Review: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest by Stieg Larsson

What really is there left to be said about this trilogy that hasn't been said over and over? It became a world-wide phenomenon and for good reason. I was a late comer to the scene, though, because I don't normally read this type of crime novel and I'll be honest, I was a bit intimidated by the books at first. OK, I said it. It's out there! But once I picked up THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO  and began reading, I couldn't stop. Truthfully, that first book was a tough one to get through with all its character development and background information, but I felt the payoff was well worth it. I know many of you didn't feel the same way.But I immediately went into THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE and I loved it even more. There was much less detail and background and more of just a great crime story. Now we get to THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNETS NEST....

My Thoughts

I loved the way this last book took off right from the ending of the second book. It didn't skip a beat. And in my opinion, it just got better and better. As usual with these books, there were a lot of characters to keep track of, especially with the realization of a secret society within the police operating under some very lethal people with many secrets to hide that would do anything to keep those secrets hidden. This was political intrigue at its finest. For me, this was not a book that you could just whiz through. I read each page intently so I could keep those characters straight in my mind and my reading experience was better for it.

I appreciated that Lisbeth Salander was in a guarded hospital room under arrest for much of the story but with the help of Mikael Blomkvist, she still managed to fight for herself and use her computer skills and contacts to expose those who were trying to do her harm. This book brought together everything we'd learned about Salander and her horrific past and answered all of the questions the first two books raised.

I was very satisfied with the ending of the book albeit a bit sad as well. I was so wrapped up those characters for so long I hated to see their story end. Stieg Larsson was definitely a wonderfully gifted writer and it is a shame he died so young and was unable to continue with more great stories.

I highly recommend this entire trilogy if you haven't read it. No one is more surprised than myself at how much I enjoyed it. And if you've read the first book and had trouble finishing it, please don't let that deter you from reading the next two books. They do get better.  

THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNETS NEST
Author: Stieg Larsson
Publisher: Knopf
Published: May 2010
Printed Pages: 576
Rating: 5 Stars out of 5