I couldn't stop reading this book and think I completed it in record time. And yet it barely made four stars for me. You can basically separate the books into three parts: pre-Vanger, Vanger investigation, post-Vanger.

The first part is ridiculously boring, it's almost as if Stieg Larsson went out of his way to make the financial stuff as boring as possibly could be. The second part is when the protagonist moves to Hedeby, and it is here where things get intriguing, utterly fascinating to read. If the book had ended after the huge reveal, I might have given this another star. But no, it goes on, and the author ends what he started in the first part, with the libel stuff. A lot of time is spent on this stuff, so I don't know, maybe it's just a lot of exposition for the other two books in the series. I don't know. The last 15% of the book were tough to read.

This book should however come with a big warning sticker. It starts with dry financial stuff and then dramatically hits you with graphic, sexual violence in the face. This book should have written trigger warning all over it. If you can deal with that, and face the horrors that humanity is capable of, then by all means, go read it.