Reviews

As with all of the Outlander books this one was LONG, but it isn’t full of unnecessary fluff. The way Gabaldon uses every single detail to bring the revolutionary war and life on Fraser’s ridge to life is just immaculate. I love the depth of every character, and the way she writes each different personality, and their specific difficulties. I was so surprised by the endings, the way they all tied together, the twists and turns I didn’t see coming! She really is masterful in her work, and I am excited (with great trepidation) to see where the next book goes.

There is some spice

tsundoku_reader's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

restlessranda's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional inspiring 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

5.0

therealseeka's review against another edition

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5.0

great book! Can't wait for the next book

cmccormack17's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious 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? No

4.0

ailurophile_bibliophile89's review against another edition

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3.0

Three stars. More like two and a half, really. But three because I love this series. Overall.

*SLIGHT SPOILERS*

I love this series. I do. But this is by far my least favorite of the books. I won't repeat everything I found wrong with it, mostly because I agree with what other reviewers have said and I see no need to repeat it. I will, however, state what the two things that bothered me the most are.

The first is the length. I have no problem with reading a 1500-2000 page book. But I felt myself dragging through it. And I mean, I'm a fast reader anyway, but at the beginning I was reading at my usual pace. Then around page 900 or so I started to get a little disillusioned. And then at about 1100 I was wishing it would be done with. I mean, the edition I had read was almost 1500 pages because it was the mass market paperback edition. But, really, it was 1500 pages of almost nothing.

Which leads me my second objection: the plot. The plot was dragged out. Yes, there were things I wanted to learn, which kept me going. Such as Bonnet's fate. But that didn't happen until the very end. I guess it was the details. There were so many damn details. I'm all for descriptive storytelling, but so long as it enhances the plot. This was just too much. The side plots were also very annoying. Claire gets kidnapped. Then 400 pages of nothing. Lizzie gets jilted. Yay. Roger finds a calling. Yay. Lizzie marries twins. Yay. Someone murders a pregnant girl. Boo. Mr. Christie sacrifices himself for his daughter. Aw. Brianna is pregnant. Yay. And while that may sound interesting, but....honestly? Very little of it adds to the general storyline.

It just seemed like a waste. I just began An Echo in the Bone but from what I've heard it's basically the same as the 6th novel: a lot of nothing, with the added annoyance of more POV characters. But I did hear Written in My Heart's Own Blood is amazing, and has redeemed Gabaldon in many readers' eyes. So I'll trudge through it until I can get to the 8th book.

*sigh* But I wish I could just skip the 7th.

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