Book Summary:
A young girl lies in a hospital room, her tattooed body very close to death — there is a bullet lodged in her brain. Several rooms away is the man who tried to kill her, his own body grievously wounded from axe blows inflicted by the girl he has tried to kill. She is Lisbeth Salander, computer hacker and investigator, and the man is her father, a murderous Russian gangster. If Salander recovers from her injuries, she is more than likely to be put on trial for three murders — the authorities regard her as a dangerous individual. But she won’t see the inside of a courtroom if her father manages to kill her first.
Steve Review:
The final book in the Millennium trilogy arrived at my house the day it was published. It had been pre-ordered for over a month and I couldn’t wait to dive in. I loved the first two in the series (even with the hype considered you can find my quite favorable reviews of the 1st and 2nd books here and here) and desperately wanted to know how it was going to end. Would it be a fitting finale to the first 2 books?!
The book starts off right where it left off, pretty much in the midst of chaos. I don’t want to spoil much more than that since the summary above does a great job of giving pretty much nothing away. But I will say that you get a lot of insight into the conspirators of the Zalachenko drama, you get Blomkvist in all his journalistic glory, but a bit more subdued Salander. The book still has plenty of twists and turns, but they seem to be a bit more mild, and not nearly as extraordinary as the first two books. Well let me rephrase that a bit, I don’t find big government conspiracies/coverups to be extraordinary and super exciting, so in depth looks at them and the people behind them didn’t hold my attention as much as the thrilling dark mysteries in the first two books.
The book is decent when stand alone. Not my exact cup of tea, due to the large amount of government/crime scene/legal drama. But it isn’t meant to stand alone, it’s the conclusion to a huge best selling trilogy, and a trilogy that I have enjoyed immensely. So I have mixed emotions about it. I didn’t find it as good as the first two books, I found it to be rather slow at the beginning, it had much less action than either of the first two books, it contained less suspense, it had very descriptive sections of political, legal, and conspiracy drama. At the same time, it brought a fitting conclusion to the series, a certain courtroom trial was quite entertaining, you get more Salander, and most of the ending of the book is quite feel good and contains enough variety to keep it unexpected. Was it as good as the other books in the series? Not quite, nope. Was it a let down as the grand finale of a bestselling trilogy? I’ll have to say no, but only because of the huge momentum the first 2 books carried forward.
Book Cover: 5/5 – Pretty silver.
Book Title: 3/5 – Is that a figurative hornet’s nest? Cuz I don’t remember a literal one!
Plot: 6/10 – Little action, lot of bad guys, the trial saved it.
Characters: 9/10 – They don’t get much better than Salander and Blomkvist.
Writing: 8/10 – Still an excellent written work.
Ending: 9/10 – Jeez ending, nice job.
Overall: 40/50 – While it wasn’t as good as the others in the trilogy I certainly enjoyed the book and found it quite a fitting end to the series. RIP Stieg, thanks for the ride.
I am one of those who loved the third book and didn't enjoy so much the second (while I reckon the first being the best of the trilogy). My problem with this series ( a series I devoured )is that it wasn't meant to be a trilogy (there was a fourth book on the way)and I can't stop wanting this fourth book
Review: Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares by David Levithan and Rachel Cohn
I'm reading the 2nd book now, and getting excited over it. I heard the 3rd isn't as good. Still, I can't wait to reach the conclusion!
I am one of those who loved the third book and didn't enjoy so much the second (while I reckon the first being the best of the trilogy). My problem with this series ( a series I devoured )is that it wasn't meant to be a trilogy (there was a fourth book on the way)and I can't stop wanting this fourth book