munkuu

So I was all set to give this book 4 stars and then I started reading some other people's reviews who gave it less stars and realized they had some good points. But then I thought about how quickly I read this book and how at times I was so engrossed I couldn't put it down and I decided it was still getting 4 stars! I understand some of the criticisms of the book, I felt that Blomkvist's libel storyline and subsequent quest to bring down Wennerstrom was pretty boring and at the end, somewhat over my head in regards to dummy companies, accounts, etc. but the Vanger storyline and the search for Harriet was completely intriguing and contained enough twists to keep me guessing. There is also some criticism regarding character development but I had no problem with that. I felt that I knew the main characters and could understand their motivations. No, Larsson did not spell out everything about Salander's background but I don't think he needed to for me to understand why Lisbeth was the person she was. As well as being an interesting mystery, the book also was a good social commentary with the themes of violence against women (I was astounded by the statistics regarding this at the beginning of each major break in the story), obsessions and mostly of how "the system" can hurt someone when it's actually in place to help them. I was dissatified with the ending in regards to the main characters but as this book is a trilogy, it is not surprising that every detail is not wrapped up and I'm hoping that the other 2 books will find their way to the US soon. (Although sometimes with sequels you run the risk of the characters no longer being fresh and interesting and the content being forced for the sake of a sequel)

2022-10-21 05:46