Example badass motherfucking chick (Noomi Rapace)
I can't tell you exactly what Lisbeth Salander does, because somehow that would diminish the sickening joy you feel when she performs some of her badass antics. They're just too ball-crushing. I can tell you, however, that she rejects normalcy and patriarchal society in pursuit of a strictly reclusive, secretive lifestyle. She also doesn't let anyone influence her personal morals. And she rides a motorcycle. Naturally, I find myself increasingly infatuated.
Okay enough Salander appreciation. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is a mystery/thriller novel (and a recently-released movie, but everyone knows you should read the book first). Anyway, journalist Mikael Blomkvist is framed and convicted of libel early in the story. Soon Blomkvist finds himself involved in an investigation of a gruesome series of murders and a missing girl. Cue Salander, who teams up with Blomkvist to kick butt and take names. Oh yeah. But that's all imma tell you.
Throughout the book, the plot does everything imaginable: it thickens, it twists and turns, and it spirals down an ever-darkening tunnel of ultimate doom, rendering readers mildly incapable of muscle movement. Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating. But not really. Read it. Read it now.
Alas, the mysterious past of the girl with the dragon tattoo cannot be contained in one volume. Thankfully, Stieg Larsson wrote three badass books before he died in 2004, all of which have since been published in English.
Believe me when I say that this book is captivating, masterfully paced, sometimes poorly translated from its original Swedish, intelligent and suspenseful. AND SUSPENSEFUL! It will leave you off the edge of your seat, squirming on the floor. In fact, I'm still there now.
