Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

352 reviews

adam_z's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

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

2.5

A few years ago Mike's Book Reviews (YouTube) posed the following question: Can a guy enjoy Outlander? He went on to talk about the first season of the television adaptation on Starz, (which I'm not going to get into here), but never really gave an answer about the book. 

My answer to the question is yes - somewhat. I liken Outlander to Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series in the sense that both series have attracted a lot of strong praise and criticism. I come away from Outlander with similar feelings to what I had for Wizard's First Rule (Sword of Truth book 1): It was okay. I enjoyed it somewhat. It wasn't amazing or terrible. There were things I liked, and there were things I didn't like. I get why some people love this book/series, and I also get where much of the criticism comes from as well. If Goodreads allowed half-stars this would sit right in the middle at a 2.5 for me.  

It's hard to classify Outlander - I've seen it called a romance novel, historical fiction, historical romance, historical fantasy... and none of these genre tags really fits quite right if applied individually. I think if I had to pick just one, I'd probably land on putting it in a general historical fiction category, with the caveat that there is a strong romance subplot. Not so strong that it is the dominant theme of the story--first and foremost it's a fish-out-of-water story about an English nurse from the 1940's trying to survive when she is unexpectedly finds herself in 1740's Scotland--but the romance subplot is somewhat more prominent than what I'm used to seeing in the books I typically read.  

For me, the romance element just doesn't land. I really don't really enjoy reading the inner monologues of characters in the throes of the puppy love stage of a relationship. It feels voyeuristic to me. It wasn't terribly sappy/cringy - it's just not what I'm into reading. 

What I DID really enjoy experiencing with Claire (protagonist and sole POV character) was the feeling of newness and discovery of this strange time and culture from centuries past. Talk about history coming to life! There were times where her knowledge of mid-20th century medicine put her in an advantageous position over the methods of the 1740's, but she had much to learn in order to get along in the time she found herself in - things that a mere introductory knowledge of 18th century history couldn't have prepared her for. 

I have nothing against long books in general, and will never shy away from a book based solely on length, but if I'm reading a long book I also expect the author to make the added length worth it. The mass-market paperback edition I have is 850 pages, and I feel like this could have had appx 150 pages worth of content trimmed and been better off for it. 

YMMV

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

ruinstoroots's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

missrissa89's review against another edition

I watched the series, so I thought I’d read the books. I got almost halfway through this and just cannot stand the sexual violence. 
She gets assaulted many times, even by her husband. 
I googled “does the sexual assault in the outlander books end” and found a Reddit thread saying there’s more scenes in the books than in the shows, so I’m out!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Violence

booksnart2023's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring reflective tense slow-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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Torture, Murder, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Grief, and Sexual harassment

fairytales's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

This is a challenging book to rate. I enjoyed most of the characters and the romance but the violence, particularly the sexual violence was both frequent and severe and I found it difficult and upsetting to read

(anything to do with Jonathan Randall in particular, who is one of if not the most  villainous characters I’ve come across in my reading). It’s also challenging to sort out how to apply historical context to these characters and their actions, since both the 1940s and 1740s are not current times. I enjoyed Claire’s personality, though I occasionally found her incongruent or confusing, but I think some of that can be chalked up to the time travel and her changing thoughts around it. I did really enjoy her medical background and innovation without modern medicine. The witch trials were interesting though I wish we had learned more about Geillis Duncan.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Blood and Medical content

mcshib's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

2.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, and Colonisation

mada_lean's review against another edition

3.0

I really liked the idea of the book in terms of the time travel, but there was a lot of violence. Not sure if I’ll continue the series 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault and Violence

jakobmarleymommy's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-paced

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

0.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Abortion, Pregnancy, and War

midlife_reader's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Violence

isabellajay_books's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Certainly problematic at times. If you're after sex and enchantment, stick to the TV show. If you want never ending conflict, and character backstory - the book is good. The narrator is incredible. This story will always hold a place in my heart, so perhaps I'm being a little biased in my rating. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility

Moderate: Animal death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

The medical scenes aren't as detailed or as gory as the TV show. The sexual assault between a captor and prisoner descriptions are more graphic.