The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest
Stieg Larsson
May 2010

Summary:

The stunning third and final novel in Stieg Larsson’s internationally best-selling trilogy

Lisbeth Salander—the heart of Larsson’s two previous novels—lies in critical condition, a bullet wound to her head, in the intensive care unit of a Swedish city hospital. She’s fighting for her life in more ways than one: if and when she recovers, she’ll be taken back to Stockholm to stand trial for three murders. With the help of her friend, journalist Mikael Blomkvist, she will not only have to prove her innocence, but also identify and denounce those in authority who have allowed the vulnerable, like herself, to suffer abuse and violence. And, on her own, she will plot revenge—against the man who tried to kill her, and the corrupt government institutions that very nearly destroyed her life.

Once upon a time, she was a victim. Now Salander is fighting back.

Review:

Oh, my. How do I even begin to write this review?

Personally, I find it hard to write reviews for books in a series, simply because I feel like I'm expressing the same opinion over and over again. While this wasn't the case between the first book and the second book (if you recall, I enjoyed the second one much more than the first), it is true when comparing the second and third installment. Picking up right where The Girl Who Played With Fire left off, I found myself completely riveted from beginning to end. I can't really describe what draws me into these books... maybe the characters? Lisbeth, of course, who is the driving force. And then Mikael, of course, who helps her on the way. And add to that a huge government conspiracy theory and I'm sold.

That being said, I'm not going to ramble too much. This series is really good for mature readers (adults, mostly, but being a mature teenager I'd also recommend it to others like myself). Highly recommend this series.

Jane

PS. I heard that there is a fourth novel that Larsson was writing when he died, and that someone (a relative, maybe?) was going to finish it up and it's going to get published. Not sure where I heard that or how credible it was, but I sincerely hope that happens :)

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo: A ((Swedish)) Movie Review

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Starring: Michael Nygvist and Noomi Rapace
Rated: R

I picked up this DVD on a whim; having read the book, I am really interested in the movie. I was going to wait until the American version came out later this year, but my curiosity got the better of me. So I rented the Swedish version.

While I can't say the movie was better than the novel, I can say they come pretty close. My one huge complaint about the novel was the huge amount of backstory and mumbo jumbo that I just didn't care about. The movie didn't have that- it jumped right into the story full throttle, caught my attention, and held it to the very end.

My one worry was that the movie would be confusing and hard to follow. It turns out that whoever adapted this movie from the book did an excellent job of knowing what to keep and what to discard, and the movie was easy to follow, even for someone who might not have read the book(s). My only complaint about the movie is that Erika Berger didn't play a big enough role. I know there's a lot to put in a short movie, but I feel like she's important enough to get more time on screen.

The actress who played Lisbeth was incredible; she was exactly what I pictured her to be. The actor who played Mikael was wonderful as well.

Overall: If you're a fan of TGWTDT, don't miss out on the Swedish version. Unless, of course, you have an extreme aversion to subtitles or dubbing.

NOTE: Heed the Rated R warning. This movie is SOOO not meant for young viewers.

Jane

The Girl Who Played With Fire

Please see my review for The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.

This book was significantly better than it's predecessor for two very important reasons:

1. It didn't take too long to get into. The one thing that really irks me about some of the books that I read is drawn out and boring introductions. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo had an introduction that for me was nothing but dull and lengthy. The Girl Who Played With Fire did not have that. The prologue set up the readers for an exciting and intriguing novel, and it did not disappoint.

2. Dragon Tattoo focused a lot on characters that are not the main characters. While Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander were quite obviously the main characters, much of the story focused on the Vanger family and their history. That bothered me with the first book, because I didn't get as much of a grasp on who the main characters were.

That being said, Dragon Tattoo was good. But The Girl Who Played With Fire completely blew me away. I wasn't even planning on reading it, until I was put into a situation where I didn't have a book to read and I was stuck at work for two hours with nothing to do. I bought this book on a whim: I figured, it's cheap and I don't have to try and get into a whole new story.

I am SO GLAD that I decided to read it. TGWPWF is such an improvement on Dragon Tattoo. With Dragon Tattoo I felt like it was far too out of my comfort zone to really enjoy. Fire just got me sucked into the story and I couldn't put it down. The story focused on Lisbeth Salander, rather than on an outsider, which I loved. I also loved how fast-paced everything was. While the beginning started out somewhat slow (although not as slow as Dragon Tattoo) once the conflict was introduced I found myself obsessed with finding out what was going to happen.

This book was a real thrill ride. The only downside is the abrupt ending. While some aspects of the story were concluded, the reader was left with a lot of unanswered questions, including the unanswered question that was brought up at the ending of the last book.

Despite the very few downsides, I would definitely recommend this sequel. I would especially recommend it to those who, like me, were a bit skeptical about the first book. This book didn't disappoint, and while it might take me awhile to get to the third and final installment, I will most definitely be reading The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

I decided to read this book after reading about it in my favorite magazine, Entertainment Weekly. The never ending praise by this magazine, and also the fact that the book was very obviously displayed in every bookstore I walked into, made me buy it.

I knew right from the start that this book would be a challenge. However, I enjoyed it and I'm glad I gave it a try.

My review for this book will come in three parts.

1. The beginning. The beginning of any book is without a doubt the most important part of it. Every book needs to have an attention-grabbing opening. Without that, an average reader could easily get bored or disinterested and move onto something more exciting. I came thisclose to giving up before the story got under way. Why? Because of the mumbo jumbo. I have no interest in the stock market or economics, and so when this book started out with some long explanations about some financial scandal, I had half a mind to give up right then and there.

2. The middle. This is the bulk of the book, and the only reason why I stuck with it. Once the story got going (and it took a little too long for my taste) I decided that I really wanted to see what happened. The character of Mikael Blomkvist didn't interest me too much, but the story he was investigating did. I found myself pulled in by the murder mystery that the book was trying to solve. I also became very intrigued by the idea of Lisbeth Salander. True to my expectations, she was as bad-ass as everything I had heard about her, and naturally that made her my favorite character.

3. The ending. Besides the part where the main mystery of Harriet Vanger's murder was solved, I skim-read the end. It was more mumbo jumbo, and a whole lot of something I didn't feel like reading. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the very last page, and the incredible cliff-hanger that was presented. Is it enough for me to read the sequel? Maybe.

Overall: This book is not for everybody. If you think you can handle a book with a lot of backstory, I'd say go for it. I also have to add that there are some very graphic sexual abuse scenes, so this is not a story for a young reader. The best person to read this would be an adult with an open mind, and a desire to read an interesting and different story.

In My Mailbox: Week 1

Information about In My Mailbox can be found here on The Story Siren's blog!

Sadly, nothing in my mailbox, but I did buy two books this week!

1. Charlie St. Cloud (AKA The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud) by Ben Sherwood

Why?
I saw the movie trailer, and it looks like an amazing movie. I saw that it was originally a book, and I thought I'd challenge myself to read the book before seeing the movie.



2. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

Why?
I am a very dedicated reader of Entertainment Weekly, and the recent raves about this book have been overwhelming me. It is supposed to be absolutely amazing. I wanted to see what it was all about.

Neither of these are YA, which is my preferred genre, but I still like to try new things out every once in awhile. Anyone have any thoughts on these books?