Book review: Girl with the dragon tattoo

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson


My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Forty years ago, Harriet Vanger disappeared from a family gathering on the island owned and inhabited by the powerful Vanger clan. Her body was never found, yet her uncle is convinced it was murder - and that the killer is a member of his own tightly knit but dysfunctional family. He employs disgraced financial journalist Mikael Blomkvist and the tattooed, truculent computer hacker Lisbeth Salander to investigate. When the pair link Harriet's disappearance to a number of grotesque murders from forty years ago, they begin to unravel a dark and appalling family history. But the Vangers are a secretive clan, and Blomkvist and Salander are about to find out just how far they are prepared to go to protect themselves.



I was leant this book and thought I'd jump on the hyped up band wagon and give it a go. Honestly, I can't say I enjoyed it. It took almost half the book to introduce the characters and their background and to get going with the action. Some would say it was just on a slow burn but for me there has to be some excitement or action quite early on to hold my attention.



Before the action unravelled I could see the kind of direction it was going to go - Harriet was in fact not dead - it was hinted at rather blantantly for me.



While the writing was indeed intricate, I found it full of cliches and just too graphic - it left nothing to the imagination when it came to the crimes committed. Unfortunately this won't be a series I'll be continuing with, it just didn't hold up to the hype for me.



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