The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest

By Stieg Larsson

This is the third and, sadly, the final book of the Lisbeth Salander books. With these books, once you get into them, you devour them and it is a total bummer that Larsson’s life was cut short before he had a chance to complete his planned-out 10 book series.

This book starts out in the midst of action, immediately where The Girl Who Played with Fire left off.

I could repeat the same things about Larsson’s style and his INSANE amount of details, but I would think you’ve gotten my point by now (if not, read the other reviews). It’s annoying and in this book, the issue is more about repeating the same information over and over again- each time with different characters telling the same story to someone else. I get it. For the love of god, I GET IT. More than any of the others, there are so many names and it is unbelievably difficult to keep them straight when they all sound the same and are spelled almost exactly the same save for a random umlaut.

Interestingly, with the other two books, you have to weed out the side-story and basically ignore it but with this one, the main plot (the political cover-up) is far less interesting than Salander’s sections. Normally, I don’t bother with Berger’s sections, but hers were almost more compelling than the rest of the book- I couldn’t wait to hear what was going to happen next with her hostile new coworkers and the mystery stalker.

I got really sick of Blomqvist in this one. He bangs someone new in every book and it is so pointless to the plot- especially when you look at the actor in the movie, whose face is now locked in my mind, who is not that attractive so I don’t get it- but that’s besides the point. And, like with the first book, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest has an exciting plot that kept me on the edge of my seat but then randomly ends with a boring and out-of-nowhere story about an accountant and a trip to Portugal. I don’t get it.

This book ends with Salandar in a way that will forever make me wonder where Stieg was going to take her. She seems on the brink of a huge transition in her life- not to mention the open holes of her sister, the continued trials, and where the overall story was bound to go. I feel cheated- like I did with My So-Called Life (which ended on a tense note after one season and I will forever wonder if Angela and Brian were going to get together) although, obviously, these circumstances are far more tragic.

I recommend the series wholeheartedly- with full understanding that you will finish them feeling a little annoyed at all you had to skim and ignore and that it will not end satisfactorily. You can’t help but turn the last page and be very aware that this was not the ending Larsson had intended.