Reviews with content warning for Infidelity - Outlander

This is wonderful.
Everything about this is extraordinary: the characters, the plot, the writing, the pacing, the atmosphere and ambiance...
Diana Gabaldon wrote a masrerpiece and I adore her for it.
(However, having watched the Starz series and now read the 1st book, I will not recommend it to anyone because I know it is not a book and a story for everyone)
I am very excited to read the rest of the series and dive even deeper in the Outlander Universe !

Content Warnings

bree_h_reads's review against another edition

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If I had finished the book I think it would have been 2-2.5 stars. There was a lot about the book I enjoyed and thought was well-written, but overall it didn’t appeal to me and didn’t keep my interest.

I was often bored and found it hard to focus on the book. There was also the issue of the book’s SA. It felt over done and like it was for shock value. There was just something odd about it and how often it was used. Like it was unrealistically being used for realism. The book’s men also made me uncomfortable overall. A mix of the struggle between overplaying the sexism of the time AND when the book was written. Even when male characters were meant to be likeable, I just found myself untrusting of them. The spicy in the book also felt a little odd, though it’s not as bad as the other issues.

That isn’t to say the book lacked merits.

The narrator herself was excellent. Her voice was very well-suited to the story and Claire. She also did an excellent job with the character voices. They were all well-acted and distinct. I also appreciated how much research it seemed was done for Claire’s medical knowledge. There was a distinct sense the author really understood what Claire would know and had access to after time travelling. Despite many of the men making me uncomfortable, I really liked the other characters. They all felt complex and unique. I found it interesting to sort out their struggles and secrets.

Overall I do see the appeal of these books and why people enjoy them, they just aren’t for me.

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callie_pearce's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

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katmystery's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

This book barely passes the Bechdel test. For something literally narrated by a woman, that is pretty bad.

For the first 40%, this was an engaging historical fic, albeit a bit slow, about a witty former WWII army nurse who finds herself brought back in time to 1740s Scotland. Then, when the romance plot started, suddenly it was all about her 18th century love interest, a character who Gabaldon endlessly romanticized despite his highly abusive and controlling behavior. When I wasn’t horrified by Jamie, I was bored by hundreds upon hundreds of pages of conversations and events that added nothing to the plot or character development, and I quickly grew to be so irritated by the narrator that I just wanted it to end. In addition to all of this, all the women who are sexually assaulted in this book (and there are a lot) are blamed for the assault, and the so-called “feminist” narrator does this, too. She’s barely more progressive than people from the 1700s; for half the book, she doesn’t care about anything but the abusive love interest.

I only finished this because of the sunk cost fallacy. 2 stars for the historical aspects, which were well done.

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dev921's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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outofthepinksky's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional tense slow-paced

4.0

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deutschemausi's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Spoilers for sure!

This book is excellently written but damn it’s so long 😂

I was a tad bit bored at first but I’d say about a quarter of the way through I was all ears. It does get a bit repetitive every once in awhile but that reqlly isn’t a biggie.

My biggest issue was the god damn treatment of women. I know that’s how it was back Then but it’s still incredibly difficult to read.

I really liked Jaime at first I was so hoping he would be that one guy that was a decent human being and I know it’s an unpopular opinion but he’s a piece of shit. Sorry he really is,

there’s things he does that he says he’s obligated to do or wants to have sex with her where he does not care about her decision, regardless if she ends up enjoying herself or forgiving him does not MAKE THIS OK. gah.

Also beating Claire so bad that she herself says within an inch of her life just because she disobeys him (which almost led to her own brutal rape yet again so I’m sure she learned her lesson either way)?! And then forgives him the next day??? What is that?! No matter what time point this is, Claire herself is from a future where this isn’t ok and although in her time point violence against women is still a little more prominent then it is today she still knows it’s not acceptable behavior. So why is she forgiving him the day after?

I do not believe all the defenses of oh it was “spanking”. Spanking and beating someone so bad they can’t do anything more then lay down for several days are two very different things.

It says and I quote “Gentle he would be, denied he would not.”

That’s rape. And it maybe wouldn’t bother me as much if

a. This kinda shit didn’t happen all the damn time in the past and still happens today

b. This book and show is so god damned popular and Jaime is seen as an amazing partner and husband and person!

He’s not and he’s scum and I hate that he’s defended. I will not do it.

And the absolute normalization of molestation and rape is appalling for both men and women.

Given that this book is a representation of the past I can live with that. I think my biggest issue here is that people in today’s world defend him. That’s where my true issue lies.

And I’m sorry he was raped too but just because a rapist is raped doesn’t forgive the rapes they’ve done themselves.

I just don’t get.

Now saying all that and obviously I didn’t enjoy those parts of the book but it is amazingly written which is why I gave it a higher rating. This writing is impeccable and I don’t think I’ve ever read a book that I can dislike and enjoy at the same time. Gabaldon is a true storyteller and an amazing writer.

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taylor_perry's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

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