Stieg Larsson

In the third volume of the Millennium series, Lisbeth Salander lies in critical condition in a Swedish hospital, a bullet in her head. But she's fighting for her life in more ways than one: if and when she recovers, she'll stand trial for three murders. With the help of Mikael Blomkvist, she'll need to identify those in authority who have allowed the vulnerable, like herself, to suffer abuse and violence. And, on her own, she'll seek revenge--against the man who tried to killer her and against the corrupt government institutions that nearly destroyed her life.

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest

While recovering in the hospital, Lisbeth Salander enlists the aid of journalist Mikael Blomkvist to prove her innocent of three murders and identify the corrupt politicians who have allowed her to suffer, and, on her own, Lisbeth plots revenge against the man who tried to kill her. By the best-selling author of The Girl Who Played With Fire.

The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest

C Fernando Maciel 

Very intricate plot. The story really gets the reader's atention.

I enjoyed a lot being with the Millenium Trilogy.

M. Marques

I really wished the author had lived so I could thank him for this wonderful trilogy

Geoffrey Froggatt

This book is very dense, like the others in this series. I recommend the audiobooks for people who want to read this series but can’t get past the writing style. This book picks up directly where the last book left off, but it still took awhile for the plot to really get off the ground. The excessive descriptions were felt even more in this book. The info dumping didn’t stop for the entirety of the book, but it was able to help me visualize a very realistic picture of the characters; they all felt like very real human beings with realistic reactions to the plot going around them. The weird sex stuff returns in this book in full force. This book was too slow for my tastes and the only things that made it enjoyable was the stalker subplot and the ending. I’ll still be reading the rest of the books in the series.

Coleman McCormick

Enjoyed this one a lot more than the others.

Jonathan Tysick

A satisfactory conclusion to the trilogy.

Lacy W

note: I'm doing this review as if it was the end of the series. It's not but there is a new author who I am sure writes different then Stieg Larsson. So for that sake, I'm writing this review as an overall assessment of the series. 

This book was good. Not super great by any means. There were some parts that were just really dull and boring. However, I understood why they were there. Every sentence was needed and nothing was wasted. It provided background information for the trial and Lisbeth's entire life. It didn't stop it from being boring though. I had to read my other book as a breather because I couldn't handle all the information at times. As a someone who loves information in books, that was kind of a problem.

One of my favorite things about this book is Lisbeth. Well she has been my favorite the entire series. But this is the book that Lisbeth finally stops being the victim. For years, she has been subjected to abuse and neglect on so many levels. There were things were done to her that a lot of us couldn't even begin to imagine. I can see why she was so socially stunted and why she hated authority. My heart bleeds for this poor girl. 

Lisbeth took control of her own life and that meant putting herself on the line. She is an incredibly private person so letting people in to help her was a huge challenge for her. Talking MAJOR challenge. She doesn't trust easily and with good reason. It was just so damn refreshing to see Lisbeth gain control of her life. She was finally allowed to do whatever she wanted. 

I still don't know how I feel about Mikael. On one hand I admire his courage and tenacity. He is a social justice warrior but a good one. He simply wants to make sure that the criminals are exposed for the horrible things they do. But on the other hand, he is kind of an ass. He will disappear for weeks at a time and then get all frustrated when people don't get a hold of him when they have news. He worked his employees to the bone. That was just a real problem for me.

I think Mikael is just a little too intense for me. He engages in activities, as a journalist, that puts other people at risk. He doesn't think about those consequences until later when they happen. There is totally nothing wrong with wanting to do what is right but at the same time, he has to think about his employees and how their lives could be at risk. 

If you have started this book and found it to be dull, preserve. The trial of Lisbeth Salander is worth it. Completely and utterly worth it. I won't put it into detail because spoilers but man, I was grinning from ear to ear. 

Overall, I could have easily been happy with the series ending with this book. It had all the closure you could ever want from a triology. However, there are two more books so I'm excited to see what mischief Lisbeth gets into with Mikael. This was a real good series with a great ending. I highly recommend if you can get past the amount of information in this series.

poprika

Arturo Hernández

This episode starts quite slow, however, the courtroom chapters, Erica’s storyline, and Lisbeth’s interventions are what really make this a nice read. I would have preferred to focus the story more on those points in the end. Overall, it was a nice closure for the main trilogy...

Salander is plotting her revenge - against the man who tried to kill her, and against the government institutions that very nearly destroyed her life. But it is not going to be a straightforward campaign. After taking a bullet to the head, Salander is under close supervision in Intensive Care, and is set to face trial for three murders and one attempted murder on her eventual release. With the help of journalist Mikael Blomkvist and his researchers at Millennium magazine, Salander must not only prove her innocence, but identify and denounce the corrupt politicians that have allowed the vulnerable to become victims of abuse and violence. Once a victim herself, Salander is now ready to fight back.

The Girl who Kicked the Hornets' Nest

Gayathri Jinesh

This was one immensely satisfying book. And it wound up the trilogy beautifully. I don't intend on reading the Lagercrantz books. This is where I'd like it to end.

The novel is a continuation of the events of the 2nd book. It's huge, it's detailed yet as described in a blurb on the back cover - it is "to be read in great hungry chunks".

We get to see a lot more of Salander this time. Her interactions with other humans, thoughts running around in her head, her personality, sassy replies and the cool confident demeanour, without being a "perfect person" is my favorite part of the trilogy.

From the beginning till about 80% of the novel, Blomkvist and allies make tactical moves to worthy opponents. Controlling the information flow, with a touch of (totally necessary) paranoia,an insanely motivated group of people on either sides fight to their wits' end that culminates quite eventfully in a court room - a chapter that will give you goosebumps.

I felt this book as an improvement over the last one. Without question, a must-read if you have read the previous two books.

Angela Miramontes

Definitely not as good as the previous books. But, parts were enjoyable. The story just seemed to drag on longer than it needed to.

Fraser Simons

This series is so good at keeping things interesting. Where the first novel was something like modern day cyberpunk and the second was stricter much more like a well paced thriller. The third further switches it up, becoming an amalgamation of spy fiction and court room drama. And it works! This time it centres the Swedish government and conspiracy and is slow moving but comes with the most satisfying pay off of perhaps any trilogy I’ve read.

I think why these books are so compelling is the amount of detail in the chapter-by-date-range format. It creates so much clarity around every aspect of every character—almost all of whom are interesting because of the ways they differ from the average neurotypical, heteronormative citizen or archetype populating these lines of stories. That when there are moments that are contrived there is so much work already down to demonstrate what is established to be true that it’s more than acceptable. In a strange way, any time it is tedious, it’s backing itself up later. And the tedium generally leads to some interesting sub-plots, such as Berger’s stalker problem. 

There is so much more to the books than to the movies, which are still quite good. Very glad I took the time to read them. I’ll continue with the other books too, despite the change in author just because it’s an opportunity to stick with Lisbeth some more.

As "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest" opens, Lisbeth Salander--the heart and soul of Larsson's two previous novels--is under close supervision in the intensive care unit of a provincial Swedish city hospital. And she's fighting for her life in more ways than one: when she's well enough, she'll be taken back to Stockholm to stand trial for a triple murder. With the help of her friend, journalist Mikael Blomkvist, she will have to prove her innocence, and identify and denounce the corrupt politicians who have allowed the vulnerable, like herself, to become victims of abuse and violence. And, on her own, she will plot her revenge--against the man who tried to kill her, and the government institutions that very nearly destroyed her life. Once upon a time, she was a victim. Now, Lisbeth Salander is ready to fight back.

Leigh Osborne

I decided to rate this book 2.5/3.0 Stars as it took awhile for me to get into it. I kind of wished that Lisbeth had a bit more screen time in the last one. I felt as if the sub characters had too much screen time. I'm glad it picked up towards the middle and the end although I will have to say this would be my least favorite in the trilogy.

Swati Raisinghani

Loved the trilogy!! Wish there were more books....

Yesenia Vargas

Definitely recommend. A thrilling and engrossing read. Overall, a great trilogy. There is depth and twists and a satisfying ending. Lisbeth Salander, Mikael Blomvkist, and Erika Berger are memorable, believable, and awesome characters. The plot is unique, detailed, and extremely interesting. The books are really long but worth the time.

Sarah Escorsa

Once I opened this book, I just couldn't put it down and read it in one sitting. I loved the previous instalments in the series but The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets' Nest is definitely my favourite of the three. The book is as well-written and plotted as the previous instalments, what's more, it's even better structured. Lisbeth Salander is my heroine, probably the best and most original female character I ever came across in a book! I'm still wondering how Larsson managed to make a troubled, anti-social, sullen, paranoid, pierced & tattooed computer hacker so attaching, but he certainly did it! What's also surprising is that none of the other characters are superfluous. Every single character depicted in the book is relevant in some way, even if only mentioned in a few lines.

What makes the Millennium books such intelligent, compelling and exciting reading is that they are much more than thrillers. They are feminist and depict strong women who fight and kick back when they are abused or attacked. They are also about sensationalist journalism, abuse of power on an institutional level, politics and ultimately offer fantastic insight into contemporary societies.

As was I nearing the end of The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets' Nest, I felt a growing sadness because I knew there would be no sequel and no other book by Larsson, who passed away in 2004 before the Millennium trilogy was published. It is said that Larsson had planned to make Millennium a ten-book series and that a manuscript of the fourth instalment in the series was found in his laptop after his death. Unfortunately, the public might have to wait for a long time to see it published (if at all), because of the legal battle taking place between Larsson's family and his companion of 30 years, Eva Gabrielsson.

Flavia Louise

I always forget how amazingly crafted and written these books are. I really am very fond of every single one of them but book 1 is definitely my favorite, followed by this one and then book 2. 
4.75 stars.

Michael Friess

The third book of the "Millenium Trilogy". I loved to read all three books and could not put down either of them. I definitely would recommend the trilogy.

Actually I read the e-book version.

I also watched the movies for the trilogy - with German synchronisation and 180 min each. I enjoyed reviving many scenes from the book even though significant parts of the story were left out to fit it into the format.

Melody Izard

I have really been trying to understand why I like these three books. Maybe my opinion is swayed because the author died before they were published. Maybe I’m just intrigued with the image of Stieg delivering these three HUGE volumes to his publisher (very strange to have all three of them written at once) and then collapsing with a heart attack. But whatever the reason, I am willing to forgive clunky dialog (reminds me of exchanges on Dragnet), confusing, unpronounceable names with unfamiliar symbols over the vowels, quick little deviations from the plot to make sure that us foreigners understand the political make-up of Sweden and some unresolved storylines (for god’s sake what about the sister!!!!). 

I finished the book wondering if the author planned to write more about his compact, socially awkward, sexually charged, heavily tattooed heroine. (Spoiler alert) For one thing, Lisbeth is still alive at the end of this book and Blomkvist is about to start up a relationship while just seeming to realize that he can’t live without Berger. But I just have to put my wondering aside and accept that that’s all. And it was the kind of read that makes it worth hefting a 600 page book everywhere you go (no I don’t have a kindle and besides, there is no kindle edition of this book right now.)

Kaitee Tredway

This was my favorite of the trilogy -- granted you can't really read it without reading the first two. I found those to be a bit slow... but it was all building to this book.

In the end, I think the trilogy is worth a read.

Author Rachel Cooper

The book was good, as are the previous ones. It feels a bit unfinished, but you can't really blame the author for that, because he died before the books were published.

Jade Flynn

*4.3 stars 

A really terrific conclusion to the "Millenium" trilogy by Steig Larsson. The real shame is that there won't be any more from this author as a result of his premature death.

The fact is that if you read the first two books in the trilogy, you'll be picking this book up. If you discarded 'The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo' in the first fifty pages, you won't be touching this with a barge-pole. But, I write this for anyone who is considering picking up the first book in the trilogy. Do it. Work hard through those first two hundred or so pages. The pay-off is unbelievable, I promise you. These are three of the most entertaining novels I've read this year and they absolutely deserve the acclaim.

Bryanna Leigh

I'm not too sure how I feel about this one. The story kicks off right after the ending of the second novel, but it seems to go painfully slow. Larsson's writing remains the same, for the most part, but it almost feels rushed at parts. There are plots within that don't quite get finished or not mentioned again. Her sister is still a mystery, unless I missed something. There's what I would call an unnecessary love story in the midst of it all. There were certain things that happened that I wished didn't because I would have felt it would have been more interesting. The story itself goes from dull, to highly interesting, to in between and so on. The ending didn't really feel finished to me. Over all, I did enjoy it enough to be able to finish it. So... I guess that says something? (Better review may come once I'm at a real computer.)

Nope.

I gave it 7 hours on a second go-through of the audiobook after previously starting and stopping last year. It just doesn't have much of any action at this point. Its all talk while Lisbeth sits in a hospital bed and men around her scheme. No thanks.

I ended when someone started talking about some weird conspiracy with toilet making. Really? Just get back to the central plot already, lol. No thanks. The first book was great once you got into it, the second book I think I liked less, but this needed an editor to guide the story better. 🙅🏼‍♀️

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest

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