The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

This book blew me away! 

Lisbeth Salander, the lead female character, is one of the most beautifully drawn, exciting, indomitable, and powerful women I have ever read about in a story. She is not just strong, she is also brilliant – as a super-hacker on the internet to boot.

Thankfully there were two sequels as I could read book after book with her in it.  

I love this book (and the others in the series). Lisbeth Salander is most kick-ass autistic woman of all time (closely followed by Saga Noren from the TV series, The Bridge).

I found the storyline absolutely gripping, and awful at the same time. I was angered on Lisbeth’s behalf at the treatment she endures, and cheering at how she wins through in her uniquely autistic, logical way. An autistic hero if ever there was one. A truly great book that I re-read over again.

Powerful descriptive work here that puts you in situ.

It is a dark and mysterious book about a journalist who is asked to look into the disappearance of a rich Swedish industrialist’s niece. I love the complicated plot, which reveals the criminal and social injustices of modern upper society, the story of a young girl (with the tattoo), and the way she was treated by the privileged few.

I thought the characterisation, particularly of the girl, was excellent.

Lisbeth Salander is a fan of justice, and she doesn’t much care how she achieves it. Hacking? Check. Stealing millions of dollars? Check. Nailing a guy’s feet to the floor? Check.

She’s a smart non-conformist who doesn’t need a man to save her, but she forms a love/hate relationship with journalist Mikhail Blomkvist that continues throughout the series. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo layers their complexities on top of an age-old mystery in a twisted plot that keeps you guessing until the end. 

I couldn’t do a list of books under this title without including the epitome of feistiness, Lisbeth Salander.

Anyone who has ever felt put down by men can’t help but admire her style. She refuses to conform, she looks and acts like the maverick she is, and however powerful you are, you wouldn’t want to get on the wrong side of her. She’s a world-class computer hacker with attitude, and when you discover what has happened to her, you can’t help admiring her courage. 

In this book, the first in the Millennium trilogy, Lisbeth joins financial journalist Mikael Blomkvist when… show more.

I devoured Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which centers on Lisbeth Salander, an expert computer hacker and asocial private investigator who is especially hostile towards men who abuse women.

A victim of mental and sexual abuse, Salander delights in exposing and punishing abusers, often in humiliating ways. I found her fascinating, a character with several layers: willful, antisocial, bisexual, violent, intelligent, awkward, angry, and compassionate. She is the victim and the avenger, the freakish outcast and the moral judge, a feminist incarnation of the tough-guy detective, and a critic of corruption and moral bankruptcy.

The novel’s prose is… show more.

For my money, the brilliant but misanthropic Swedish computer hacker Lisbeth Salander is one of mystery fiction’s greatest female protagonists: fiercely independent, tough as nails, set on revenge, beholden to no one.

It’s hard not to stand in awe of Salander in this book and the other two in Larson’s original trilogy (published posthumously after his tragic early death).

The novels, relentlessly portraying Salander’s fights against violent misogyny, government conspiracies, and right-wing movements, feel over the top at times. But watching Salander at work makes them all worthwhile.

There is no way around not adding this book to the list.

You cannot overestimate how much this single crime novel has done for the Nordic Noir genre. If you haven't read it, you probably wonder if it is as good as everyone says. The answer is 'yes'.

The subject is deadly serious: 'Men who hate women,' which is also the original Swedish title. At the same time, you can sense that Larsson had a lot of fun writing the book.

So much fun, in fact, that he penned down ideas that no established writer would consider good writing at… show more.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is a classic Scandi Noir and has played such a huge part in this genre’s development, it had to nab the top spot. From intriguing characters and events to interesting political and social issues, this book manages to combine a missing body, a controversial investigative journalist, and a kick-ass female hacker – how can you go wrong? It’s a must-read and although it can be read as a stand-alone, if you love it, there are two more in the series. 

Lisbeth Salander is, for me, one of the most kick-ass characters in crime mystery fiction and, ever since Stieg Larsson wrote her, clones have been popping up everywhere in books and film. I like that she is seen as a misfit and an outcast, victimised and brutalised by the establishment, who is often misjudged as being stupid, worthless, weak, but who is in fact, acutely intelligent, insightful, and someone not to be messed with—a gutsy fighter who refuses to quit. For me, it's Salander who makes the Millenium trilogy such a dynamic series, and the first time I came across… show more.