Comment

Oct 29, 2017
4.5 stars out of 5 In The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Lisbeth Salander was not the central character; she played a vital role, but the book was more about Mikael Blomkvist figuring out a mystery. In this second book, the focus is decidedly on Salander. There is still a mystery for Blomkvist (and the reader) to figure out, but the emphasis is much more on Lisbeth and her past. Lisbeth is not a likable person; as one of the characters says, she shows some traits of a person with Aspberger's, but she also has traits that blow that diagnosis out of the water. She has almost no emotional affect, and is ruthlessly cruel to people she views as her enemies. But strangely, we want to cheer for her - partly because her enemies are horrible, horrible people. I thoroughly enjoyed the story - right up to the very end. But that ending, which leaves most everything unresolved, is what makes me give the book less than five stars.