Hello beautiful people! Welcome to a new review! For this review, I get into the second Millennium book by Stieg Larsson, The Girl Who Played With Fire. Set some time after the first book, Lisbeth and Mikael are brought back together by a conspiracy to destroy Lisbeth, set by someone unknown. On the run, Lisbeth must protect herself as she always has, but with less on her side this time around.
Main Characters:
Lisbeth Salander – Still one of the most compelling characters ever, but this book is hard when it comes to her. After everything she went through in the first book, seeing her put in this position is frustrating and, honestly, kind of heartbreaking. She’s constantly misunderstood, and while she is capable of violence, it’s always rooted in what’s been done to her. This book digs more into who she is, but not all of it feels necessary.
Mikael Blomkvist – Steady as always. His connection to Lisbeth adds a lot to the story, especially emotionally. There’s distance, tension, and unspoken care between them that really comes through, even when they’re not directly together.
My Review
I really enjoyed the first book, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, and while it took me a very long time to get into the second one, I both enjoyed and didn’t at the same time. Overall, it is not a bad book and is just as well-written and plot-driven as the first book. However, the direction in this one just wasn’t as enjoyable for me, and overall, I felt like the story dragged on more and had a different pace and feel than what I was hoping for. I ended up rating The Girl Who Played With Fire a 6.5/10, not terrible overall, but just not something I would go out of my way to check out again. I do still want to read the third book, though and am curious if it’s similar in pace and style to this one.
In The Girl Who Played With Fire, a journalist and his partner are murdered while investigating a major sex trafficking operation, the evidence quickly points to Lisbeth Salander as the prime suspect. As the case unfolds, Lisbeth goes on the run, forced to navigate a system already stacked against her. At the same time, Mikael Blomkvist works to uncover the truth, convinced that Lisbeth is being framed. The deeper the investigation goes, the more it reveals about Lisbeth’s past, exposing long-buried secrets that connect to powerful people determined to keep them hidden.
I really struggled with how to rate this one, because on one hand, it’s a good book. On the other hand, it just didn’t hit the same way the first one did.
I think a big part of that comes down to Lisbeth. After everything she endured in the first book, it’s genuinely tough to watch her be put into another horrific situation, especially one where she’s being painted as something she’s not. There’s a level of frustration that comes with that, because as a reader, you understand her. You know why she is the way she is. But the world around her doesn’t, and it makes the whole experience feel heavier. That emotional weight is strong, but it also makes the book harder to enjoy in the same way.
I did really like how her relationship with Mikael was handled, though. There’s distance and pain there, but also this underlying care that never really goes away. It adds a quiet emotional layer to the story that I appreciated.
The mystery itself is interesting, especially with the investigative angle and the larger system at play, but compared to the first book, it just didn’t grip me as much. It’s more about unravelling layers of Lisbeth’s past and exposing corruption than delivering a super tight, central mystery, which may work for some readers, but for me, it felt a bit less engaging.
And while I did enjoy getting more insight into Lisbeth as a character, I also feel like parts of it dragged. Some sections felt like they slowed the pacing down rather than adding to it, and I found myself wanting things to move along a bit quicker. The pacing overall is fine, it’s steady, and it keeps things moving, but I definitely missed the sharper, more gripping momentum of the first book.
I think this is one of those sequels that expands the world and the character more than it delivers that same punch as the original. It’s deeper in some ways, but not as tight or as impactful.
Overall, I still think it’s worth reading, especially if you’re invested in Lisbeth and her story. It adds important layers to who she is and what she’s been through, but for me, it just didn’t have that same bite that made the first book so unforgettable.
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