2 Minute Book Review: Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

Reading time for this post: 1 minute, 55 seconds. Read it Later



Book: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Author: Stieg Larsson

Audiobook read by: Simon Vance

This book was recommended to me by a couple people, and surprisingly, one of those was my father. I had wanted to read the book before the movie came out and then watch the movie in the theater. I missed my chance, but I refused to see the film before reading the book. As a disclaimer, I should say that the story is dark, shocking and disturbingly ugly and violent scenes. It's about murder, intrigue, revenge, love and vindication. This was not just a pager turner but I found myself looking

What I didn't like:
The book was a slow starter but since it is part of a trilogy, I can understand the necessity to take the time to lay out more than one storyline. Part of the difficulty in starting the book is that all the names, places, heck; even the currency is foreign as the book is set in Sweden. Thankfully, I listened to the audiobook so it was a little easier to follow. Once you familiarize yourself with the setting, the story moves quickly.

What I did like:
This was definitely a book I couldn't predict, which is somewhat refreshing. Sometimes I need to take a break from the predictable YA love story books I have a tendency to find myself reading. This is a "grown-up" book, and I was enthralled with the mystery and the characters. There were a few plot threads but nothing like the writing of Ken Follett. I find the female lead character, Lisbeth Salander to be an interesting character study. I imagine I'll find my answers in the subsequent books, but I feel like there is so much more to learn about her. I want to know what secrets she is keeping and why. She's a genius, socially awkward, untrusting, damaged, vulnerable and merciless.

Verdict:
I'd recommend this book most certainly, but with a disclaimer for those who aren't comfortable reading about the realities of a serial killer and could never watch Law and Order, SVU. I won't go into much detail here, but let's just say this is a grown-ups only book. (My niece reads these occasionally!) I like this one so much, the same day I finished the first book I reserved the third book and downloaded the second to my ipod from the library!