The Girl Who Played with Fire (original 2006; edition 2009)

I love the character of the girl and the intricate explanation of how she has adapted to her circumstances. ( )

After finishing The [b:Girl With the Dragon Tattoo|2429135|The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium, #1)|Stieg Larsson|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1275608878s/2429135.jpg|1708725], I couldn't wait to listen to the sequel The Girl who Played with Fire. I saved it for vacation and was not disappointed. The first book leaves you wondering about Lisbeth Salander's life and wanting more of this intriguing character. This sequel focuses more on Lisbeth's life and past history. I love Larsson's gritty dialog and clever plot twists - a mystery author who goes way beyond plot, he has created another literary suspense novel. Although I didn't like it as much as 'Tattoo', it was a wonderful listen. Can't wait until the final book comes out this year... and narrated by Simon Vance!


( )

La historia en esta parte está más interesante que la primera. Lo acabo de terminar y me dejó helada. Es fenomenal! Buenísima la trama. ( )

I liked this book more than the first entry in the series. Kind of disappointed with cliffhanger ending though, I don't like that trick in books and don't think it carries over well from television and film. I am definitely interested in reading the third in the series now. ( )

Fan.tas.tic! Loved this book so much more than [b:The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo|6620989|The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium, #1)|Stieg Larsson|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1249217009s/6620989.jpg|1708725]. Lisbeth is the one character that draws me in and keeps me wanting to know more. ( )

Originally posted at Novel Reveries

"She fantasized about a gasoline can and a match." (710)

Such intense suspense! The tables are turned and the search is on for Lisbeth Salander, wanted in a string of murders. With several groups looking for her, (The Millennium crew, The Milton Security firm, some thugs and of course, The Police,) her image is being dragged through filth as she is on the run to save herself. With a plot weaved in murder, sex trafficking, and conspiracy we get a more in depth view of Salander's life and how she got to where she's at. Is she guilty?

"Nobody was innocent. There were only varying degrees of responsibility." (583)

I really love how this book really got up and personal with everyone, explaining just about every person in the book's backstory and relationships. When Lisbeth Salander became the main focus, that's when the plot really took off. Although this book's plot is entirely different from the first book, I enjoyed the continuity of the characters. I enjoyed how it began with a seemingly complex mystery of murder and exposure before dwindling down to a simple person connecting everything, especially Salander. There were a lot of surprises and thrills that, especially since we get to know the characters so well, rocked my emotions. That ending is tortuous and makes me want to immediately pick up and read the next book of the series. If you loved The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, then you need to read this!

"Salander was the woman who hated men who hated women." (667)

First Line: "She lay on her back fastened by leather straps to a narrow bed with a steel frame." (3)
Last Line: "He put it on the floor, took out his mobile, and dialed the number for emergency services." (724)
-------------

Quotes

"She felt that some fundamental change had taken place or was taking place in her life. ... Maybe it was the adult world which was belatedly pushing its way into her life. Maybe it was the realization that, with her mother's death, her childhood had come to an end." (120)

"Lisbeth was ready. She threw a milk carton she had filled with gasoline into the car. Then she threw in a burning match." (667) ( )

The author
Stieg Larsson (born August 15, 1954 in Skelleftehamn, Sweden as Karl Stig-Erland Larsson) was a Swedish journalist and writer who passed away in 2004.

As a journalist and editor of the magazine Expo, Larsson was active in documenting and exposing Swedish extreme right and racist organizations. When he died at the age of 50, Larsson left three unpublished thrillers and unfinished manuscripts for more. The first three books (Män som hatar kvinnor/The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Flickan Som Lekte Med Elden/The Girl Who Played With Fire, and Luftslottet som sprängdes/The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest) have since been printed as the Millenium series. These books are all bestsellers in Sweden and in several other countries, including the United States.

The synopsis
Mikael Blomkvist, crusading journalist and publisher of the magazine Millennium, has decided to run a story that will expose an extensive sex trafficking operation between Eastern Europe and Sweden, implicating well-known and highly placed members of Swedish society, business, and government.

But he has no idea just how explosive the story will be until, on the eve of publication, the two investigating reporters are murdered. And even more shocking for Blomkvist: the fingerprints found on the murder weapon belong to Lisbeth Salander—the troubled, wise-beyond-her-years genius hacker who came to his aid in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and who now becomes the focus and fierce heart of The Girl Who Played with Fire.

As Blomkvist, alone in his belief in Salander’s innocence, plunges into an investigation of the slayings, Salander herself is drawn into a murderous hunt in which she is the prey, and which compels her to revisit her dark past in an effort to settle with it once and for all

The review
This book has less Cluedo than the other book. You get information from all the players in this book except for one and the story builds up till they all come together. This book reads more like an action movie where the first book was more suspense. Still a solid story with easy character engagement. You will cheer for the right people, hate the right people and will feel willing to kill some yourself it that saves the heroine. Am now going to move on to the third book hoping it is just as entertaining as the first two. ( )

The second book of the Millennium Trilogy—the book is set 2 years after the Wennerström affair and Lisbeth Salander is enjoying the benefits of her “acquisition” of wealth, traveling, purchasing an apartment and changing her appearance. She returns to Stockholm and soon becomes embroiled and framed in the murder of two writers working with Mikael Blomkvist (her former lover) and her guardian Nils Bjurman. The investigation leads Lisbeth to confront her violent childhood and the resulting tragedies. I enjoyed the fast paced action of this novel—though I enjoyed the first book more. The one thing that I didn’t like as well in this novel was the lack of real interaction between Bloomquist and Salander—which was one of my favorite parts of the first novel. A 4 out of 5 stars. ( )

The second in the series starts a totally new plot that takes place almost immediately after the events of the first book. The mistery component is still there, but it is solved with a couple of very predictibely twists at the end. However, there were good thrilling moments and overall the series keeps the reader interested. ( )

I finally got around to reading this sequel to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, ages after everybody else in the world. It has, I think, a lot of the same elements as the first book: Lots of sex and violence and sexual violence. A sort of feminist sensibility that reviles misogyny and violence against women mainly by showing us lots and lots of it and then giving the worst perpetrators equally violent comeuppances. And a moderately interesting mystery/thriller plot delivered in a clunky, repetitive, annoyingly infodump-y style, complete with so much dull, extraneous information that if it were all cut out, the book would probably be half as long and much the better for it.

There is, I think, a decent story buried in here somewhere, albeit one with a few highly implausible elements. And Lisbeth Salander is, at least potentially, an interesting character. But I still have no idea why the heck Larsson is so ridiculously popular. ( )

After reading The [b:Girl with the Dragon Tattoo|2429135|The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium, #1)|Stieg Larsson|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1275608878s/2429135.jpg|1708725], I couldn't wait to pick this one up. I liked that it jumped right into the story, but I didn't like the disconnectedness of Lisbeth and Mikeal. I also thought the story was a bit weak and that the "bad guys" were so undeveloped. The last part of the book left me NOT wanting to read the third in the series. It's almost like the author just made up an ending that he hadn't been planning. However, I'll still give it three stars because I found parts of it quite intriguing and there were times I couldn't put it down. ( )

Sigh. I did not like this book.

Against my better judgment, I enjoyed the first one. But I had a feeling it couldn't last. As I said before, Dragon Tattoo is majorly plot driven. The characters are caricatures - which I'm pretty sure is intentional, given the background of the books - but there was a decent story almost from the off. I zipped through it, and it didn't seem like a chore.

This was.

The pacing (oh god, not the pacing AGAIN) was way off. Nothing happens for about 200 pages except Lisbeth goes to Ikea (worst two pages of writing I have EVER seen) and gets a boob job (this makes no more sense in context). Lisbeth is damaged, Lisbeth is a bit mad, Lisbeth is possibly Asperger-y, Lisbeth is also a genius... I just don't care. I mean, I feel sorry for her, but I cannot empathise with her at all. She doesn't feel real, or even real in the context. Anyway. Once that's over, the real mystery of the book starts, but it's nowhere near as well realised as the mystery in the first book. It's sloppy and all over the place and in need of serious editing.

This book was just hard to get through. After the speed picked up, it was easier, but the first third was just painful. Even after that, the spark that attracted me to the first part was just not there. Disappointing, but there you go.

I'll probably read the third book at some point, but I know it's the longest and that's putting me off. ( )

Mikael Blomkvist's Millennium publishing company is preparing to publish another journalist's book about people trafficking and the sex trade when the author and his girlfriend, who was researching the same subject, are murdered. The prime suspect is Lisbeth Salander, and when her guardian is found dead the hunt for her extends across Sweden.

Larsson may not be that great a writer, but he tells a good story, even if it might *slightly* stretch the limits of believability in places...

Rating: 4 of 5

Status updates -

6/26/2012, page 124: The pace is much faster in this one. And, already I'm sure Lisbeth should've done away with that disgusting Bjurman.

6/27/2012, page 510: Somewhat irked by characters' repeated recaps of the investigation / their own analyses of murders. Lisbeth's POV disappeared for about 100+ pages but I guess it was meant to increase suspense? Definitely has a Bond vibe: who's the big boss behind everything?

6/28/2012, page 630: Whew, those last 100+ pages were jam-packed with action and "big reveals." Overall, I enjoyed Book Two of the Millennium trilogy. But not as much as the first. ( )

On to the next... ( )

Book 2 was even better than the first…
So I borrowed this series and was only reading it because it was so widely acclaimed…now I understand why!
The writing is amazing…it is a shame that the author has died because I think that he could have been a rock star.
The story was great and explains a lot…but leaves you wanting so much more!! I’m glad have book three and have already started to read that one too.
The only issue I’ve had was that the places are unfamiliar to me since I’ve never been Sweden (maybe one day…) but that is it. ( )

It is clear that the author realized that people wanted to read more about the Lisbeth character from the first book when he sat down to write this one. It is also clear that Mr. Larsson likes to spend a lot of time setting up his story. I almost put down his first book after 200 pages of essentially nothing happening but it did get a little better. Patient readers will be rewarded with this book. Again, nothing really happens for the first 200 pages (the murders occur around here!) but it finally picks up and becomes very interesting. Lots of IKEA references and crazy Swedish names but overall, it was much better than the first book.

The second book was as good as the first. I can't wait to read the third, though he tied up so many loose ends and answered so many questions in this one that I wonder what the last book will be about...

On another note, I was surprised/disappointed to hear John Powers on "Fresh Air" say that Larsson wasn't a great writer. But he did offer an interesting character analysis of Lisbeth Salander, which I really loved and thought was insightful:

"... But the series' real selling point is its title heroine, Lisbeth Salander, an extraordinarily vivid pop creation. Abused as a child, Salander has grown up to be tattooed, pierced, bisexual and aggressively antisocial.

Both a ferocious fighter and a genius computer hacker, Salander is defined by no man. Instead, she pointedly takes down men who are violent against women. But to be an unstoppable vessel of justice, she has to cut herself off from all normal emotion and from everyone else, even those who care about her.

So far, so good. Yet Millennium's sense of social justice reveals a dark side of liberal righteousness. These are vigilante tales, structured to fill us with such rage that we can't wait for Salander to exact her vengeance."

I think that sums up why she is such an awesome protagonist and why the books are so compulsively readable. I love vengeance!! ( )

An improvement over the first book. ( )

Originally posted at Novel Reveries

"She fantasized about a gasoline can and a match." (710)

Such intense suspense! The tables are turned and the search is on for Lisbeth Salander, wanted in a string of murders. With several groups looking for her, (The Millennium crew, The Milton Security firm, some thugs and of course, The Police,) her image is being dragged through filth as she is on the run to save herself. With a plot weaved in murder, sex trafficking, and conspiracy we get a more in depth view of Salander's life and how she got to where she's at. Is she guilty?

"Nobody was innocent. There were only varying degrees of responsibility." (583)

I really love how this book really got up and personal with everyone, explaining just about every person in the book's backstory and relationships. When Lisbeth Salander became the main focus, that's when the plot really took off. Although this book's plot is entirely different from the first book, I enjoyed the continuity of the characters. I enjoyed how it began with a seemingly complex mystery of murder and exposure before dwindling down to a simple person connecting everything, especially Salander. There were a lot of surprises and thrills that, especially since we get to know the characters so well, rocked my emotions. That ending is tortuous and makes me want to immediately pick up and read the next book of the series. If you loved The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, then you need to read this!

"Salander was the woman who hated men who hated women." (667)

First Line: "She lay on her back fastened by leather straps to a narrow bed with a steel frame." (3)
Last Line: "He put it on the floor, took out his mobile, and dialed the number for emergency services." (724)
-------------

Quotes

"She felt that some fundamental change had taken place or was taking place in her life. ... Maybe it was the adult world which was belatedly pushing its way into her life. Maybe it was the realization that, with her mother's death, her childhood had come to an end." (120)

"Lisbeth was ready. She threw a milk carton she had filled with gasoline into the car. Then she threw in a burning match." (667) ( )

While the first installment of the Millenium Trilogy, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, was about publisher Mikael Blomkvist, this second book gives us a more complete story about Lisbeth's challenging history.

Lisbeth Salander is such an original and intriguing character. Her unique mix of master computer talent, highly defined morals, fighting spirit and crazy boxing skills rolled into a tiny, likely Asperger's afflicted, package makes the reader love her and cheer for her. Lisbeth possesses a photographic memory and an uncanny ability to grasp mathematics. She is a formidable chess player and an enemy few people could afford to make. Overall she is one rocking heroine and, as alluded to in the story, she is the new Pippi Longstocking, although definitely for adults and sporting new breast implants!

This story follows Lisbeth as she is implicated in a triple murder. The cast of characters, some familiar and some new, have widely varied opinions about who Lisbeth Salander really is. The subject of this novel deals with sex trafficking of girls from Eastern Europe in Sweden. We meet rogue agents of both the Soviet GRU and the Swedish Sapo trying to keep their crimes well hidden, thug members of a biker gang and learn of Lisbeth's family. They all interweave in a very absorbing story that kept me up two nights in a row.

As an aside, Lisbeth lugs a math textbook around through the novel and eventually comes up with Fermat's alleged elegant solution to his Last Theorem on her own, however the solution is not described in detail for the reader! ( )

Much better than the first! ( )

I just don't even know where to start with a synopsis here without giving anything away.

I enjoyed this one so much more than the previous, [b:The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo|2429135|The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium, #1)|Stieg Larsson|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1275608878s/2429135.jpg|1708725], that I was left wondering if I just read that one at the wrong time or if Larsson really improved that much between one book and the next. Or maybe it was just the background framework of economics. Whatever it was, this was way, way better than I expected, and I'm glad it was chosen as one of my groups' monthly reads. In all honesty, I would probably never have gotten to it.

Once I got into the story, and it did take a little while, I couldn't stop reading until I got to the end. And what an ending! When does the third one come out in the US? Not soon enough, that's for sure! Talk about a cliffhanger!

Salander is just as inscrutable as ever, but she's starting to learn that she shouldn't take her relationships with others for granted. I was so indifferent to the first book that I wouldn't have continued with the series if I hadn't been curious to find out more about Salander. I'm glad I continued and got this payoff. The important parts of her personal story are revealed, and they are every bit as shocking as I expected them to be.

This would have been five stars except for a few things. The first section--55 pages in my copy--doesn't seem to have a real bearing on anything else. I'm left wondering if it will tie in to the third book, or if it was just a long example of how much Salander "hates men who hate women." Also, there were parts that could easily have been edited out. The thing that bothered me the most was when Salander goes furniture shopping. It's two pages of an IKEA shopping list. Two pages doesn't sound like much, but it's so detailed and so unimportant! Who cares?!? Unless you have IKEA's entire collection memorized, it's just filler that needed to go!

I knocked the translation in my review of the first book. The same guy translated this one, but I think he's improved a lot. There were only a couple of things that reminded me that I was reading a translation, and they were so small I can't even remember what they were.
Overall, though, for a thrilling read with a complex, troubled intriguing main character, pick this up. You just might want to wait until after the release of the third one though. You will be dying to pick it up as soon as you finish this book. ( )

WOW! ( )

Very well done follow up to TGWTDT. We get to follow Lisbeth as she gets drawn into having to deal with past demons as more of her history is presented to us. Looking forward to reading the third book. ( )