In this article I'll talk about my journey reading The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo saga, and why it took me so long to finish! Please note that there are some spoilers ahead.
The Controversial Movie
When I was a freshman in university, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo movie came out. I had no idea what the movie was about, and at that time I wasn't interested in the books at all. But I went to see the movie with my sister because she asked me to. I like going to the movies, so any trip for me is going to be great. Boy was I in for a surprise.
Again, I went into this movie not knowing a thing. I knew Daniel Craig was in it, and some creepy looking girl. I also knew that it looked to be a mystery, but I didn't Google the story or anything. I was actually in shock, horrifying shock when I saw what took place on screen. It was the first, and I think only, time that I had seen a RAPE depicted on screen. It's not something that I would ever want to see again. It was all too real, and from then on, I felt completely uncomfortable watching the movie. I WAS with my sister, so that didn't help matters much, but I was disgusted. Needless to say, I never watched that particular movie again. Although, I did end up liking the story. I heard that they would be making a sequel sometime soon. That was in the year 2011 or so. As we know, that never came to light. My sister who was actually the one interested in the stories, told me that the Swedish movie versions were better. Therefore, Hollywood scraped the other movies. That was okay for me, I didn't think too much about it.
The Beginning of My Reading Journey
Fast forward to last year. I was living in the Philippines with my husband, and needless to say, I was extremely bored. I was living in Cebu, and yes, it does have a beautiful ocean, we lived about an hour away from the ocean, in the city. Other than the ocean, the only thing we could do, on a daily basis, was go to the mall. At the mall there were of course restaurants, a movie theater, Starbucks, and bookstores. I love going to the movies don't get me wrong, but we couldn't ALWAYS go. So, therefore I had to find a different hobby... Besides being on my phone all day LOL. One great thing for me, about the Philippines, is that they have big bookstores. Not only are their bookstores big, but they have a ton of books in English. Of course, because it is their second language. I was so so so happy!! I started to read a lot, the way I used to when I was younger. Before I read The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, I had read a lot of books! However, I was reading them much too quickly. I thought I should get a much thicker book so that it will take me longer to read. I decided to start from the beginning, the first book in the series. Even though I had already watched the movie and knew how it would end. Al though, I hadn't seen the movie in years. I had forgotten most of the story, and of course movies leave out a lot of the story.
The First Book: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
I couldn't believe how GOOD the story was! I couldn't stop reading. The book is long, but I finished it in about a week. The ending was different than the movie. It all ended pretty well in the book, but I must say that I'm a sucker for happy endings. I didn't think justice was served well in the book, as compared to the movie. So that was the one bad thing that I have to say about it. BUT everything was amazing. The way the mystery pulled together was fantastic, and I grew to love Lisabeth. She really is an empathetic character.
The Second Book: The Girl Who Played With Fire
This book, THIS BOOK is where I a hit a bit of a snag, and it's my own fault. I bought this book while I was still living in the Philippines. However, we were soon leaving. I didn't want to read too much because I thought I would need to read it on the plane, or when I got bored back in Japan. First off, I looked at the third book to see what the name was. I found it. Let me warn you, if you HAVE NOT finished the second book, don't look up the third. I only read the first line of the Amazon page, and BAM!!! IT SPOILED THE ENDING OF THE SECOND BOOK FOR ME!! I was so so sad, and shocked!!! I think that was the first reason that it took me so long to read it. Secondly, when I got back to Japan, I was anything but bored. I was busy busy busy. Living with my husband's parents was no stroll in the park for me. I also had the added task of looking for a job.
How I FINALLY Finished, After More Than One Year
I HAVE been reading, but I've admittingly been reading other stories. There's a library near my house that has an English section, so instead I've been reading those books. Right now, it's December. I finished The Girl Who Played With Fire only last night! I am on break from work, so I had time. I was tired of looking at a screen all day, so I decided that I would try to read the book. IT WAS SO GOOD!! I'm sad that I waited that long to finish! The story is so much more than Lisabeth got shot in the head. There are more twists and turns than I could have ever imagined. I read more than one hundred pages last night alone, just to finish the book.
Now I am FINALLY on the last book. I was going to order a real copy so that I could read it. However, everywhere I looked said that it would arrive anywhere from January through to February!!! I couldn't wait that long, so I just got a digital copy. I know this story will end with a bang, and I can't wait to go along for the journey.
If you haven't read the book, please do!
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