Reviews

The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon

daiinty's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful sad 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? Yes

4.0

“When the day shall come, that we do part," he said softly, and turned to look at me, "if my last words are not 'I love you'—ye'll ken it was because I didna have time.” — Diana Gabaldon

another one in the outlander series down! these books are huge so they always take me forever to get through. i feel like i really enjoyed this one more than the last one. i was telling a friend that she might like the books better than the tv show because the books include so much more of the day to day struggles of the characters in between the huge plot points. the good moments are so good that to me it makes the tough scenes “worth it” if that makes sense. to me this book felt more balanced in that way. the last book felt like there were a lot of unnecessary scenes that weren’t adding much in the way of character development or plot, they just felt like filler. the smaller beats in this book though were either very heartfelt or felt like they were filling out the characters in such beneficial ways. i really loved bri and roger in this book. they’re struggles together felt so real considering everything they have both been through since going back in time. i’m loving the home that claire and jamie are building at fraser’s ridge and seeing that growth. i will once again take a break before going into a breath of snow and ashes, but i’m excited to keep trucking on!

heyitschessa's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny informative lighthearted mysterious 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

5.0

I waited about six months after finishing the last book in the series before picking this one up. I kept looking at it in my Audible library and then thinking "55 hours?! Ugh I'll pick something else". But I have consistently loved these books and wanted to continue the series, so here I am.

As soon as I heard Davina Porter's voice begin, I literally sighed out loud. This series is so comforting to me! I'm now hundreds of hours in (I've listened to them all on audio) and getting back into the story was like a bowl of chicken soup and a snuggly blanket.

I can't argue with some of the criticisms in other reviews - is there a lot of plot here? Not loads of big exciting things, no. Does this book focus a lot on day to day stuff and details of regular life? Yes for sure, and I loved it. Do we hear a lot about breasts and breastfeeding and milk and tingly boobs and *gasp* sex while lactating? We sure do, and maybe it's because I'm a future lactation consultant, or maybe it's because I have two children and have lived that breastfeeding life, but that didn't bother me at all. That's how it goes! Your life kind of revolves around feeding your baby and your milk situation kind of dictates your life for a while. 

Anyway nothing but love from me and I'll be continuing on my merry little way with the series. 

topdragon's review against another edition

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3.0

The Fiery Cross is the 5th book in Diana Gabaldon's "Outlander" series. The overall series is about Claire, from the 20th century traveling back in time to 18th century Scotland and meeting Jamie Fraser. That makes it sound like a sci-fi series but they are really historical fiction novels. Eventually they marry and, through various circumstances, come to live in early America just prior to the American Revolution. Claire's 20th century daughter, Briana and her fiance also make their way into the past and become major characters as well. This particular book, covers a period of about two years around 1770-1772.

The book was, indeed, a long one. I chose this one for my long airplane ride because I would be able to stay focused and stick with it no matter what. For the first 200 pages or so, I realized I made the right choice because I'm not sure I would have stuck it out otherwise. Up to that point it was largely a novel of everyday life at the Fraser's homestead with lots of detail about how they lived as well as how the numerous minor characters interacted. Briana's wedding is looming and the preparations for the big event take an awfully long time.

But then the action picks up a bit as Jaime is directed by the Governor of the colony to form a militia to put down some troublemakers. Here lies the central theme of the series at this point. Jaime and Claire know the future...they know the revolution is coming and they know which side to be on. But they can't make the jump to the revoultionaries too soon or risk treason. That is a cool concept and I understand the next book in the series takes it even further.

I enjoy long books because I get a real feeling of accomplishment when I complete them. And I often enjoy, as I did this time, really getting into the characters, expecially these old favorites. It seems like I know them personally and I can count on them to act true to form. There are sections of this novel that are pretty slow though and I have to wonder if Ms Gabaldon's editor feels comfortable cutting anything at all.

The other problem with a 1400 page paperback book is I think I would have sprained my wrist just holding the thing up if it hadn't been for the tray table from the seat in front of me :) Time to look into getting an e-book reader!

katerbugbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful informative tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

chaptersofchase's review against another edition

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slow-paced

5.0

Book Five


Genre: Historical Fiction
Format: 🎧
Pub Date: 11.6.2001
Pages: 1443
Star Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

"When the day shall come that we do part," he said softly and turned to look at me, "if my last words are not 'I love you'—you'll ken it was because I did have time."

Just when I think that I'll never make it through this series, I read another book and am sucked right back into the story. 

I think that The Fiery Cross may be my new favorite in the series. There was so much packed into this story (as there should be since it's almost 1500 pages), but there was just something about this specific book that seemed to hit differently than all of the others. I feel like we were given a deeper glimpse into the innermost thoughts of all the characters, which made me appreciate their individual stories even more. 

Now to tackle book six, A Breath of Snow and Ashes!





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alysses's review against another edition

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2.0

Extremely too long.............

jumpingintofiction's review against another edition

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adventurous slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

ainom's review against another edition

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

3.5

itsjessicalynn's review

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3.0

This took me MONTHS to finish and the only reason I got through it at all was friends telling me “it gets good. You’ll want to know what happened”. Well it took long enough. I feel like the last 400 pages could’ve been it’s own book and it would’ve been a solid 4-4.5 stars. The first 600 was 1 star at best. But I’ll continue the series and hope the next one is closer to the standards of the first part of the series.

liddymyrs's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0