3.5 because of how slooow the beginning was and how draggy the ending was

5 Stars for the last story alone because I think I just died of happiness

There were some bright spots but overall I was disappointed by this book. Not sure if it was because the stories were so short that I wasn’t able to connect with any of the characters, but I wasn’t blown away by any of the villains at all. Wah wah wahhhhh

OK, so wow. One of the biggest complaints for the first book was how LONG it took for Lisbeth and Mikael to meet, at which point the book became much more enjoyable. For this book, I was getting antsy because again, I was waiting and waiting and thinking... there's no way I'll have to wait until past page 200 for them to meet up again, RIGHT?!. But, HERE I AM, 700 pages later, wondering HOW I made it through the entire book without the two meeting up and not going absolutely insane, yet I'm still excited to read the next book??
There were times I found myself skipping entire paragraphs, even entire pages, because some of the narration is just tortuously slow and frankly, I just didn't care about a lot of it. There are a lot of side characters, it was sometimes hard to keep track. I really like Lisbeth and there were big chunks of the book where I wasn't even sure where she WAS, let alone was able to read things from her perspective.
The ending of this book was significantly better than the first. I felt the first book's ending was drawn out, but for the last 200 pages of this one, my stomach was in knots and I was super anxious, even whisper-screaming at Mikael to PICK UP HIS PHONE and stop being so dumb. I was super shocked by the big plot twist in this one and definitely didn't see it coming.
For at least an hour after I finished, my nerves were still frayed and I was ready to start the third installment (had to wait, real life duties called). Now that Lisbeth has FINALLY (LAST. PAGE.) met with Mikael, here's hoping the next one will pick up right where it left off and not leave me to guess how long I'll have to suffer through pointless narration before the good stuff picks up.

PS) I'm going to try to actually start writing reviews for the books I read! I think it will help me to more accurately express my feelings before giving it a star rating, and also give me an outlet to talk about books that I don't really have irl (side note:if anyone wants to come into my inbox and scream about books they've read, feel free). One down...

So it's apparently too much to ask for any of the books in this series to indulge my desire for more Lisbeth/Mikael interaction, since the two are rarely even in the same room as each other. Really, by the time I hit page 300 I'd given up any hope at all. These books drive me crazy with this refusal for the two main characters to have a conversation face to face.
My complaints for this book were pretty much the same as the second, with me skipping over large chunks of text because I just DID NOT CARE about what was happening. Larsson insists on explaining every. single. detail of things I have absolutely no interest in, so much so that this book probably could've gotten the job done in about 450 pages.
There were some bright spots in this one: I really enjoyed Giannini and it was entertaining to watch her completely destroy the prosecution during Lisbeth's trial. I also really liked Lisbeth's doctor, Jonassen and his take-no-shit attitude. Overall, this series isn't one of my favorites plot-wise, but I have continued on in spite of my complaints mainly because I like Lisbeth so much.
I know now that the next books in the series are written by a different author, so they're bound to have a different style to them. I'm wary and disappointed after reading a couple reviews of Spider's Web, since apparently Lisbeth isn't even in the first half of the book (UGH WHY), and some think the new author isn't up to par with Larsson (not sure how to feel about that since Larsson's writing style is not my favorite) but I'm gonna read it because Claire Foy is gonna be Lisbeth in the movie and I'm really excited for that.

I guess this entire series is fated to receive three stars from me. I enjoy them but I'm not planning on re-reading them again or anything. Mostly I just love Lisbeth so I'm stickin it out.
I enjoyed parts of this book, though it was slow-going and I wasn't really hooked until about 70 percent in. I'm happy that Lagercrantz doesn't seem to write as much pointless, descriptive narrative as Larsson did, but overall the plot was still slow. It KILLS me that the series insists on only allowing Lisbeth and Mikael to communicate over encrypted texts and emails every so often, only to have them finally meet face to face during the last two pages, THEN skipping time at the beginning of the next book only to find out they haven't spoken to each other in MONTHS. I mean, come on.
Reading over some of the other reviews for this book, some people are saying they don't really like Lagercrantz's portrayal of Lisbeth, but I don't really agree. I think her lack of action had more to do with the plot than with the characterization.
The end of the book really picks up though. I was actually considering waiting a while before I started the fifth book but now after reading the last hundred pages I'm going to start now. I'm praying that Mikael and Lisbeth are actually in contact at the beginning of the book, but I've now been fooled by that thought for four books in a row. (I do think Lagercrantz might be a lowkey Lisbeth/Mikael shipper though sooooo here's hoping...)

I’ve almost started reading this book a lot over the last few years. My roommate has had it on the bookshelf for the past year, but I still just hadn’t picked it up. Finally, two weeks ago I saw that the audiobook was available.
I’m so glad I can finally say I’ve read this. I listened to about 90 percent of it on audiobook, which I would really recommend. The voices are great and Minnie’s chapters are even narrated by Octavia Spencer, who I adore.
This is just one of those books that everyone should read in their lifetime & it has great characters that you root for throughout. I’m very excited to watch the movie now that I’ve finished!

My first re-read of this tiny little book and it's as good and heartbreaking as I remember.
I first discovered Anwen on her Tumblr Mythology Mondays, which is one of my favorite things ever, and her storytelling is hilarious and unique. I was super excited when she announced this book and I'm so happy its on my bookshelves. Her writing is really well done and I'm looking forward to reading her other stories that I hear about on her blog!
I was able to analyze everything more closely upon my second read through. The story brings up some interesting points like whether or not Medusa turns people to stone when SHE looks at THEM, or vice versa or both. I think based on small notes in this story that its only the first method, but it's a cool concept to think about.
The story is really beautifully structured. It's super short -like, finish within an hour short- but it's broken into smaller parts that are interspersed with the present day happenings of when Perseus comes to Medusa's cave. Even though it's jumping between different time period and stories it still flows really well.
Ever since I first read this about a year ago, I realize I sympathize with Medusa a lot more than before. I always knew the basics of her myth, but now I really, really like her and I've been looking for more books about her. She really has gotten such a bad rep and is often seen as more of a monster than a victim, which is really unfair.
I can't remember too many Athena myths right now, but from what I do remember and the details I just re-read in this book, I don't really like her. Just this and Arachne are coming to mind, and in both she is a goddess who turns another woman into something monstrous out of jealousy (which I mean, I guess all the gods do that, but ya know. This is the reason that I dislike Hera).
*spoilers!* OK, so the ending didn't hit me as hard as the first read, since I obviously knew before hand, but it still hurt to read. Perseus is an asshole, too. Honestly, how dare he. Such a dick move that it makes me sad. I have a small spot in my heart reserved to hoping that she was able to turn around in time, or maybe he was just polishing his sword or maybe he tripped on his way to her orrrrrr something... no? Really? OK, I'm just gonna cry in the bathroom now, peace out homies!