Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Book Review- The Girl Who Played with Fire




*Sigh* 
I really want to like these books. I do. 
It's just that this book, as with the first, is so difficult to like. 

With the first book, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, it took me FOUR 
weeks to read. FOUR. I am a very fast reader, so this was highly
unusual for me, but I just couldnt get into the book. 
The first half bored me to death and the second half was riveting. 

Unfortunately, this book is similar. I finished it fairly quickly, but only
because I couldnt wait to just be done with it. 
The first three quarters of the book are painfully dull, 
while the last quarter was actually quite interesting. 

It feels as if the author tries to use large words, statistics and nonsense to fill the space 
before the interesting part. Most of the book felt like "filler" and not substance.

Overall, I thought this book was a dull, painful read with a good ending. 
Im not sure exactly why, but I will probably read the third book. 
Maybe because it doesnt feel right to only read two-thirds of a trilogy. 
Or maybe because Im a glutton for punishment.
Whatever the reason, when Ive built up some tolerance, Ill dive into the third book 
and finish up this overrated (in my opinion) series. 
Rating: **

Has anyone else read these books? If so, what did you think? 


Rating Scale
*****: Amazing, wonderful, MUST-read, loved it!
****: Really liked it, would recommend, great book!
***: Liked it, enjoyable, but not the greatest book ever written. 
**: Not so great, some good parts, but overall, it was just ok. 
*: Didnt like it, wouldnt recommend it, bad book all around.




10 comments:

New Girl on Post said...

I'm like you, I'm a fast reader and the first book took me FOREVER to read. I'm not sure why these books are so popular to be honest. I've read better stories and more well-written books that don't get as much hype as these.

Anonymous said...

I adore the book's. You have to like this kind of genre of book's to really get into it. I am also a rape 'survivor' so for me the book's really spoke out and touched me. The filler material he used can be kinda dry but without all the extra information, none of the stories make sense. You'll enjoy the last book, it's the best of the series. The book's really are great. It's just more on the lines of 'Atlas Shrugged' and "The Fountainhead'… lot's of hype but not a book for every reader.

KAE said...

I too am also a fast reader and these books were not that easy to get through, but for some reason I was determined! I also watched the first movie, which wasn't so bad, but there were subtitles and I find that a bit annoying. I think the movie was better than the book....and I NEVER say that a movie is better than a book!

Pearls and Prosecco said...

I started this book a couple of months ago, and got maybe a quarter of the way through, and honestly haven't come back to it since. I really want to read this book, I'm just having a lot of trouble getting into it. I'm glad to know someone else feels the same, lol.

Nicky said...

I'm glad to hear your comments on this one & the previous one by the same author - although I've seen these books in bookstores a lot, & they have quite intriguing titles, I've never heard anyone's opinion on them. Now I don't feel intrigued any more!

Julie said...

Someone told me I NEEDED to read this book so I figured why not! As you said though, he uses a lot of large words and numbers mixed in with incredibly boring context. I couldn't get more than a third through it. People keep telling me to keep reading and I will like it, but I don't think a book that has you bored through half of it is really one I want to read and recommend.

Sara @ Life With the Two said...

I almost hated the first book. Like you, I just couldn't get into it. It was so long. And verbose. And ramble-y.

The ending of the first one sucked me in though. And then, since I cared more about Lisbeth during the first book, I adored the next two.

But that could also be because I hate not knowing how things end. I read the last two pretty quick because I NEEDED to know what happened.

Then again, this is the same trait that makes it almost impossible to watch TV shows on TV. I'd rather buy the whole season and watch it all in a few days. I have no patience.

Samantha said...

I wanted to read those books, but I don't think I will be able to get into them :/

Anonymous said...

I read all of the books and enjoyed them--so much so that I then went and found the Swedish version movies on Netflix. But, I do understand why people don't like them. I think they got so overhyped that people just expected a really different experience from reading them.

Unknown said...

I hate it when a book disappoints me...