Reviews with content warning for Medical content - The Fiery Cross

I find the Outlander series really hard to rate. They're interesting, but they're way too long. The Fiery Cross could easily have been 400 pages and not have lost anything, instead of the bloated 980 it came out to. I find the series to feel more like a book you're required to read for a school assignment instead of something you pick up for fun. It's a slog and not a fun one at that. Like the rest of the series, this book has unnecessary and unnecessarily graphic content that could have been left on the cutting room floor without detracting from the story (it would be an improvement if certain scenes were left on the cutting room floor as they add nothing to the plot but graphic depictions of violence and body horror).

I don't like Brianna, and she's becoming a very major character as the series progresses. Same with Roger. Makes it hard to read a book that is both unnecessarily long and unnecessarily graphic when half of the book involves characters you don't really care for.

If you like long, hard, complicated slogs with characters you don't like that feel like trying to climb a mountain during mud season, this book is perfect for you. I couldn't wait for it to end and was eagerly counting down the pages until the end. 2.5 stars.

Content Warnings

sarahfhp's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional informative reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

johannab's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional mysterious 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

3.5

Content Warnings

kaylee1957's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

j_sherrill's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark 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? No

2.0

I really enjoy the Outlander series. But this book was truly terrible. While some interesting and exciting things happened, I don't feel that this installment in the series moved the plot along. Considering that this book is almost 1,000 pages, it should have progressed more. I still can't really say exactly what this book was about. It seemed like a bunch of smaller stories wrapped into one. Basically, if the first book in the series had been written this way, I would not have continued with the series. I forced myself to finish this book because at this point I'm invested in the characters and stories.

Content Warnings

More...