Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

28 reviews

laurenleigh's review against another edition

tense slow-paced

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

3.0

What a bizarre reading experience. This was a TERRIBLE book with a FANTASTIC narrator. I’ve heard the book and the show described as “rapey,” and that is spot on. How the hell are there like 9 more books and 8 seasons of this?? I can’t believe I actually made it through 33 hours. Davina Porter was just so magical with all the different voices and accents. I enjoyed listening to her so much! I guess I gave up trying to make excuses for the plot and had to laugh at it instead. Except I’m not laughing at all at a husband beating his wife. That scene and the aftermath were so twisted. So much about the plot and Claire’s character make absolutely zero sense to me. Pretty much only giving stars for the narration. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Gore, Rape, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Colonisation

rodes's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional tense slow-paced

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

2.0

The story itself is really good, well-written and narrated, and all the characters are well-developed. I did find the story a bit slow, but it fitted so well that anything else would've most likely made the book less good. Since I watched the TV Show first and it is an almost perfect adaptation of the book, I knew exactly what would happen, taking away some of the enjoyment.

Even though I liked the story, I couldn't get past the fact that Claire gets sexually assaulted basically in every other chapter. It looks like the only way to bring some action into the book was for her to be SA and then rescued before it goes too far (because she is always rescued). It happens 4 times in the book, then there is a sex scene between Claire & Jamie where consent is dubious especially because he forces her at first and then we have Jamie that is also SA in the book twice, once as a minor (but he tells the story like it was a big joke) and then at the end while being tortured.

Don't get me started on how Jamie beat Claire after rescuing her to teach her a lesson as if she was a child and then we have her going "oh well, maybe he has a point" after a while? Heum, HELL NO! She kept going on about how modern she was and "no man is going to tell me what to do", but she is OK with a beating? I know she comes from the 40s and it was sort of normal behaviour back then too, but still. It didn't work.

Having seen the TV Show, I know that the use of SA as a means to further the plot continues in the other books and for that reason, I can't read the other books nor recommend them to anyone. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Torture, Vomit, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Colonisation

Minor: Infertility and Miscarriage

ruthiethetoothie's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny 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? No

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Child death, Sexism, Medical content, Kidnapping, and War

Minor: Infertility and Colonisation

leweylibrary'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? No

5.0

I never wrote a review the first time I read this book about 2ish years ago, so here we go!

So my first ever impression of Outlander was the show, but I hadn't seen it recently enough after reading the book the first time to track all the ways the story is interpreted on each medium, but they are quite different. There's a lot they cut or twisted a bit to make action happen and certain events happen faster on the show, and we see a lot more of Claire's thoughts in the book since she is the first-person narrator. I think the time in the books that it takes for Jamie and Claire to marry and then for their relationship to develop makes it feel all the more real and believable, especially when he's confronted with her real origins.

Other random thoughts, the show does a good job of using flashbacks to the 1940s to remind us that what she's experiencing now isn't her usual "normal" and to remind us of the historical and personal significance of what she's experiencing. If I didn't love this series as a whole so much, I would probably have been annoyed that this book ends with

a pregnancy trope

. I forgot how much of the

sexual assault and rape scene with Jamie and Randall

is in this book, for some reason I thought a lot of the detail came in the second through him recounting it? Oh and I forgot how absolutely lovely Jenny is in the book (they make her a bit mean to Claire in the show). Actually, they make Claire more blunt and aggressive on the show too, but again I think that was to up the drama and make the drama more visible. Claire and Jamie's wedding night and following day is just as swoon-worthy as I remember it, and damn it Jamie is a smooth talker and loves the shit out of her. I actually had a dream in which my fiance kinda merged with him? It was amazing lmao. He's so innocent when it comes to relationships at this point which is an interesting juxtaposition with how mature he is in so many other ways. The witch hunt part is pretty different than the show, they definitely play up her healing as witchy and at odds with the Father a ton which almost none of which happens in the book. But that realization that Geilis is

also a time traveler

hits just as hard as the first time. Oh, and Jamie's recovery after Wentworth is...a lot more intense than I remember it. Man that was rough. 

Overall I just have to say in the official capacity of this review that I love these books and the precedent that is begun in this one for the slow, decadent pace. Sure, there's a lot of detail that could be cut, but the story feels so much more real and immersive for it. I truly feel like I know these characters and am living life alongside them, especially Claire and Jamie. I desperately wish I was as cool as Claire (and it's crazy that she only gets cooler from here even after birthing a child lol), and Jamie is forever my favorite fictional man as far as a being a partner in a relationship goes. Besides that one scene. Iykyk

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Xenophobia, Kidnapping, and Death of parent

Minor: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Religious bigotry, Abortion, and Pregnancy

kayla_kamldecker's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional slow-paced

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

4.0

The graphic, detailed descriptions of  violence were too much for me, but otherwise a well-written and engaging story 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, and Murder

Moderate: Infertility

Minor: Domestic abuse and Colonisation

lizardbet's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Murder, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Pregnancy, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Infertility and Infidelity

zoooeeeggg's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny tense slow-paced

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

3.0

This is my third read of the book and by far my most forgiving review of it. I’m gonna stop pretending that I don’t love this series, even with it’s many, MANY controversial subjects. It’s got everything: war, action, a passionate and all-consuming love story, endearing accents, philosophy, religion, etc. It’s so complex and Diana’s research shows. I want to try to reread/read the rest of the series (I only made it to the beginning of The Fiery Cross), but we’ll see how that goes ! 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Murder, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

effervescent_worm's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Blood, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Colonisation