A review by stephdavis
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Considering how popular this book was, I’m genuinely quite shocked at how dark it is. It is a good psychology thriller (especially for a male author) although there are multiple smaller storylines that could be edited out in my opinion. 

I did like the book overall and see why it was such a craze, but there are just so many moments where Larsson makes his gender biases known and he doesn’t even seem to understand his own female protagonist. 

This is also personal opinion but there was literally no need for Salander and Blomkvist to have a sexual relationship. It really highlights Larsson’s inability to have a female character who isn’t at some point sexualised, even in a consensual manner.
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