Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

7 reviews

honestlyyours77's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

5.0

This is a reread as I needed an audiobook to listen to before bed that I didn’t have to 100% focus on.

As always it’s a favorite and I love listening to Davina narrate.

I think at nearly 35 years old it should be reading modern classic status as boy does it stand the test of time!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Confinement, Grief, Child death, Classism, Miscarriage, Murder, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Medical content, Racial slurs, Racism, Ableism, Bullying, Chronic illness, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, and War

annabananadel's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative tense 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? No

5.0

“You are safe," he said firmly. "You have my name and my family, my clan, and if necessary, the protection of my body as well. The man willna lay hands on ye again, while I live.”

This has been a blast. I had watched the Outlander series previously so I have a vague idea of what is going to happen. It is a 32.5 hours of worth of audiobook and I have it at around 1.7x to 1.9x speed. So I listened to this for more than half a day. Davina, the narrator, is splendidly amazing in doing her part. Her tone, pitch, accent, and everything on top was the mere reason why this had not been a boring listen. I can visually imagine what is happening and the most important thing is that I am able to know which character is speaking (but this is most probably due to Diana's writing as well). 

Story-wise, it is just still as amazing as when I watched the series. I'm amazed that the series didn't stray far from the book! The love between Jamie and Claire is just undeniable. We've all been with Claire as she decides which of her two husband would she pick and I'm with her through her thought process as well! 

I'm leaning towards buying Audible credits just so I can listen to the next books as well! 

There was a time when I was listening to this audiobook using my airpod and my boyfriend took of one my airpod as well for a listen. Sadly, it was during the part where Claire was being raped by Jack Randall. He thought it was just normal sex between two partners and it was so funny because I had to tell him that she was being raped and she definitely isn’t enjoying it. 🥴🥴🥴

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Torture, Blood, Colonisation, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Gun violence, Murder, Rape, and Racism

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

water_violin's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Definitely an interesting story, but clearly had been published in the 90s, given the portrayal of the only gay characters as predatory and sadistic. The portrayal of Romani travelers was also somewhat problematic to a modern eye, but at least they were not shown to be monolithically negative. I was personally not a fan of how the main relationship developed, as both of the characters were in turns somewhat emotionally manipulative or abusive, but it does make sense with the setting and characterization. Overall, some very unpleasant themes, but an interesting storyline. I’m curious to see how the rest of the books progress and whether there are any more diverse portrayals of queer or non-white characters. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Medical content, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Rape, Gore, Sexism, Violence, Kidnapping, War, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Blood, Medical trauma, and Mental illness

Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Infertility, Drug use, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Vomit, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, Suicide, Xenophobia, and Racism

Minor: Child death, Chronic illness, and Classism

jamestcprince's review

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Rape, Vomit, Sexual harassment, Racism, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Alcohol, Animal death, Physical abuse, Medical content, Sexual violence, Sexual content, and Injury/Injury detail

confusedmuse's review

adventurous dark tense slow-paced

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

2.0

DNF about halfway through after this:

It's totally okay to beat your wife so long as it's because you rescued her from the evil homosexual who raped your sister and caused you, personally, such distress that you can't see her again. You can make it up to your wife by telling her about that time you almost wet yourself in public. That's definitely the worst thing that's ever happened to you, not that time that the evil homosexual nearly beat you to death in front of your dad, which caused him to have a stroke and die on the spot. This is all totally fine, especially since you ended up enjoying beating your wife and promised not to do it again.

For years I'd heard that this story is a fun, feminist, time-travel romance. Actually reading it made my head spin. Are y'all okay? Like, no shade, enjoy what you enjoy, but I'm amazed that a lot of the discussion I’ve seen around recommending the book is more “teehee, I love the romance, you gotta read it” and not “hey, the main character is threatened with rape several times throughout the book, just be aware if that’s not your cup of tea.” And that’s not even getting into the surprise

evil gay stereotype

villain. He was already evil enough, this story didn’t need to throw in

homophobia

on top of everything else. “Historical Accuracy” is an excuse that can only carry so far. Clearly I went into this with the wrong expectations, and maybe I would've enjoyed it more if I'd read a few more detailed reviews before going in, but because I was blindsided by all this, I did not have a fun time. Two stars because the writing itself is very good, and the author did craft believable characters and an interesting setting, but everything else… yikes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Homophobia

Minor: Ableism, Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Death of parent, Grief, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual violence, Torture, Vomit, and Xenophobia

madchen's review

adventurous dark emotional inspiring reflective 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? Yes

4.75

This would be 5 stars if it weren't for the undertones of

homophobia

and lil whiffs of 

racism

here and there. Like I get that Black Jack Randall is a 

villain

  but did he really have to be an 

Evil Gay

  to trauma bond Claire and Jamie? Idk, I know this book isn't fresh as a daisy but I just can't find it in myself to give five stars and excuse a book because of "the time it was written in" and "historical accuracy". You do you, but my lil queer heart just can't do it at the moment. I watched the TV series before this and felt it there too, just in case anyone is wondering, though I doubt a lot of people are reading the book before watching the series at this point.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Homophobia

Minor: Ableism, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Fatphobia, Grief, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Terminal illness, Vomit, and Xenophobia

infinitegoldenfloors's review against another edition

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Blood, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, Racism, and Suicide