Reviews with content warning for Homophobia - Cross Stitch

Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

Cross Stitch by Diana Gabaldon

48 reviews

katmystery's review against another edition

adventurous emotional slow-paced

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

2.0

This book barely passes the Bechdel test. For something literally narrated by a woman, that is pretty bad.

For the first 40%, this was an engaging historical fic, albeit a bit slow, about a witty former WWII army nurse who finds herself brought back in time to 1740s Scotland. Then, when the romance plot started, suddenly it was all about her 18th century love interest, a character who Gabaldon endlessly romanticized despite his highly abusive and controlling behavior. When I wasn’t horrified by Jamie, I was bored by hundreds upon hundreds of pages of conversations and events that added nothing to the plot or character development, and I quickly grew to be so irritated by the narrator that I just wanted it to end. In addition to all of this, all the women who are sexually assaulted in this book (and there are a lot) are blamed for the assault, and the so-called “feminist” narrator does this, too. She’s barely more progressive than people from the 1700s; for half the book, she doesn’t care about anything but the abusive love interest. Also, the two gay characters are a rapist and a pedophile. This book was written in the '90s. That's so homophobic.

I only finished this because of the sunk cost fallacy. 2 stars for the historical aspects, which were well done.

Content Warnings

rhiadav1's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional relaxing sad tense medium-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

5.0

I loved every part of this book from front to back. It is now in the top spot for my favourite book.

The development of the love between Claire and Jamie is so touching and is a huge part of the story. There is constant twists and turns that made sure I didn’t want to put the book down. I also loved the historical references that Diana Gabeldon has put a lot of time into researching about. She has created a brilliant depiction of 18th century Scottish Highlands. I can’t wait to read the next book in the series!

Content Warnings