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Outlander (Outlander, #1)

Diana Gabaldon

Why we're reading this: #89 on NPR's Top 100 SF/F novels of all time (2011 poll) http://www.npr.org/2011/08/11/1390858...

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[close] #89 on NPR's Top 100 SF/F novels of all time (2011 poll) http://www.npr.org/2011/08/11/1390858...

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Aug 23, 2013 Andrea rated it it was ok

Shelves: read-sorted, fiction-historical, 2014-chunkster

- sorry, nah-huh, this was a bad book
- the story lacked backbone - the common thread that connected random happenings throughout the entire thing. It was mostly "this happened" and then "that happened", and "would you like to hear how I helped a horse to give birth?"
- Jamie is totally in "high-risk" category on his insurance policy. What the heck? This man gets beaten and bled every other chapter or so.
- And speaking of the guy, no dude acts like he does. I mean, Gabaldon just wanted to give her - sorry, nah-huh, this was a bad book
- the story lacked backbone - the common thread that connected random happenings throughout the entire thing. It was mostly "this happened" and then "that happened", and "would you like to hear how I helped a horse to give birth?"
- Jamie is totally in "high-risk" category on his insurance policy. What the heck? This man gets beaten and bled every other chapter or so.
- And speaking of the guy, no dude acts like he does. I mean, Gabaldon just wanted to give her female readers another one of those idealized mannequins to dream about. Not to say that men cannot be selfless and loving, but Jamie has no purpose in life beyond Claire's interests. Also, for being horny all the time, how did he stay a virgin until 23? I thought it was totally unnecessary for the author to bring that into the story
- OMG sex... lots of it. I like an occasional steamy scene in my literature like any other girl. But this book took it to a whole new level. Sex was casually thrown in so often and so out of place, it became at first comical and then just plain annoying. My favourite part was when Claire stabbed a guy to death and then proceeded to roll in hay with Jamie, covered in blood and only a few feet away from the mutilated corpse. Mmmm, nothing says sexy more than a dead man watching you...
- Randall, wth man?! He wins the prize for the most awkward, weird, and sick villain out there. "Tell me you love me"?! Ewww man, get you fantasies under control. Did Gabaldon make him look just like Frank to ease Claire's conscience and our judgment against her for sleeping with another man while still married to Frank?
- and yes, Claire felt not even a teeny bit bad about cheating on her husband, with whom she had a pretty good marriage. Her excuse? "Oh, everyone does that once in a while. You just need to make sure you get yourself out of the fling before bad things like divorce, pregnancy or STDs happen". Bitch.
- the book was waaaaaaaay too long for what it had to offer. Miss Jackie Cantor, the editor, should have done a better job at cutting bs out of this mammoth. It could have easily been twice as short if you ripped out any unnecessary bickering and talking, and walking, and yes, sex. I feel like labouring through this mess for the last three and a half days earned me a medal of valour or something. But I have no one to blame but myself for forcing me to get to the end.
- I made a mental note - absolutely nothing happened between pages 250 and 500. Nothing.
- there was one character I liked - Geilie. But she didn't last too long, if you know what I'm talking about.
- what a pile of crap. That is all.
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Jun 04, 2014 Katie Tillwick rated it liked it

This romance sticks strongly to form, with a main character who is a tough, likeable woman. No flouncing floosies here. HOWEVER, the book became repetitive, with Claire constantly wringing her hands about the fact that she loves two men at the same time and OH NO, was it wrong or right??? And was Jaime dead/kidnapped/murdered/raped (you just have to read it), again??? By the third time in the first 150 pages (about a fifth of the way through) I was getting a touch tired of it. Book could have be ...more

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Feb 12, 2015 Vmichelle Skinner rated it liked it

Shelves: britlit, hot-list, historical-fiction, audiobook

So, several years ago I read Outlander, or at least I thought I did.

Re-reading it - via listening to an audiobook this time - I realized I never actually finished it. I just wasn't crazy about it the first time. It wasn't that I didn't enjoy it. It is a fascinating premise, quality writing, and a real escape read. I love the way Diana Gabaldon really brings the time and place and characters to life, but without dragging you down too much into a heavy literary style. The story keeps moving - at ...more

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