The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium, #1) in Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge

Aug 13, 2010 Talia rated it liked it

Shelves: adult-fiction, adult-mystery

Recently shamed journalist Mikael Blomkvist is given an offer he can’t refuse: to solve a mystery of the disappearance of a member of one of Sweden’s most prominent families. He moves to the family’s estate in a small town and begins to research the family, finding out more than he bargained for. To help him, he is joined with Lisbeth Salander, a hacker genius with rough edges. Together, can they solve a mystery almost 40 years old?

Every so often, a book comes around that gets so much buzz that ...more

Like · see review

Aug 10, 2010 Ashley rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction-novels-plays-stories

After everyone in my life read "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" I figured my vacation would be the perfect time to pick up a best selling thriller. This is one of those books that really, really makes me wish Goodreads allowed us to give half stars. On one hand, I flew through this book-- it was a quick read that certainly kept me on the edge of my seat. On the other hand, it was incredibly violent and much of that violence was directed at women.

So, I enjoyed this book but it made me squirm a b ...more

Like · see review

Aug 04, 2010 Sean rated it did not like it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. [ more like 1.5 I guess :] The first half was vaguely promising. (While being entirely uneventful. Go figure.) At least it felt like it was going on a more cerebral and literary track. However, the plot - and ultimately, the genre - turned in a direction that, had I known, I would have been especially hesitant to even pick the book up. The latter half of the book was increasingly disappointing. And honestly, insulting.

It just devolved even further during the 'climactic sequence' = Lurid. Cliched [ more like 1.5 I guess :] The first half was vaguely promising. (While being entirely uneventful. Go figure.) At least it felt like it was going on a more cerebral and literary track. However, the plot - and ultimately, the genre - turned in a direction that, had I known, I would have been especially hesitant to even pick the book up. The latter half of the book was increasingly disappointing. And honestly, insulting.

It just devolved even further during the 'climactic sequence' = Lurid. Cliched. And above all: *Amateurish* Cringe-inducing dialogue alone from 'the villain'. But contrived motivations, hackneyed action sequences, sappy and improbable 'happy' endings, tidy narrative bows tied all around. The main character treated with narcissistic kid gloves throughout. All wreak of 'first novel-itis'.

The plot itself feels entirely dated to begin with. (This should be retitled "The Silence of the Herring" perhaps?) The Hannibal Lecture/Seven/Saw genre... Tired. I'm surprised vampires, zombies and werewolves didn't pop out from various dark corners at some point. (Probably because the author was no longer living to see those sharks get jumped.)

Yes I surrendered to the inescapable hype. Foolishly, I yielded to a knee-jerk reaction to purchase the whole 'trilogy'. After said 'climax', there was still about 70 pages of unresolved epilogue-type crap. I seriously flirted with not even finishing it. I finished just because it was such mindless fast reading. And to further confirm my verdict of just how amateurishly written it is.

Initially, I was planning on probably plowing through all 3 in a row. Plans have changed. Like picking at a healing scab, at some point I probably will plow through the other two. (Yes, I get off on holding and indulging in simmering grudges.) I'm hoping David Fincher will elevate this material on film.

And like many reviewers here, I agree that the Misogyny Question needs to be raised. I am not a fan of the Imprisoned Women Torture Fetish genre *at all*. Which, again, had I known in advance, I would have passed on this. But the author's transparent attempts at masking his lurid pulpy preoccupation with statistics about violence against women etc are facile, hypocritical and tacked on.

Someone posted this link in another review. And I think it deserves reposting as well:

"Feminist or misogynist?"
"Stieg Larsson’s thrillers have been described as feminist, but Melanie Newman argues they are just the latest in a line of novels which aim to titillate readers with graphic depictions of men raping and murdering women"
http://www.thefword.org.uk/reviews/20... ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Jan 08, 2011 Rae rated it it was ok

Shelves: mystery

I wanted to be on the bandwagon but just couldn't bring myself to jump high enough. I was disappointed by the mystery itself (it was way too easy to figure out) and especially the unsatisfying conclusion. The book is too wordy and detailed and is filled with annoying product placements.

And then there's the raunch--way too much sex. Casual sex. Violent sex. Criminal sex. I understand that Salandar has a background and I found her to be quite an intriguing and sympathetic character, but the sexy ...more

Like · see review

May 02, 2010 Shayla rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: bbc-book-club

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I'm glad that Maya brought to my attention that the real name of this book is Men Who Hate Women, but the rape, brutality and dominance that appears in the book now made sense.

Here's what I'll say. I wish that Salander and Bloomkvist didn't sleep together. It didn't seem necessary at all, because I certainly wasn't expecting it to happen and after it did, I just kept thinking...why? Why, because she isn't portrayed as attractive and because it clear that she was sexually abused herself and while ...more

Like · see review

Jul 27, 2010 gwen g added it

Shelves: books-i-put-down

Book was due back to the library when I'd only read the first 100 pages... and I don't think I care enough about what happens to buy it or go back on the wait list. If someone wants to explain what the big deal is, I'd be happy to reconsider! ...more

Like · see review

Sep 08, 2010 mehg-hen rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Well, Sweden is obsessed with coffeepots. That word had to have appeared more than any reference to a weird Swedish town/road/city/main character names. Coffeepot! Coffeepot! Coffeepot! Coffeepot! And really? You can just bone ladies and walk away? And everyone is cool? Like the coffeepot? That you reheated? I love the cover of this book. I would like to take out all references to anything but Swedish stuff and coffeepots. That somehow go on the stove. No coffee machines? Coffeepot coffeepot cof ...more

Like · see review