thoughts...

[Jemina]

Just finished reading "The girl with the Dragon tattoo", and I really enjoyed it, did not see the twists coming! Anyone else read it?

[Ananya]

I'm sure it's not for teens.

[Danielle]

If you are hesitant to go on to The Girl Who Played With Fire because you had trouble with the first book, then I would say definitely give it a chance! I had a real hard time getting through the first half of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. I very much enjoyed the second half and I can honestly say that The Girl Who Played with Fire was great from cover to cover. It's one of my favorite books.

[Emma]

I got through it. Had every intention of reading the next to see what the fuss was about...put it off .... put it off... and then realised I was putting it off because I had simply hated the first book.

The sexual violence was excessive and hard to get through and as rest of the novel was so dull, clunky and OCD with advertising and detail, I couldn't justify my reading that level of it. Not enough excitement for me to want to face the upsetting bits I think.

[Erin]

The sexual violence really upset me and was horrible. I did push through and read all of the books. At the end I did feel a sense of satisfaction for reading them but I never felt like they were great books or that I ever want to read them again. The second and third books seemed easier to stomach than the first, though there were still some rather rough parts.

[Danielle]

They are definitely difficult books to read. I think the majority of the first book is more directed towards experiencing a glimpse of Lisbeth's life without really knowing who she is. The second book is a lot more like the end of the first book where you are meeting her character more in depth and seeing her strengths. It's a very empowering character to get to know and I think the second book is where you find out the most about Lisbeth.

[Johannes]

I have read all three and just ripped thru them. Hard to put down. I wish there were more!

[Carina]

I do really enjoy these books, but my God was the first part of Dragon Tattoo hard going. I will freely admit I bought the book due to its popularity - basically skipped most of the jargon about the finances in Sweden and managed to understand the book just fine. When I read the book for a second time I read it properly and ever since I have always read every little bit.

I do think the second book is probably the best in the series (my last re-read was a few months ago and the second one is the current stand out in my memory) - the third can be as difficult as the first to get through but I love it!

[Angelyn]

I need to know if the next two books are significantly less violent than the first. Like others, it took a while for me to get into this one, but I read the second half of the book in one day. I really wanted to move onto the next book immediately, but didn't because of the rape scenes.
I know that the violence is integral to the plot and themes, but I'd rather read something else that isn't so graphic. Could someone who's read the other books tell me if they're better in this respect? I think I would be okay with it if he still references violence without it being so gruesome, detailed, and belabored.

[Andrew]

Angelyn wrote: "I need to know if the next two books are significantly less violent than the first. Like others, it took a while for me to get into this one, but I read the second half of the book in one day. I re..."

There are a few more violent parts in the next two books, but they aren't as graphic and gruesome as GWDT. They are bearable.