Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

102 reviews

kb33's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious slow-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.5

This would be a 5 star read if it weren’t for the homophobia by the author and some of the other things that were more common in romance books written around the same time as this (originally published in ‘91 I think). Two men in the book are supposedly gay. One is a pedophile/rapist and barely has a part in the book, and the other is a torturer/rapist and does have a bigger part in the book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gun violence, Rape, and War

Minor: Body shaming, Chronic illness, Infertility, Pedophilia, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Colonisation

mykingdomforabookworthreading's review against another edition

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Infertility, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

bree_h_reads's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Infertility and Infidelity

katmystery's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Medical content, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Homophobia

Minor: Pedophilia

frantically's review against another edition

adventurous emotional slow-paced

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

4.0

If by this point you haven't heard of Outlander, you've been living under a rock. I'm not going to add anything meaningful in my review here that hasn't been said before.

I really enjoyed this! I listened to it as an audiobook and the parts that would've probably been tedious in book form still worked well that way. I'm up to season 5? 6? now and I really just wanted to go back to the Claire and Jamie of season 1 for some time <3

I took multiple breaks and listened to whole other audiobooks during this and I think that's how I didn't end up hating it 🙈 It is very long (obviously) but it is also very good. The writing is excellent and Claire is such a good main character.

Would recommend, even if you've already watched the series :) I still enjoyed it a lot

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Medical content, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Rape, Sexual violence, and War

Minor: Animal death, Child death, Death, Grief, Abortion, and Death of parent

outofthepinksky's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional tense slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Vomit, Grief, and Classism

Minor: Child death, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Hate crime, Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping, Abortion, and Death of parent

sejw's review against another edition

adventurous emotional slow-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Medical content and Pregnancy

deutschemausi's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

d_wass17's review against another edition

adventurous emotional slow-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

I spoiled myself watching the first few seasons of the tv adaption first but enjoyed the book! Took me AWHILE to get through as a buffer book/put it down for a few months but glad I picked it back up. Very similar to the show, a bit less saucy though :/ Definitely great for those who enjoy historical fiction (1740s UK) and a good intro for newcomer fantasy people! And now mentally planning a trip to Scotland!

Planning to read the second book in the series to follow Claire and Jamie in France, stay tuned!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, and Murder

marysea's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail