I’m usually bored with lengthy novels and intricate storylines, but this I enjoyed and I still can’t figure out why. My only guess is the extraordinary character that is Lisbeth Salander. She is certainly a new sort of hero

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was hard to get into. I have no patience for a book that takes so long to get started. By the time I realized how the different story lines were finally fitting together, I was already a third of the way into it, so I figured I’d just finish it. By the time I got to the last third of it, I couldn’t put it down.

If you’re considering reading this book, give it a chance before you give up on it. I almost did, and I’m glad I didn’t.

The book was gripping and I read all 580 pages of it in 2 and a half days, so in that sense it was “worth consuming”. But I didn’t like the combination of sexual abuse and murder in the plot. It’s like murder by itself isn’t “enough” for us anymore, so the writer had to throw in some sexual abuse too.

Meh.

I’m apparently in the minority, but I couldn’t take the pervasive sexual violence on top of the book’s other flaws, the defamation/business corruption plot, the weak writing and unlikeable characters. Ick.

Mikael, a journalist for the magazine Millennium is offered a freelance assignment, investigate the disappearance of a young woman some 40 years earlier. Enters Lisbeth Salander, a computer hacker and private investigator. The two unlikely characters uncover a series of clues leading to an ugly story of rich family secrets. Must read for those avid detective amateurs. Movie came out in 2009, haven’t seen it yet.

Worth all that hype! I’ve seen the movie already, so I knew in advance who dunnit, what it was, and how it all happened – and I was STILL glued to the pages!

_{must stop keeping pritt stick on bookshelves… ;)}

I hope Stieg Larsson enjoyed writing this book as much as I enjoyed listening to it. A shame that he died so suddenly and before his time. I look forward to reading the other two books in the series and know that I will probably treasure them.