Reviews with content warning for Fire/Fire injury - A Breath of Snow and Ashes

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A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon

14 reviews

evtoh's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

4.5

This one dragged at parts, and some sequences (graphic violence and sexual assault) were very painful to read. But, when outlander is good, it's GOOD. The characters are the core of the story and it's so interesting to see how their relationships grow and change.

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linnylionheart's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious medium-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

5.0

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clairereadstoomuch's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

By now this has become such a comfort series for me that every time I pick one of these thick boys it's like receiving a warm hug. Which feels paradoxical to say, I know, because the characters in this book are never comfortable. Not for long at least.
This six book is set in 1772 and covers 4 years of adventures, or misadventures should I say, of our beloved Fraser-McKenzie family.
It is a LOT of time to cover and consequently, a LOT of stuff happens. A lot of it was interesting to read because it deals with the igniting of the American Revolution and the relationship between the English and the Indian tribes. Suffice it to say there's a lot of political and military talk which I don't usually mind but considering this was 1400-ish pages, there were times when it got a bit tedious.
As always, I really enjoy the focus on Claire's activity and practice and her explanations of plants and their different uses. This time we also have Brianna's engineering creation too which I didn't get in earnest but was fun to read anyway.
Reading these books really puts the romantic out of time travel because reading about what poor Claire goes through just because she knows things. A woman? Knowing things? Not submissive to her husband? She must be a witch.
It's heartbreaking to read and it made me dream less about being in a similar situation myself. Time traveling I mean.

The thing I like the most about Gabaldon's writing is that it's such an immersive experience that I feel like I'm getting a truthful and genuine insight into life in the 18th century. With all its gruesome reality and tough everyday activity and bigot mentality where reputation is everything and religion is the main explanation for everything.

Since, as I mentioned before, this book covers a long period of time, and they go through such hardships, at times it felt like too much. So many bad things happened to these people in such a short amount of time it feels unnecessary pain, you know what I mean?

In the previous two books, I felt like Gabaldon had lost her way in the plot a bit. I didn't see a reason for some plotlines and certainly for the page number. This one felt a lot more balanced in my opinion.
It's true that you could stop reading after "Voyager" and you would be fine but the truth is that I've grown so attached to these characters that I like the fact that my time with them is prolonged.

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sschmidt1300's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense slow-paced

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

2.0

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aserra's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.75

For me, this is very solidly the best book in the series since the first (I think the first book is still unparalleled, but this is a fabulous read regardless). It's as though Gabaldon heard my reservations and critiques of the previous books and set out to resolve them all in this book (this, of course, didn't actually happen, as I'm reading the book years after its initial publication).

I cannot overstate how desperately I wish Outlander books 2-5 were written like this one. Gabaldon does a great job of navigating history with needle-eye accuracy while refraining from literary trauma porn. This allows the brilliant characters, brilliant writing, and brilliant storybuilding/telling to fully shine. I was even able to tolerate Roger Mac (by far my least favorite main character of the entire series thus far). Part twelve (the final part of the book) was a beautiful, thrilling conclusion that had me wildly vacillating between literal tears, whoops of joy, and astonished gasps. Can't wait to get my hands on the seventh book. :)

EDIT: I did come back and knock .25 stars off my original score (4 stars to 3.75 stars) due to the

SA of Claire

. I think this was the best Diana Gabaldon has handled

since the first book, but it was still wanting. I adore this book, but the inclusion of yet another

had me seriously considering abandoning the series altogether.

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cmcdonnell's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective tense slow-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? No

5.0

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tiana_king's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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? It's complicated

4.5

More character than plot

While this book spanned 3ish years not much happens plot wise. That is to be expected because there were basically years of resentment with little skirmishes leading up to full rebellion. On the character front there is no shortage of mishaps that happens to each and every person on Fraser’s ridge. Murder, rape, kidnapping, etc etc. The next book is bound to have more action since we end this book at the end of 1776.

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