The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest picks up exactly where the previous book ended, and I don't want to spoil anything for those who may not have read the first two Millennium books, so let's just say that Lisbeth Salander is in all kinds of trouble and her resources are very limited. To avoid spoilers, I won't say much else about the plot other than the fact that it didn't follow the same pattern as the first two (50-100 pages of background/setup then BOOM! BOOM! Non -stop action!). The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest felt much slower to me, but still engaging and entertaining nonetheless. In this book, we are introduced to quite a few new characters as well, which, as I mentioned in my post for The Girl Who Played With Fire, can be difficult to keep track of if you don't speak Swedish.
I personally did not enjoy this book as much as the first two. It wasn't nearly as creative or well-written, and the story felt very choppy at times. But still, it is the final piece of the Millennium Trilogy, and I find the Lisbeth Salander story to be incredibly entertaining. Unfortunately, Stieg Larsson passed away before he could complete any more novels, and though I've heard rumors of a fourth manuscript, thus far none have been confirmed. Either way, through the character of Lisbeth Salander and her loyal friend, Mikael Blomkvist, Stieg Larsson has left an unforgettable literary legacy for the world. He was brave enough to breach the controversial and often taboo subject of sexual violence, bringing international awareness to the issue of brutal and sadistic crimes against women. And for this fortitude, I will forever applaud him.
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