The sixth Lisbeth Salander story in the Millennium Series–the crime-fiction phenomenon that has sold more than 90 million copies worldwide.Mikael Blomkvist is trying to reach Lisbeth Salander—the fierce, unstoppable girl with the dragon tattoo. He needs her help unraveling the identity of a man who died with Blomkvist’s phone number in his pocket—a man who does not exist in any official records … in any official records and whose garbled last words hinted at knowledge that would be dangerous to important people. But Lisbeth has disappeared. She’s sold her apartment in Stockholm. She’s gone dark. She’s told no one where she is. And no one is aware that at long last she’s got her primal enemy, her twin sister, Camilla, squarely in her sights. In the end, it will be Blomkvist–in a moment of unimaginable self-sacrifice–who will make it possible for Lisbeth to face the most important battle of her life, and, finally, to put her past to rest.
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The Girl Who Lived Twice was on my must-read summer list. I’ve been a fan of the Millennium series since the original author, Steig Larsson, began writing them. When he passed away and David Lagercrantz took over, I continued reading the novels and was ready for this launch last month.
The first half of the book is much slower than previous ones. There are minimal fight scenes, suspenseful/scary moments, or major dramatic items. There is a lot to build the story before we can understand where the author is going with the big reveals. The second half more than makes up for it when our famous duo find themselves fighting for their lives. No spoilers here, but beware of fire and a sister scorned.
Lisbeth has gone missing. Mikael misses her. A doctor phones Mikael about a dead body, and it intrigues the reporter enough to reach out to Lisbeth despite it seeming like she wants to stay for away from life again. He quickly learns that Lisbeth’s sister, Camilla, is out to kill her over previous sins in the last book. The dead body has no connection to any of them… yet eventually, it all weaves together. From sherpas in Nepal to genealogists all over the world, there are complex layers in this story. Including the super gene, which is based on a reality I hadn’t been aware of!
Unfortunately, this book was missing something for me. I liked it, and I believe its a very good story, but it wasn’t enough to push me above 4 stars. I settled around 3.5, rounding up because it’s well written above anything else. To me, I would’ve liked more connections between all the characters and more detailed chase scenes in the first half. The relationship between Mikael and Lisbeth was weaker than usual, and Mikael’s lust for another woman seemed fake. That said, Lisbeth’s connections with other people were phenomenal. She was true to her character in much of the book, and when we keep revisiting her childhood, it’s always a stronger tale.
If you want the thrills of the early books, you probably will be slightly disappointed. If you love these characters, their adventures will keep you happy. I’m a fan, and I’ll keep reading.
The main character Lisbeth is strong and yet fragile, but ultimately triumps.
I love these books
An excellent story, full of all the Millennium mystery and complex personal relationships we know and love. I greatly enjoy listening to Simon Vance’s vocal performance.
As long as this series keeps going, I will be reading because Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist have simply become part of my life. I had a bit of a problem early on because the Camilla subplot is not my favourite in the series. Let’s just say that I would have handled the matter differently. Also I think my brain was a bit fuzzy at the time, so that didn’t help because THE GIRL WHO LIVED TWICE has one heck of an intricate plot. I think Stieg Larsson would approve of the plot – in many ways, this is a very compelling political thriller – but not necessarily what David Lagercrantz made of Lisbeth and Mikael.
I found a bit bizarre how Mikael’s and Lisbeth’s romantic entanglements were dropped in the story, although it introduced a fascinating character, but it felt awkward. Overall, Mr. Lagercrantz’s writing is excellent, as is George Goulding’s superb translation. The descriptions are stunning and the book is very intense, but I didn’t feel Lisbeth’s actions were entirely true to the character. At least, not how I understand her. Still, it is a gripping story.
Although the book did not quite meet my always too-high expectations when it comes to Millennium, I liked it a lot, but I felt the ending was a little underwhelming. And the fact that life kept interrupting my reading also kept me from fully enjoying the book, but that’s not the author’s fault.
So…I really wanted to like this a lot- A LOT more. Simon Vance made it time well spent. I kept waiting for one of the storylines to really take it there, but that never seemed to happen for me. Again, Simon Vance narrating made it well worth the listen.
Okay, but not up to the level of writing in the original trilogy.
I enjoyed the works of Steig Larsson. I don’t enjoy the half thought out work of David Lagercrantz. He seems to be writing to get a payday carrying on Larsson’s work.
This book was so so, nothing the previous books.
It matched the first three wonderfully.
I have enjoyed all of these books and was really sad to hear this was the last of them. I have knew I was in for a night of nonstop reading when one of these books came out!
not as good as Steig