The Girl Who Played With Fire
Ratings697
Average rating4
I read this (#2) before reading the first in the series, but that turned out not to matter very much. Larsson doesn't give away much from the first book. I almost put it down after reading the first two pages, but once I got past that scene, I was completely caught up in the story. Fantastic.
I wasn't as into this as I was #1, but that doesn't mean I wasn't into it. There's a lot about social injustices and happenings in Sweden, so I certainly learned a lot. Like #1, this one is fast paced, complicated, and layered. Also, I learned that Sweden is one of the countries that imports the most prostitutes per capita from Russia/Baltics. Wtf??! Guess my utopianistic view of those Nordic countries had a wake up call.
Compared to his first book I fell in love instantly with this one. The action started immediately and you introduced so well to the characters you could almost feel the tension between them all. I was a littel saddened that it took so long for us to finally hear from Lisbeth but once you did you almost appreciated her efforts, illegal as they may be.
A wonderful book that didn't feel like it dragged on forever despite its numerous pages!
Slow pacing, plot was all over the place during the first few chapters that doesn't tie in. Also bit annoyed that they made Blomkvist this irresistible sex machine and Harriet Vagner a minor character who just wanted to sleep with a kid she used to babysit
The book was fine but it made me realize this is not the series for me.
In both the first and second book we have been reading stories in which women are attacked, harassed, raped, discriminated, and belittled in every way possible. I understand that the author is trying to make a point, but I still don't want to keep reading about this.
The girl writing this review looked up over to her bookshelf, and sighed at the size of Hornet's nest.
I wanted to love this book. I started this book hoping I would end up giving this a 4 or 5. Most reviews promised it to be better than the Dragon Tattoo, but sadly I don't feel so.
This continues about 1 year after the events of the first book. And this time it is Blomkvist's turn to help Salander out of a pickle. Since it's Salander, you can imagine how that would go.
I tried to write what I felt about what I was reading, while reading, since the book was too long and I had so little time to read and could not make it to more than 20-30 pages a day. It's a good thing I did that, because this book feels different at different parts. There are parts where I felt like reading without missing one word; pages I read multiple times and lingered on every word. There are parts when I felt like throwing the book, right out the window.
Blomkvist is a dry character. Considering how major a character he is in the book, he is surprisingly one-dimensional. I don't suppose the author put much effort into him - or purposefully made him dry, so that his masterpiece would stand out.
But she wished she had the guts to go up to him and say hello or possible break his legs, she wasn't sure which
She had stared at him for a whole minute and decided that she did not have a grain of feeling left, because it would have been the same as bleeding to death. Fuck you
She loved having company that left her alone
Muchas casualidades y coincidencias.
Lisbeth Salander es un gran personaje, lamentablemente involucrada en una trama inverosímil y con muchos altibajos.
Such a fantastic book! Where to begin. Lisbeth Salander is one extremely intriguing character. Each book I learn more about her and her past, and this book in particular had me thoroughly captivated. I read over 400 pages in one sitting alone. Highly recommend!
Really had me on the edge of my seat but not as good as [b:The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo 2429135 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium, #1) Stieg Larsson https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327868566l/2429135.SX50.jpg 1708725]. I know it's a thriller about “men who hate women” and some broad strokes are acceptable. I didn't take this terribly seriously, but there were some distracting elements that took me out of the story.For example, apparently in this world only women are victims of the sex trade/ trafficking. I'm pretty sure in reality there are male prostitutes who are victimized. But a character in [b:The Girl Who Played with Fire 5060378 The Girl Who Played with Fire (Millennium, #2) Stieg Larsson https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1351778881l/5060378.SX50.jpg 6976108] actually makes this statement about crimes against sex workers: “It's not often that a researcher can establish roles along gender lines so clearly. Girls–victims; boys perpetrators.”” There is a lack of subtlety in the supporting characters. When Lisbeth gets into trouble, every character who believes she is guilty is a homophobic misogynist per their behavior and dialogue. Since Lisbeth feels so real to me, it's a shame other characters can't have more complexity.
Loved it! The second book in the trilogy does not disappoint. Full of energy and interesting characters and a plot that has just the right amount of complexity to keep you engaged without losing track of what's what and who's who. There are a couple of forced coincidences but I forgive them because of the overall dynamism of the book. When I reached the end I was a little sad, I would have loved it if the book lasted just a little bit longer...
Excellent! It was better than the first book, however the conclusion was not nearly as satisfying and is more of a segway into book three.
My only criticism is that the world started to feel small after we discover who some of the players in the game are. I want to keep my review spoiler free, so I'll just say that I found the “big reveals” to be a bit underwhelming in the grand scheme of things.
All in all, it's been a great series so far and I'm glad I've stuck with it. On to book three!
DNF 16%
At the end of Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and less than 15% of the way into Girl Who Played With Fire, Lisbeth is barely recognizable as a character and it completely put me off.
Di buku ke2 ini Salander menjadi tersangka utama pembunuhan 1 wartawan freelance, 1 mahasiswa ktiminologi & walinya sdr. Blomkvist percaya bahwa Salander kemungkinan besar tdk bersalah. Blomkvist melakukan investigasi tersendiri untuk mengungkap siapa sbnrnya yg membunuh 3 orh tsb.
Penyelidikan & cerita bergulir hingga mengungkap masa lalu Salander, mengungkap siapa sbnrnya ayah Salander hingga melibatkan polisi khusus Swedia.
This book is the second in the Millennium series. The first book, Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, is basically a stand alone novel you could read, and then never read another Millennium book. Girl who Played with Fire, however, is a complete set-up, beginning to end, for the third book. That annoys me. I still love it, so my 4 stars is completely subjective, but just know if you're going into this for the first time that there is virtually no resolution by the end of this book. However, I love the series as a whole. (Well, I've only read the three books by Larsson, and I have no plans to read the other ones they're creating based on his notes or whatever.) I talk more about this in my review for February, March, and April wrap up on my channel, and I plan on doing a series review once I reread the third book.
Definitely a guilty pleasure. Even understanding all its shortcomings (and there are several) I still enjoyed the hell out this and the other two in the trilogy. Addictive and non-nutritious, but nonetheless enjoyable.
חפירות קשות, אבל זה אודיובוק מעולה! המקריא נפלא, הקולות הנשיים שלו סבירים+, ואם במקרה המחשבות נודדות במהלך ההאזנה ומפספסים משפט או שניים, זה בטח לא משהו יותר חשוב מ”בלומקוויסט הכין קפה ואכל סנדוויץ”
There were not so many physical threats that could not be countered with a decent hammer, Salander thought.
“The theme of the May issue is the sex trade. The point we have to make is that trafficking is a crime against human rights and that these criminals must be exposed and treated like war criminals or death squads or torturers anywhere in the world. Now let's get going.”
You're an entropic chaos factor.
Those pointless equations, to which no solution exists, are called absurdities
A root of an equation is a number which substituted into the equation instead of an unknown converts the equation into an identity. The root is said to satisfy the equation. Solving an equation implies finding all of its roots. An equation that is always satisfied, no matter the choice of values for its unknowns, is called an identity.
There are no innocents. There are, however, different degrees of responsibility.
Salander had a selective morality. She had nothing at all against swindling the company's clients herself—provided they deserved it—but if she had accepted a job with a confidentiality agreement in it, she would never have broken it.
I said that friendship is built on two things—respect and trust. Even if you don't like me, you can still depend on me and trust me. I've never shared your secrets with anyone.
The reference to friendship made her uncomfortable. She didn't know how to respond to it.
“She's one fucking freaky chick . . . but she's one of the good ones. I like her.”
Salander was the woman who hated men who hate women.
She may be hard up, but she's a survivor.
“And if she spends the next ten years in prison, at least she was the one who chose that path. I'll still be her friend,” Palmgren said.
“I had no idea you had such a libertarian view of humanity.”
“Neither did I,” he said.
So. Boring. Unlike the first book which constantly unfolds with new characters and revelations, this one takes 200 pages for something to happen and another 200 for people to start making progress understanding it. In the meantime we read, and reread, that the characters involved in three separate investigations have so many questions and just don't get it. “Blomkvist puzzled over these questions and then made himself coffee and a sandwich”. Ugh.
Really amazing. You get thrust into the plot pretty quickly, and although it seems predictable for a while, it eventually gets into the suspenseful wild ride characteristic of the The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Simply a great novel.
Decepcionante, Lisbeth se supone es una antisocial, en este libro tiene demasiados sentimientos. No me gusta.
Less gratuitous sex than first book. Still hard to understand cultural references. At times, I thought there were issues with the plot, but the author surprised me.
I enjoyed this book very much. Once again, I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Saul Reichlin. He does a brilliant job with the Swedish names and voices for characters. His high-pitched voice for the blond giant was great!
And so to the book. I don't know why I left a gap of years between the first and second books of the trilogy. But enough of the first tale was related to in the second that it wasn't long before I had the plot of the first back in my head again. I suppose that's a job that the author has to see for those such as I with poor memories. I don't intend to leave a gap between two and three though, mainly because two doesn't really end as such. It wraps up the whodunnit nicely but leaves it wide open for the third book. It reminded me of Empire Strikes Back, of which, incidentally, it also reminded fellow goodreader, Steve Betz!
The timeline and pace of the book are just right. We get Salander's visiting Svensson and Johannson's flat* and then she's not in the book for ages after that while the tale of her suspected guilt is built up. Brilliant!
It reads like a book written by a master of his craft. It reminded me a little of the early Jason Bourne books in the suspense and twists and turns. It made me want to walk the dogs more than usual and delete a few podcasts from my queue, so it certainly deserves four stars for that reason.
In terms of literary weight, I'd mark it down to three, so I guess overall it should get 7/10. Four seems a little too high and three a little too low.
*Forgive my spelling if it's not quite right; I had the audiobook!
Lisbeth Salander is a mystery, this book is much more focused on her but the suspense doesn't decline at any time. I liked that the journalist didn't stop investigating despite the circumstances and the entire novel is very well written. Some parts were very sexual and that's what I didn't like at all, however, I applaud the rest of the story.