Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

209 reviews

lildot's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault and Rape

Moderate: Murder

ed_moore's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Thus concludes the oldest book on my TBR, which I have had intention to read for at least 5 years when thriller was my go-to genre. Stieg Larsson’s thriller ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ follows journalist Mikhail Blomkvist and his unlikely partner, hacker Lisbeth Salander in their freelanced job to find the missing niece of a industrialist tycoon CEO who went missing 40 years prior, the case closed as an unsolved mystery. It also follows a side plot of a corporate legal battle which highlights the faults of capitalism as a system. It was an extremely engaging story throughout, as the case with most mysteries as clues begun to emerge me progressing through the book much faster, and some moments succeed in sending literal chills down my spine. The mystery was really well written and full of twists, though it is impossible to ignore how harrowing the book was. Larsson writes extremely graphic and detailed scenes of rape and torture that are extremely uncomfortable to read. Each part of the book is epigraphic by a statistic about women and sexual violence in Sweden, which is extremely important in addressing the crisis beyond being in fiction, and in most cases the sheer size of the statistic percentages were tragic. (Men are disgusting.) I end on that note as it is the primary message of the novel, though the mystery was engaging it was an extremely uncomfortable and illuminating read. TW’s are crucial with this one. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Sexual assault, Torture, Rape, and Body horror

Moderate: Car accident and Child abuse

meganeorcx's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

This book was a spontenous purchase after having discussed parts of both the novel and the film adaptations in class but I ended up regretting spending money on it. I dreaded reading 500 pages of a genre I'm not that into, written by a man, no less. I finally got around to reading it and it was great! It's long and slow but the pay-off is so good. The content is harsh but with the diversity of characters and the mentioned statistics, it doesn't come across as exploitative at all. I do agree with the introduction, though, that it isn't perfect in how it also portrays abusive situations. I also didn't particularly like Lisbeth and Mikael's sexual relationship together. Luckily, the book overall was good enough for me to see past that. In fact, I might end up reading Larsson's other two Millennium books because my curiosity is piqued! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Rape, Murder, Misogyny, and Sexual content

cartermon4's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Minor: Incest

meraru's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Out of all the traumatic, horrible things that happened in this story, Lisbeth having coffee and toasts with pickle slices was the hardest to read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Violence, Sexual violence, Torture, Death, Kidnapping, Murder, and Misogyny

Moderate: Kidnapping, Alcohol, Sexism, Racism, Pedophilia, Drug use, Xenophobia, Addiction, Alcoholism, Sexual harassment, Rape, Misogyny, Mental illness, Death, Incest, Grief, Drug abuse, and Death of parent

Minor: Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Animal death, Animal cruelty, War, and Trafficking

There's several rape scenes, also several of the deaths are described in graphic detail.

ecandrews0's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Animal death, Car accident, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Rape

Moderate: Antisemitism and Domestic abuse

Minor: Dementia and Abortion

ne0nxbutterfly's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Violence, Incest, Animal death, Dementia, Death of parent, Torture, Murder, Kidnapping, Eating disorder, Animal cruelty, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Rape, Pedophilia, and Misogyny

3ndt4p3s's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

the true mystery is how can mikael pull like that

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Sexual assault, Rape, and Antisemitism

kristen_monique's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Blood, Cursing, Murder, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Dementia, Violence, Animal death, Eating disorder, Death, Gun violence, Incest, Gore, and Sexual violence

Minor: Car accident

dontthink2x's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

I thought I was going to love this book. I did love the story line, the detail, and how the mystery keeps you wondering from beginning to end. The book is incredibly dark, which I normally really enjoy but I found myself lacking connection with the book and struggling to feel invested in the outcome. I think this is due to the lack of emotion in the book and the overwhelming amount of business blah blah. The entire book reads as an incredibly long list of facts with not a shred of poetic wording or connection to any deeper meaning. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Incest, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Confinement, Grief, Animal death, and Animal cruelty