I loved it! Like with The Hunger Games trilogy, I liked all three books and found none of it boring. In fact, I thought books 2 and 3 were a much quicker read than book 1.
This was a story with so many layers - so much going on with so many groups of people. As I was reading I kept envisioning the author using a HUGE whiteboard displaying all of his characters and their storylines. It's a shame that Stieg Larsson died because he has an impressive mind. His cast of characters was amazing. With that being said, the sheer number of characters - most of them with Swedish names - made if difficult to remember them all. Fortunately, that didn't detract from the story too much.
Where to start? I thought it was interesting that the two main characters never saw each other until the last page of the book. They are a great team, but I'm so glad Lisbeth got over her "crush" on Mikael. She was too young and uniquely vulnerable for him. Lisbeth seemed to finally be "growing up" in this third book. She finally acknowledges that she had a lot of help to get her out of her situation - some of which she brought on herself. She is finally starting to develop trust in people (Mikael, Giannini, Dr. Jonasson, and of course Palmgren). I liked how she helped Berger out, even though she couldn't stand her. All signs of growing up. She finally seemed to be accepting that she didn't have to let her past define who she is in the present - or future.
Mikael also seemed to be "growing up" a bit. Finally. I am happy that he broke things off with Berger (finally) in order to give things a try with Figuerola - although I don't trust Berger as far as I could throw her. She needs to leave Mikael alone!! And speaking of Berger, she was always one of my least favorite main characters because she appears so selfish and self-absorbed. I actually did like her story in this third book though. She had some difficult choices to make and proved herself up to the task. I am glad that she went ahead and exposed her boss. Nothing like taking down the establishment - which is really what this trilogy is about.
One of my favorite scenes was the court scene with Giannini and Dr. Teleborian. It was extremely satisfying to watch Giannini and Lisbeth bring this arrogant, controlling jerk to his knees. And speaking of horrible people, then there was Lisbeth's half-brother Niedermann, who I simply forgot about until Lisbeth runs into him at the brickworks building! This was "loose end" that the author tied up that I had completely forgotten about.
This trilogy closed some storylines - mainly taking down "The Section" and getting rid of some truly awful people like Zalachenko and Bjurman - but left a lot open to the unknown. One thing that I have wondered about for a long time is Camilla Salander. What happened to her? Was this mentioned in the first book? She is referred to in all three books but we never "meet" her. Weird.
Anyway, I guess we won't be reading any more from this author, but I really liked what he did write. I'm looking forward to the next two movies!
Wendy's Rating: *****
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