Jessica
So I liked this, but it was by far the weakest book of the trilogy. Above all, it was just very, very slow. I felt like there were lots of subplots and plot threads that were unnecessary, or not fleshed out enough to justify their presence in the book, but they took up space nonetheless. For instance, the Section fabricated a new exchange to replace the conspiratorial one that had really happened between Telorian and the other guy... but this never seriously posed a threat to the "good guys"' plan, ever? And Erika Berger's subplot seemed extraneous as well, and its resolution meant that the book really had two climaxes, which is just kind of weird.
Overall, this book is a bit of a mess. There are too many characters, too many plot threads to keep track of (I can tell you for a fact that I didn't keep track of), and my favourite character spends most of the book stuck in hospital not able to do very much. The corporate intrigue that irritated me in the first book but was joyfully absent from the second returns with a vengeance; as well, I continue to despise Mikael Blomkvist mostly for being infuriatingly perfect. Erika and/or Annika comment on his irresponsibility with relationships, how he sleeps around and toys with women's hearts without a care in the world, and while this is a good reason to despise him, this is also something there is next to no narrative basis for. The last book established how he's so perfect that he remains on good terms with all his former flames! What is this?
I don't know if that complaint even made sense, but it's basically a broader one about Larsson's sloppy approach to characterisation.
Anyway, the main reason I loved the first two books was that they were fun to read. They were, in large part, about a sassy and indomitable woman who took on all these men who are completely disgusting and (I would agree with Lisbeth) don't deserve to live, and wins. While it's not always straightforward, the bad guys always suffer eventually, and it makes for satisfying reading. This one just wasn't fun in the same way. Lisbeth was too incapacitated to do anything much, and the takedowns that occur seem like too little, too late at the end.
So, three stars. It should really have been edited, by which I mean completely restructured. The courtroom scene was fun though.
So I liked this, but it was by far the weakest book of the trilogy. Above all, it was just very, very slow. I felt like there were lots of subplots and plot threads that were unnecessary, or not fleshed out enough to justify their presence in the book, but they took up space nonetheless. For instance, the Section fabricated a new exchange to replace the conspiratorial one that had really happened between Telorian and the other guy... but this never seriously posed a threat to the "good guys"' plan, ever? And Erika Berger's subplot seemed extraneous as well, and its resolution meant that the book really had two climaxes, which is just kind of weird.
Overall, this book is a bit of a mess. There are too many characters, too many plot threads to keep track of (I can tell you for a fact that I didn't keep track of), and my favourite character spends most of the book stuck in hospital not able to do very much. The corporate intrigue that irritated me in the first book but was joyfully absent from the second returns with a vengeance; as well, I continue to despise Mikael Blomkvist mostly for being infuriatingly perfect. Erika and/or Annika comment on his irresponsibility with relationships, how he sleeps around and toys with women's hearts without a care in the world, and while this is a good reason to despise him, this is also something there is next to no narrative basis for. The last book established how he's so perfect that he remains on good terms with all his former flames! What is this?
I don't know if that complaint even made sense, but it's basically a broader one about Larsson's sloppy approach to characterisation.
Anyway, the main reason I loved the first two books was that they were fun to read. They were, in large part, about a sassy and indomitable woman who took on all these men who are completely disgusting and (I would agree with Lisbeth) don't deserve to live, and wins. While it's not always straightforward, the bad guys always suffer eventually, and it makes for satisfying reading. This one just wasn't fun in the same way. Lisbeth was too incapacitated to do anything much, and the takedowns that occur seem like too little, too late at the end.
So, three stars. It should really have been edited, by which I mean completely restructured. The courtroom scene was fun though.