Considering all the school work, actual work, and other things I’ve had to do in the past few weeks, I haven’t really had much time for reading. This makes me sad. There are a lot of books that I want to read…and school is getting in the way. I can’t wait until winter break so I can catch up on some of my reading.
Anyway, I just finished The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson. Oh my goodness. Once the action started in this book, I just didn’t want to put it down! The whole time Blomkvist and the others are trying to figure out the main crime in the novel, you’re just as perplexed as them. And the way Larsson slowly gives you bits and pieces of information….it just makes you want to keep reading until you’re done. Not really a good book to read when you only have a little time here and there to read. This is definitely a book that I would want to just sit down and read the whole thing in one sitting. Alas, there are very few people who have time like this, so we’ll just have to live with reading it in bits and pieces.
So this books continues the story of Lisbeth Salander, as well as Blomkvist. They’re still the two main characters of the novel, but there are plenty of others introduced. At first, it was a little hard for me to keep track of who was who, but further into the novel I got a hold on what character did what. In The Girl Who Played with Fire, Lisbeth and Blomkvist stumble into another crime, but this time Lisbeth’s own past is brought into it. As Blomkvist tries to steer the blame for the crime away from Lisbeth, Lisbeth delves into her past, trying to figure out who is responsible for the murders. Meanwhile, her own life is in danger. Will Lisbeth and Blomkvist figure out the answer before it’s too late? You’ll have to read and find out. 🙂
What I like about the way Larsson writes is he always keeps you guessing. At one point in the novel, I thought I had figured out in my head the solution to everything, but it ended up being almost completely wrong. Larsson doesn’t give the reader any information before any of his characters figure it out, but boy, does he give you hints. You get little glimmers of information here and there, and it’s enough to keep you reading. You want to know what all these little hints will eventually lead to, and you don’t want to put the book down until you do figure it out. And of course, the book ends with a little bit of the cliff hanger, and I won’t be able to get the 3rd book until I go home next. Sad face. I want to read it now!
I mentioned in my previous post that I really wanted to learn more about Lisbeth and her background. Well, you definitely get that in this book, and I expect you’ll get even more in the next one, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest. Lisbeth is such an intriguing character, with a very violent and difficult past. Through learning more about her past, you can really see how she became the person she is and why she does the things that she does. We learned so much about her in this novel that I’m not sure what new information could be introduced in the next. But whatever it is, I’m sure it will be something that I didn’t see coming.
There are quite a few new characters introduced into this novel as well, and I don’t remember most of their names. But instead of making them all flat, secondary characters, Larsson gives them backgrounds and depth as well. Maybe not as much as Lisbeth and Blomkvist, but they are by no means flat characters. They add to the story, making all the more interesting and thrilling. If none of these people can figure it out, how are we supposed to as readers? It’s how Larsson keeps you hooked on the novel. He makes the pace so fast, especially in the second half of the novel, that you’re turning pages faster than you can process. This book may be quite a daunting size, but it goes really quickly. And once you get into it, you won’t want to stop until you’re done.
Well, I guess that’s all for now. Until I can get my hands on The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, I will be reading The Help by Kathryn Stockett. I’ve heard good reviews about it, so I hope it proves to be a good book.