Reviews with content warning for Sexual violence - Outlander

Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

265 reviews

bookish_bry's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

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

2.5

I liked this book at the start and was ready for some intrigue and internal conflict as our main character dealt with being a complete fish out of water, but we honestly didn't see much of that and what we did fell flat. To be fair to it, I think it may have been advertised to me as something it wasn't meant to be. There were some parts I liked, but the length and the parts that I didn't like made it a hard read.

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vicf99's review against another edition

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adventurous dark slow-paced

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

2.5

I quite enjoyed the first few series of the TV show and so thought I might also enjoy reading Outlander. And for the first 300 pages or so I did. However, the rest of the book has taken months to get through and there were many times I nearly gave up on it completely.

The first problem is that the book is simply too long. At least half of it could probably be cut out and the story would remain unchanged. There is even a 75 page chapter in which almost nothing at all happens. There are better ways to show the passage of time or characters slowly getting to know each other than endlessly dragging things out and boring the reader.

The second problem is the continuous rape and sexual assault. There are far too many scenes in which characters either experience or are threatened with sexual violence. Just because a book is historical fantasy does not mean these themes need to be present, especially to the extent they are in Outlander. Even consensual moments between characters often make reference to struggling and wanting to get away which may be intended as playful but in the context of the rest of the book are simply uncomfortable.

I really wanted to like Outlander and to begin with I thought I would. However, having finally finished it I won't be continuing the series or recommending it to anyone else.

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efsimpkin's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense medium-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? No

3.0

I cannot in good faith recommend this book. While I really enjoyed the first half of the book and the love story unfolding, the rest of it bounced from one batshit insane plot point to the other. It was also about 500 pages too long. There were some highlights and lovely parts, sweet conversations etc, but also far too much torture porn and GRAPHIC medical content for me to in good faith say I enjoyed any of the second half of the book. I will not be continuing to read this series

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