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320565252m/5935555.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5935555-the-girl-who-played-with-fire?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson[/url]

The Girl Who Played with Fire (Millennium #2)

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Readers Also Enjoyed

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website