The Girl Who Played with Fire

Stieg Larsson's second posthumous bestseller, and the sequel to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, follows Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander roughly a year after the investigation of Harriet Vanger's disappearance and the culmination of the Wennerström affair. The novel picks up in the offices of Millenium, where Blomkvist and editor in chief Erika Berger contract Dag Svensson, a freelancer who is hoping to publish an expose on the hidden world of sex trafficking. Although Svensson's article and book are scheduled to be released in May, Dag and his girlfriend Mia are murdered in their apartment shortly before his work can hit store shelves. Blomkvist is traumatized when he is the one who discovers their lifeless bodies, however, he is sent into an even greater state of shock when the fingerprints of Lisbeth Salander are identified on the murder weapon. Bewildered, Blomkvist attempts to track down Salander, who he has not seen or heard from in over a year. Nevertheless, barely twenty-four hours later, the police discover Nils Bjurman, Salander's legal guardian, dead in his bedroom. Salander is immediately considered a prime suspect in a third murder and the police begin a nationwide manhunt for the "psychotic killer." Blomkvist, who is convinced of her innocence, attempts to determine exactly what occurred on the night of Svennson's murder and he eventually develops a secret line of communication with Salander. As the grim chain of events continues, Salander must not only face the dark events that have haunted her childhood, but she must also allow another person into her harrowing world. Together, Blomkvist and Salander must once again team up to solve a murder mystery, however, this time it is one that hits much closer to home.

Although the sequel was certainly riveting and "page-turning," I felt that The Girl Who Played with Fire was not nearly as interesting as The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. The plot was slow moving in comparison with the original, and I found that the same elements I disliked when I read the first book were once again prominent in the second. To begin with, the coincidences that seemed slightly improbable in the original novel, were downright unrealistic in the sequel. (SPOILER ALERT) What are the odds that Salander's father is the same person Dag Svensson is writing about? I felt that the entire novel was set-up on an implausible base of coincidences and fortuities. Additionally, although I enjoyed the fact that the novel was written from a variety of points of view (in third-person), I felt there were too many characters who were involved in the telling of the story. I think the POV's should have been limited to three or four people rather than upward of six or seven. 


On the other hand, there were quite a few elements of the novel that I truly did enjoy. I absolutely love Salander and her headstrong personality. The main reason I picked up the sequel was simply because of her character. Although her dynamic personality is complex, brooding, fascinating, and bold, I truly enjoy Salander because of her power. She is an immensely strong female character, and I think within our society and time, there is a definite need for empowered female characters like her. I also enjoyed the fact that she is not afraid to take action for what she believes in. At the beginning of the novel, in order to avoid Blomkvist, Salander stays on a small Caribbean island for a number of months. During her vacation she comes across a man who pretends to be taking care of "business" during the day, and abuses his wife at night. When a hurricane hits the tiny resort town, the man takes his wife out into the storm in order to kill her. Salander, however, follows them and saves the women's life by hitting her husband over the head. I not only found myself shocked by her actions, but also by the fact that Salander did not even think twice about risking her own life to save someone else's. She braved a dangerous hurricane just to help an abused women, which is another reason why I admire her.


I also liked how Larsson, once again, managed to cryptically weave an important theme into the novel. The theme itself was both significant and powerful, and I believe that it is extremely important for both women and men to take note of. In the first novel the theme was strictly focused on abuse inflicted upon women by men, however the sequel slightly broadened the theme so that it also focused on the varying gender structure among males and females. Because the novel brought in the added sub-plot of the sex trafficking world, it truly added dimension to the idea of women not only being abused by men, but also being used and manipulated against their will. 

Possibly my favorite (or least favorite) element of the novel was the cliffhanger ending! I love the idea of a cliffhanger ending, but in practice they never fail to leave me craving more. Although I felt that the first book was better, I did enjoy The Girl Who Played with Fire. The sequel definitely held its own against the acclaimed original and I would definitely recommend The Girl Who Played with Fire to anyone who read the first book in the Millennium trilogy.