The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium, #1) in Crazy Challenge Connection

Feb 06, 2017 Carrie rated it really liked it

Shelves: suspense, 1st-in-a-series, mystery-thriller, rape, audiobooks, translated, dark-twisted-disturbing

I thought I wasn't going to enjoy this one, I was wrong. It never blew me away or had me held in suspense but I enjoyed the story. The characters were not likable but they were not all dis-likable either.

3.75 stars ...more

10 likes · Like · see review

May 16, 2010 D.G. rated it liked it

Shelves: reviewed, audiobook, mystery, awesome-narration, around-the-world

Good mystery but except for the author's accurate commentary on the role of finance journalists, I'm not sure I get what the fuss is all about. The mystery was good but somewhat predictable if you pay attention to those tidbits regarding violence to women, the characters were unlikeable and a lot of the action was gritty and a bit seedy. I got the impression that the author was going more for shock value than anything else.

Nothing that was discovered in the Blomkvist investigation surprised me. ...more

8 likes · Like · see review

Jan 15, 2015 Krissy rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 5-motherfucking-stars, audiobook, cover-color-yellow-gold, book2film, pgs-600-or-more

**2015 Reading Challenge W/Josh: #44 A Book That Was Originally Written In A Different Language**

6 likes · Like · see review

Dec 25, 2010 Avigail rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook, own, everand, physical-book, 2021, reread, 5-stars

This novel is set in Sweden, and you jump into an immediately fast-paced plot with lots of twists and surprises. It's a mainstream novel now but is surprisingly deep. It touches on journalism and ethics, business and economic theories, and then builds in an in-depth family mystery with a huge cast of characters. You can trust no one, and you can't even pretend to know what happens next.
My suggestion to any reader would be to turn the pages slowly and savor it because you'll be so sorry to see i This novel is set in Sweden, and you jump into an immediately fast-paced plot with lots of twists and surprises. It's a mainstream novel now but is surprisingly deep. It touches on journalism and ethics, business and economic theories, and then builds in an in-depth family mystery with a huge cast of characters. You can trust no one, and you can't even pretend to know what happens next.
My suggestion to any reader would be to turn the pages slowly and savor it because you'll be so sorry to see it end. You'll also want to be sure to install heavy-duty encryption on your computer as soon as possible, and you'll never read another article in The Economist in the same way again. I also have to mention that the author wrote at a high caliber of skill; there was no dumbing down of the literary aspect as some bestsellers often seem to do.
This is the best novel I've read this year. The slow beginning puzzled me as to how this was going to be a mystery novel. The transition from a journalist's fall in the world of magazine publishing and economics into the mystery and its eventual difficult outcome was so good, and so enhanced by the quirky and misfit character of Lisbeth Salander that I didn't want to leave the story, the area of Sweden, or the characters behind. I thought I had it all solved about halfway through, but I was nowhere near being right about what happened to a missing girl nearly 40 years ago. If you like cold case mysteries that are well-written with fascinating characters and a look into the world of hackers, you'll love this book.
I'm glad that my edition had an excerpt from the next book. I could have read on forever in this book because the continuity of the story flowed along so well, and I hated to see it end. I'm very sorry that the author's works are being published posthumously. Stieg Larsson didn't get to see his books published, and the book world lost a wonderful writer.

12.06.21: 2021 is the year of rereading my favorite books of all time. Yes, I know you will ask how you can reread a mystery? My answer to you is, it is possible because you are reading differently. You find things when you read the first time you didn't see it coming. Yes, it noir, and until this day, the Scandinavian noir mystery is going strong. 'The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo' is the book that opened my eyes to Scandinavian literature.
At no point did I become bored with ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.’ There is also another plotline that is set aside until the conclusion of the mystery. I especially liked how Mr. Larsson includes the difficulties of having to make moral compromises and living with the consequences. It was an engaging mystery with a handful of disturbing scenes. The novel ties up the two main storylines but leaves the social dynamics between Blomkvist and Salander somewhat up in the air to get the reader to read the next installment, ‘The Girl Who Played with Fire.’ I sure will reread.
...more

1 like · Like · see review

Sep 26, 2010 AWBookGirl rated it really liked it

Don't get me wrong. I didn't hate the book. In fact, I rather liked it and plan to read the other two in the Millennium trilogy. I just don't get why it's a phenomenon. That could be because I've heard so many people RAVING about the book and the series that I just had incredibly lofty expectations.

There was a lot to like in Girl. Lisbeth is a complex, prickly heroine. Yes, she's vulnerable and a victim, but at the same time, she's enough of a rebel and a bad-ass that you like her despite her so ...more

Like · see review

Nov 30, 2010 Kelly (Maybedog) rated it really liked it

Shelves: what-not-u-s, what-mystery

Excellent story, a little slow to start but sucked me in and kept me going until the end. I had avoided it believing it was another mainstream Oprah-inspired touching story about nothing. (I love Oprah and think her having a book club is fabulous, but most of the books sound boring.) I'm so glad I was wrong! I learned a lot, too, like the horrible sounding things Swedes apparently eat and that in Sweden, you can schedule jail time and take holidays from it. I did figure out the larger mystery by ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Mar 23, 2023 Ketutar Jensen rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: recommended-by-friends, the-52-book-club, svenska-b-cker, 1001-women

WARNING FOR ANIMAL ABUSE
Also, sexual abuse, incest, rape, murder, torture, and other such things, but I suppose that is to be expected. The animal abuse was a biggie to me. I wasn't prepared for that. Luckily it wasn't especially graphic.

So - I liked it. I love Lisbeth Salander. I don't like Mikael, though. It's not that he's a bad character, he just isn't my kind of person. I like that he is kind and smart and has decent boundaries, doesn't push, etc. but he just doesn't work for me.

The myste ...more

Like · see review

Mar 23, 2009 Marla rated it really liked it

Shelves: series, book-about-books, with-reservations, horror, romantic-suspense, mystery, book-club, adult, zz-2010, back-to-back

3.5 - 4 stars. Would've given it a 4 but the violence was too graphic and brutal for me and a little too much going on.

Lots of characters to keep track of, though some of them are not endearing, most of them are intriguing. It is an interesting read, if you can overlook the violence. ...more

Like · see review