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A review by livinginbetweenthepages
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

adventurous emotional 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

4.25

A few years ago, I started watching the Outlander tv show, and I fell in love with it with my whole heart. I have been wanting to read Diana Gabaldon's books for a while, and now it finally happened. 

To begin, I absolutely love the element of time travelling through the standing stones and the setting of 18th century Scotland. Diana writes very vividly and with detailed descriptions, making the scenes come alive, and letting me feel like I travelled back in time myself as well to the Highlands. I also found the historical aspect in the novel very interesting, and after having done some research, most historical parts are very accurate. It shows how much research Diana has done, and I truly appreciate that and am curious as to even learn more than that is told in Outlander. And then I am not only talking about the relationship between the Scottish and the British being told, but also about the cultural glimpses of Scotland which Diana has woven into her story, like Gaelic songs, the Gaelic language, the clothes, detailed descriptions about plants, witch trials, way of living, and so on. All these descriptions made the story feel very real and like time has stood still. Furthermore, the castles and the Highlands made me feel lost in a dream, and there's this authentic atmosphere about Outlander that makes it all so lovely. The characters, I still find a bit complicated to make a decision about. Yes, I find them very strong characters and loveable and I will always keep on cherishing them, but what I didn't like is the fact that
Jamie punished Claire because she didn't obey him, and Claire accepts, which I can't imagine for her while she is portrayed as this well educated and emancipated woman. Also, from the moment Claire and Jamie get married, Jamie is so commanding and wants to get what he wants, meaning s*x, while there are moments that Claire doesn't want to, and also this time, it is being waved away as like it's not problematic, giving off the wrong signs
I hated Randall, and still do, but that doesn't mean that his character is badly created, no, Diana did such a great job on him by making him so unlikeable and evil. And oh, how unlikeable he is, so much that it makes my stomach turn. Plotwise, I love the story. Every character and scene is so cleverly connected with each other, and although there is a lot happening, I never felt like I couldn't keep up with that what was happening. Although I have to admit that I found the last two hundred pages a bit dragging and that I skipped a lot of them because it was becoming too slow and too much for me because there seemed to not be much happening anymore, while there were still so many chapters to read. I feel like that was unnecessary.

However, I can't help but say that although the story and pacing dragged a bit, and that there were some moments in the story that I absolutely disliked, I still love Outlander very much. The positives rule over the negative ones, and I can't ignore the loveable feeling I am having after I have put down the story for a while. 

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