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The second entry to the "Millennium" trilogy is a shadow of the first book. The first book was more of a detective novel focusing on intrigues and clues, and it was the non-stop element of surprises that made it such a good read. However, the second book focuses mainly on telling Salander's history and the element of surprises rooted from twist and turns of the plot that at times did not make much sense nor relevance. It is not to say that the book was poor, as Larsson's ability to write was evident throughout, its just that what made the writing special from the first book, such as the description of Salander was continued in the second book that I no longer felt necessary nor exciting. Right from the beginning of the puzzle, us readers know that our beloved Salander did not commit the crimes, so the book really relies on the sense of dramatic irony to force the story forward, however, it feels as if to make the story interesting, Larsson had to conjure up really ambiguous and non-probable plots that really discredited the story (Such as the sudden emergence of the boxer).
Again, there is a sub-plot to the second book that did not tie in with the second half, I suspect like the first book, it will be explained in the third entry, and I cannot wait to find out what will happen.
All-in-all, The Girl Who Played with Fire is a solid book, but I expected much more as a sequel to the amazing first book that I simply could not put down. This was not what I had expected. |
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