4.26.2023 | Wednesday

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Item: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Rating: 4.5
Author: Kim

category: Book Reviews
tag(s): adult
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title: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
author: Stieg Larsson
series: Millennium #1
published: 16 September 2008
publisher: Knopf
genre(s): thrillers
pages: 643
source: library
format: eBook
buy/shelve it: Amazon | B&N | Goodreads

rating:

| series rating:

the blurb

Harriet Vanger, a scion of one of Sweden’s wealthiest families disappeared over forty years ago. All these years later, her aged uncle continues to seek the truth. He hires Mikael Blomkvist, a crusading journalist recently trapped by a libel conviction, to investigate. He is aided by the pierced and tattooed punk prodigy Lisbeth Salander. Together they tap into a vein of unfathomable iniquity and astonishing corruption.

❗❗ content warning: graphic violence, abuse, sexual assault ❗❗

a few notes

keywords/phrases: murder, family, rape, incest, theft
mood reading: smart, intense, dark
awards: Barry Award for Mystery/Crime Novel Of The Decade (2009), Macavity Award for Best First Mystery Novel (2008), Anthony Award for Best First Novel (2008), Glass Key Award (2005), CWA International Dagger Nominee (2007), Galaxy British Book Awards for Crime Thriller of the Year (2008), Exclusive Books Boeke Prize (2007), Strand Critics Award Nominee for Best First Novel (2007)
bonus points: smart but often deeply flawed MCs, nontypical MCs

my review

In my personal opinion, Lisbeth Salander is one of the best FMC in literature. As a character, she’s been through hell, through more trauma than any one person should ever experience. It’s left her damaged but absolutely brilliant and with a moral code that is the foundation of everything she is. She is far from the typical FMC, in many ways more villainess than heroine, but the reader can’t help but be fully invested in her story, rooting for her every step of the way.

This is not a book for the faint of heart. It is deeply disturbing at times, very dark, and extremely intense. It does not shy away from the darkers parts of the world, nor should it. But it is highly intelligent, emotional, and incredibly engrossing.

About Stieg Larsson

Stieg Larsson (born 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 manuscripts for more. The first three books ( The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo , The Girl Who Played With Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest ) have since been printed as the Millenium series. These books are all bestsellers in Sweden and in several other countries, including the United States and Canada.

Witnessed a rape when he was 15, and was helpless to stop it. This event haunted him for the rest of his life. The girl being raped was named Lisbeth, which he later used as the name of the heroine on his Millenium trilogy. Sexual violence against women is also a recurring theme in his work.

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