Book Review: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest

It's over. I finished the last of the Stieg Larsson Millennium trilogy. I'm not going to lie, I'm pretty sad that it's over. I'm going to really miss Mikael Blomkvist & Lisbeth Salander.

Here's the Amazon review:

As the finale to Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest is not content to merely match the adrenaline-charged pace that made international bestsellers out of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and The Girl Who Played with Fire. Instead, it roars with an explosive storyline that blows the doors off the series and announces that the very best has been saved for last. A familiar evil lies in wait for Lisbeth Salander, but this time, she must do more than confront the miscreants of her past; she must destroy them. Much to her chagrin, survival requires her to place a great deal of faith in journalist Mikael Blomkvist and trust his judgment when the stakes are highest. To reveal more of the plot would be criminal, as Larsson's mastery of the unexpected is why millions have fallen hard for his work. But rest assured that the odds are again stacked, the challenges personal, and the action fraught with neck-snapping revelations in this snarling conclusion to a thrilling triad. This closing chapter to The Girl's pursuit of justice is guaranteed to leave readers both satisfied and saddened once the final page has been turned.

Like the first two books, this one also has a lot of heavy background information that's hard to get through, as well as a plethora of Swedish names that you won't be able to keep straight. Also, there's not as much Lisbeth in this book as there is in the others. That was hard for me because she's what draws me in. Surprisingly, Erica Berger plays a big role in the book & I found I really like her character. Actually, I found myself drawn to most, if not all, of the female characters in this book.

The end justifies the means, but this was the hardest book of the three for me. There's A LOT of new information presented in this book & a lot of new characters. It was hard to keep them straight & it was hard to read, at least the first half. But like I said, it was all worth it in the end. The ending was so good, I forgot how much trouble I had in the beginning.

I daresay these three books are some of the best books I've ever read. You feel such a sense of accomplishment having read all three because they are hard to get through, especially for an unseasoned reader, but my god are they worth it. Highly, highly recommend reading these books.

Because I'm now obsessed with the story of Stieg Larsson & whether or not his fourth book will be published, I've been doing a lot of internet research/reading. Here is a NYT article that's well worth the read if you have time.

The Afterlife of Stieg Larsson

Lastly, the Swedish version of these films have been playing at The Belcourt, but now American/English versions are being made (of course they are). They're being directed by David Fincher (Fight Club) & are said to possibly star Daniel Craig as Mikael Blomkvist. My friend Marianne & I have been debating who should play Lisbeth in the English films. We both think no one else can play her as well as the Swedish actress, but there are rumors that it will be either Kristen Stewart, Natalie Portman or Scarlett Johansson. We've also decided if it's Kristen Stewart, we'll protest by not seeing the films. To be continued....