Sam Strives For 55 - Week 27

Here is week 27 of Sam's reading journey, the metrics and first week can be found here

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest(Millennium #3)by Stieg Larsson, Reg Keeland (Translator)
 

1. Intrigue:
   1. Don’t read this book if you haven’t read the second one of the series. While you could infer much from the first novel and therefore read the second one without having even picked up The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo, you can’t do that with the third installment of Millennium. 
   2. However, if you have read The Girl who Played with Fire then chances are you already want to read this book. It’s excellent crime-fiction. It’s excellent fiction. 
2. Writing Style:
   1. Beautiful sentences still abound in this book. The translation is excellent. It’s never too on the nose. You really cannot complain about Larsson’s prose or Keeland’s translations. Only, in this case,  the plot structure (more to come).
   2. Juicy quote: 
      1. “Nobody can avoid falling in love. They might want to deny it, but friendship is probably the most common form of love.”
3. Flow of storytelling:
   1. The best and coolest part of this book is that Lisbeth Salander, the girl from this series titles, gets to shrug off the victim complex that Larsson has given her. She doesn’t wait for something to happen, she happens. The rest of the book is fine. All the parts with journalist Mikael Blomkvist - the other protagonist of this series - feel well within character, but a bit boring. It’s not formulaic, but it’s almost there. 
4. Re-readability:
   1. The other books feel extremely re-readable. This one, less so. It comes down to the fact that the book feels more predictable than any of the others. 
5. T.E.S.S.
   1. Does not qualify.
   2. 
      

Final rating: ★★★ = Give it a go. It’s good! It didn’t quite make it into the For Sure Absolutely Read This category, but hey, it’s all subjective. ​

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​J. Sam Williams is an illustrious black-tailed hawk, longing to eat as many vegan mice as possible. In his human form, he is a High School English Teacher in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he lives with his wife, one dog and two cats. A somewhat retired breakdancing teacher, he is now a co-host on the Alohomora Podcast! He has been published on Lunch Ticket, immix: a journal for justice, Mugglenet, and a slew of small sports journalism publications. You can find him on twitter @Jabbernator.