Reviews with content warning for Forced institutionalization - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson

17 reviews

jailala's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

This book was fascinating! It has strong characters as well as a few different mystery plots going all at the same time. Somehow, Larsson managed to create several very real, complex characters well at the same time engaging in both a slow-burn financial/political thriller, a family history thriller and layered over all a raging murder mystery with a despicable yet socially accurate baseline running throughout. And all this before the Me-too movement. I wouldn't be surprised in coming years if this book isn't sited as helping to bring the Me-too movements personal stories out into the light.
**That being said: there should be a strong warning attached to this book for anyone who has trauma associated with sexual assault. Likewise, those who have had to fight for their own privacy when it comes to their personal experiences might find this book either threatening or impowering depending.
(Personally, I find Lisbeth Salander to be a heroine easily identified with and will carry her as a kind of superhero shield in my mind.)

Content Warnings

khristy's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional informative mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Writing—does its job.
Plot/characters—riveting plot and I enjoyed the characters. They were fleshed out well w good and bad traits. Even when I didn’t agree with their decisions, I liked Lisbeth, B, and Henrik.
Profundity—I need to think on this more. But it addresses treatment of women and mental illness and journalistic ethics so profound issues are addressed.

Content Warnings

aserra's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

Not much to add that hasn't been said before. To summarize:

Slow start
Michael Blomkvist falls into the trope of middle aged white man with suspiciously impressive sexual prowess
There's a weird amount of description and focus on Salander's body...
Interesting mystery
Some people seem to really dislike the writing but, honestly, it's far from the worst I've ever read (it's also far from the best, but it's not terrible y'all)

Personally, despite a lot of tired tropes and my misgivings, I was intrigued enough by the end to continue to book 2, but that's because I already had it. If I didn't, I wouldn't have gotten it.

Content Warnings