Name: Juliana Matias's review of Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
Item: Outlander
Rating: 3
Author: Juliana Matias

Diana Gabaldon

Claire Randall is leading a double life. She has a husband in one century, and a lover in another...

In 1945, Claire Randall, a former combat nurse, is back from the war and reunited with her husband on a second honeymoon—when she innocently touches a boulder in one of the ancient stone circles that dot the British Isles. Suddenly she is a Sassenach—an "outlander"--in a Scotland torn by war and raiding border clans in the year of our Lord...1743.


Hurled back in time by forces she cannot understand, Claire's destiny in soon inextricably intertwined with Clan MacKenzie and the forbidden Castle Leoch. She is catapulted without warning into the intrigues of lairds and spies that may threaten her life ...and shatter her heart. For here, James Fraser, a gallant young Scots warrior, shows her a passion so fierce and a love so absolute that Claire becomes a woman torn between fidelity and desire...and between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives.


Outlander

Twenty years ago, Gabaldon swept readers into her mesmerizing world brimming with history, romance, and adventure. To celebrate, this special commemorative edition features special production details, a brand-new letter and essay from the author, and a Random House Reader's Group Guide.

(Bre)anne✨

No matter how ugly the manner in which a man dies, it’s only the presence of a suffering human soul that is horrifying; once gone, what is left is only an object.

“I can bear pain, myself,” he said softly, “but I couldna bear yours. That would take more strength than I have.”

Watching her, I realized fully why it was called “labor.” Giving birth was bloody hard work.

“I’ve yet to see the auld woman believes in witches, nor the young one, neither. It’s men think there must be ill-wishes and magic in women, when it’s only the natural way of the creatures.”

For I hadn’t stood frozen at the revelation of Geilie’s pregnancy. It was something else I had seen that chilled me to the marrow of my bones. As Geilie had spun, white arms stretched aloft, I saw what she had seen when my own clothes were stripped away. A mark on one arm like the one I bore. Here, in this time, the mark of sorcery, the mark of a magus. The small, homely scar of a smallpox vaccination.

“For the parents of that child, maybe it will ease them a bit to believe it is the changeling who died, and think of their own child, healthy and well, living forever with the fairies.”

“I see why the Church says it is a sacrament,” Jamie said dreamily.

“Or at least holy,” he said. “I feel like God himself when I’m in you.”

“If you say ‘thank you’ once more, I will slap you,” I said.

“Holy God,” said James Fraser, who never took the name of his Lord in vain.

“Then I shall do my best to honor his spirit by serving his wife.”

“Why, uncle,” he said. “Insults? And on my wedding day too. You wouldna have me shame my wife, now, would ye? Besides,” he added, with a malicious gleam, “I hardly think it would be legal, did I not marry in my own name. And you do want it legal, now, don’t you?”

“Does it bother you that I’m not a virgin?” He hesitated a moment before answering.

“Well, no,” he said slowly, “so long as it doesna bother you that I am.” He grinned at my drop-jawed expression, and backed toward the door. 

“Reckon one of us should know what they’re doing,” he said.

“Aye,” he said, nodding at my expression. “Ye must marry a Scot. Young Jamie.”

Because to step outside the group, let alone to stand against it, was for uncounted thousands of years death to the creature who dared it. To stand against a crowd would take something more than ordinary courage; something that went beyond human instinct.

“I’ve no stomach for sea serpents.”

Kaitlyn Kuehn 

“It is all. It is undying.  And it is enough.” 

“Aye, well. For most folk, what they want and what they get are no the same thing; I dinna see why he should be any different.”

“ I can bear pain myself, but I could not bear yours. That would take more strength than I have.” 

"Because," I said, I bloody well can't do without you…” 

“I would have killed a dozen men to get to you, Claire." His voice cracked.“

 “If I were marooned here til it suited my overbearing, dominering, pig-headed jackass of a husband to finish risking his stupid neck, Id use the time to see what I could spot“.

“I still say the only good weapon for a woman is poison." 

“Does it ever stop, Claire? The wanting?”

Juliana Matias

THE FIRST NOVEL IN THE BESTSELLING OUTLANDER SERIES. As seen on Amazon Prime TV. What if your future was the past? 1946, and Claire Randall goes to the Scottish Highlands with her husband Frank. It’s a second honeymoon, a chance to learn how war has changed them and to re-establish their loving marriage. But one afternoon, Claire walks through a circle of standing stones and vanishes into 1743, where the first person she meets is a British army officer - her husband’s six-times great-grandfather. Unfortunately, Black Jack Randall is not the man his descendant is, and while trying to escape him, Claire falls into the hands of a gang of Scottish outlaws, and finds herself a Sassenach - an outlander - in danger from both Jacobites and Redcoats. Marooned amid danger, passion and violence, her only chance of safety lies in Jamie Fraser, a gallant young Scots warrior. What begins in compulsion becomes urgent need, and Claire finds herself torn between two very different men, in two irreconcilable lives. (Previously published as Cross Stitch)

Bria

I’m really starting to like historical fictions

Luke Harkness

Not quite what I was expecting but I still enjoyed it

Considering the fantasy element this book - I was expecting there to be slightly more fantastical things - however no, it's a love story, all be it mind, a good one.

I thoroughly enjoyed the characters in this book - everyone seemed to have a very distinct personality and all forwarded the plot along. This is definitely a character-driven book - don't get me wrong, plenty of plot happens, but there's not exactly a middle and an end, just an ongoing tale which I look forward to continuing in the sequel.

Vicky  Nuñez 

A friend of mine has been begging me to read this series for a while and for some strange reason I didn't until now. And I'm so happy I did.
This book was such a roller-coaster of emotions and it's only been one book and they've already gone through so much I can't imagine what more can happen. 
I'll guess I'll have to read and find out.

Sonia Grgas

Read it again - even better than the first time. Still my favorite book of all time.

Brooke Lonegan

I mean, it's Outlander- you're either into genre fandom & world building books/ shows or you're not. But if you are, this one is v fun to be in the fandom of. Fun to read while watching the series and seeing the parallels/ seeing it come to life.

esperanza 

mmmm conflicted with this one. there were a lot of hits as there were misses. 

loved how fleshed out Jamie’s character was as well as Claire’s wittiness and her intelligence.

HOWEVER. 

found it conflicting how Claire accepted time travel so easy??? also, the whole “punishment” thing made me cringe. 

overall? four stars, but the whole punishment thing knocked one down for me. 

the beating scene is gross and disgusting, and I hope the show handles this better than the book.

good book if you want to forget about the real world.

Doctor Who fanfiction? At 850 pages this took a WHILE but it was a good read for sure. Mildly homophobic though? It's a period piece so I'll allow it.

Yvette

As someone that’s been a big fan of the Outlander Show for a while, I’ve been dying to start the series. This book has been a wonderful adventure of passion, love, perseverance, and adventure.

I am normally will die on the hill the book is better than the show, but goodness does Season 1 nicely follow Book 1. I am also a big fan of Claire and Jaime’s casting and chemistry and now having read the book I think the show runners have truly encapsulated Claire & Jaime’s love for each other in their acting.

Diana Gabaldon this book is beautiful, and I am so wonderfully happy that I picked it up.

Corey’s Books

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

5 Stars.

As someone that’s been a big fan of the Outlander Show for a while, I’ve been dying to start the series. This book has been a wonderful adventure of passion, love, perseverance, and adventure.

I am normally will die on the hill the book is better than the show, but goodness does Season 1 nicely follow Book 1. I am also a big fan of Claire and Jaime’s casting and chemistry and now having read the book I think the show runners have truly encapsulated Claire & Jaime’s love for each other in their acting.

Diana Gabaldon this book is beautiful, and I am so wonderfully happy that I picked it up.

Sarah

THIS BOOK WAS A RIDE AND I AM STILL REELING.

Ok, all in all, it was a solid four stars all the way through for me. Very descriptive, well-written, and excellent at building suspense.

I didn’t find it lacking in any areas, but it didn’t quite hit five stars… I can’t exactly say why, specifically, but it didn’t quite have that gut punch five star reads have for me.

Going in, I was really nervous bc I read some particularly bad reviews and it made seem like it had some heavy, graphic, perverse sexual content all the way through. Much to my relief, it did not (save for a bit at the end that, despite the content, I felt was handled quite well by the author… I won’t say what happened bc spoilers, but it wasn’t idealized/glorified as some people seem to suggest).

Really, though, I can’t emphasize enough how much I love Jamie’s character. He deserves the entire world but the world doesn’t deserve him.

Randall on the other hand? Trash. Absolute trash. That man is walking, talking garbage. I literally spent the entire novel waiting for him to get what was coming for him (and I’m still not entirely sure the conflict with his character is entirely resolved… that’s for book 2 I suppose).

Claire though?? SHE IS SO STRONG. I seriously could not be in that same position without turning into a ugly sobbing mess whereas she just shows up and deals with everything with such grace??? I honestly think people are way too hard on her character bc I am completely awestruck by her stubborn tenacity.

I need to pick up volume 2 before I lose the momentum of the first novel, but I seriously need to clear my head with a light hearted novel first before I plunge back in, head first, to the dramafest that is no doubt awaiting me next lol.

I really really recommend anyone considering picking this novel up to just go ahead and do it! It may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s definitely worth trying out and loving than never knowing what you’re missing in the first place ヾ(´∀｀)ﾉ

Lucy

I had somewhat mixed feelings about this book. Initially, I didn't like Claire very much. Being inside her head was exhausting at times, and during others was completely fascinating.

The book had a slow start, but once it picked up it just kept going. Claire and Jamie spend the entire novel either jumping from disaster to disaster, or in bed. I found most of the interactions to be very funny, as was Claire's wit at times.

At other times, I found some of Claire's constant thoughts a bit tedious, but I appreciate the world-building that it all lead to.

Randall. I'm a person that tends to develop a slight soft spot for the bad guy, but this was definitely not one of those times. I don't think I've hated a character this much since Umbridge.

Favorite of all time! I could write an essay about this book. Jamie and Claire’s love story is everything. From the medicine to family to history!

Bailey Dunn

Wynter

- sorry, nah-huh, this was a bad book
- the story lacked backbone - the common thread that connected random happenings throughout the entire thing. It was mostly "this happened" and then "that happened", and "would you like to hear how I helped a horse to give birth?"
- Jamie is totally in "high-risk" category on his insurance policy. What the heck? This man gets beaten and bled every other chapter or so.
- And speaking of the guy, no dude acts like he does. I mean, Gabaldon just wanted to give her female readers another one of those idealized mannequins to dream about. Not to say that men cannot be selfless and loving, but Jamie has no purpose in life beyond Claire's interests. Also, for being horny all the time, how did he stay a virgin until 23? I thought it was totally unnecessary for the author to bring that into the story
- OMG sex... lots of it. I like an occasional steamy scene in my literature like any other girl. But this book took it to a whole new level. Sex was casually thrown in so often and so out of place, it became at first comical and then just plain annoying. My favourite part was when Claire stabbed a guy to death and then proceeded to roll in hay with Jamie, covered in blood and only a few feet away from the mutilated corpse. Mmmm, nothing says sexy more than a dead man watching you...
- Randall, wth man?! He wins the prize for the most awkward, weird, and sick villain out there. "Tell me you love me"?! Ewww man, get you fantasies under control. Did Gabaldon make him look just like Frank to ease Claire's conscience and our judgment against her for sleeping with another man while still married to Frank?
- and yes, Claire felt not even a teeny bit bad about cheating on her husband, with whom she had a pretty good marriage. Her excuse? "Oh, everyone does that once in a while. You just need to make sure you get yourself out of the fling before bad things like divorce, pregnancy or STDs happen". Bitch. 
- the book was waaaaaaaay too long for what it had to offer. Miss Jackie Cantor, the editor, should have done a better job at cutting bs out of this mammoth. It could have easily been twice as short if you ripped out any unnecessary bickering and talking, and walking, and yes, sex. I feel like labouring through this mess for the last three and a half days earned me a medal of valour or something. But I have no one to blame but myself for forcing me to get to the end. 
- I made a mental note - absolutely nothing happened between pages 250 and 500. Nothing.
- there was one character I liked - Geilie. But she didn't last too long, if you know what I'm talking about.
- what a pile of crap. That is all.

Claire Cantlon

Colleen

An exciting historical fiction adventure. Claire is a spunky, independant heroine whose witty dialogus reminds me of a Kartherin Hepburn character.Although the writing does often wander down rabbit trails of stories within stories that only add some background rather than actually being relevant to the main story line. And here and there it jumps, leaving the reader stumbling to understand what just happened, only to go back and explain what really happened (for those who were reading the pages rather than the authors mind). But despite that, it did keep my interest throughout the 850 pages.

Beatrix Haase

Holy smack. I finally finished the dang book and wow am I speechless.

Did I find it slow sometimes? Yes. 
Did I find some of the scenes to be too much for me? Yes
Did I still love it and give it 5 stars? Yes

It was amazing and I understand why it is so addicting. I was hesitant to go into it because of the sheer size of the series and the positive reviews and the tv show, but I am so happy I did decide to read it. I think it also helped tremendously that I was listening to the audiobook while reading the physical book. I have dyslexia and so for me, doing that really helps me grasp every little thing that goes on in books. I will also say that I don't think I would have enjoyed it as much if I didn't have the audiobook playing in my ears. 

Like I said in one of my updates, I bought the second and third books for a good price so I will definitely be reading those once they come in. 

I honestly just want to know what happens next and that is why I will be continuing. However, I will say that if you were to just read the first one and then stop it would be okay and I don't think you necessarily need to go on with the series. Diana Gabaldon did a good job at ending it but also left room for more. 

Jamie <3

xoxo,
Bea

Meghan Navoy

Wow this book was crazy!!! It felt like 3 books in one super long book but I loved it. Adventure, fantasy and romance all in one crazy book

Sofia Nunes

Lyric Hooey

Got into a bit of a reading rut this semester so it took me a couple months to read this one. I almost gave up on it 200 pages in but right around that time I suddenly got very into it and then finished it in 2 days! Glad I read it but not sure if I’m invested enough to read the rest of the series. Really did enjoy Outlander for what it is though and am so happy that Claire ended up with who she did.

*spoilers* *trigger warning for rape*
I don't understand all the good reviews the only plot points in this book are rape I'm halfway through and in the beginning I was like okay there's some attempted rape she just wants to show this is a different time whatever I'm sure it won't happen all that much but nope and when its not rape there's Clair's husband beating her and enjoying it and patting himself on the back for not raping her after but don't worry the next day he does. And mentions again and again how she needs to obey her and he wants to possess her. Can't believe I wasted this much time on this and can't understand why not more people are bothered by this. I'm even more annoyed bc the plot of this could have been so interesting but there is no plot besides rape. (And I don't care that it's set in a different time not everyone was a rapist in that time and even if they were doesn't mean someone now has to glorify it in her book) there are never any consequences and the Claire just accepts it like .5 seconds later. I was gonna push through and finish it but damn the author really tried her best to get me to fucking be sick in the last part I read. I generally never dnf but fuck this book
Edit: I wish I had physical copy of this book instead of an ebook bc I would love to burn it but oh well at least I didn't spend that much money on it bc I got it through bookbub

Ummmm. Lots of thoughts on this one. Writing is great and overall story great. However, quite a few problematic things…not sure if that’s because the book was written more than 30 years ago, or due to views of the author herself. Lots, lots, lots of sexual assault/rape. Fatphobia. Nearly every reference to gay people/actions are connected with pedophilia or rape. Quite a bit of incest as well? Also a part where a mentally handicapped person is only made to be barbaric/a savage. The book is pretty long, and I know there’s a whole series, but there’s lots of taboo. And the last 50 or so pages are…wild, to say the least.

Full TW list to be added later

Ummmm. Lots of thoughts on this one. Writing is great and overall story great. However, quite a few problematic things…not sure if that’s because the book was written more than 30 years ago, or due to views of the author herself. Lots, lots, lots of sexual assault/rape. Fatphobia. Nearly every reference to gay people/actions are connected with pedophilia or rape. Quite a bit of incest as well? Also a part where a mentally handicapped person is only made to be barbaric/a savage. The book is pretty long, and I know there’s a whole series, but there’s lots of taboo. And the last 50 or so pages are…wild, to say the least.

Annabella

Whew, still a rollercoaster
***
I'm doing a rewatch, you see and so, my brain has decided to reread as well

Laura Newell

Beautiful. Dark. Romantic. Historical. Adventure.

Arianna M

It was absolutely worth the naps I didn't take, even through this time overflowing with exams. I can't wait to read the sequel!

Elle Geoghegan 

** spoiler alert **
           I am just so revolted with this I can’t even come up with words to explain this. The hypocrisy of it all is just threatening to suffocate me. So I apologise in advance, because this review is going to be so full of spoilers I can’t even hold myself back.

Just a little context: a bit over 10 years ago, my mother lent me this book to read, but as I am not a big fan of translations if I can avoid them, it has been sitting in my bookshelf back home ever since. Then, about a year ago, I watched the first couple of episodes on Amazon Prime Video and thought it looked really interesting, but as these things go, life got in the way.

Fast forward to last week, when Audible was having a Diana Gabaldon sale, which each book going for under 5 quid a pop. I figured it was my chance – and bought all 8 books. And promptly started reading.

There were so many things I loved about this book.

It has an incredibly interesting starting point for its plot. The writing is really good – I tend to get bored with historical fiction really easily and I did not feel even slightly annoyed with it in this book. It takes place in Scotland, where I just went on vacation, so as she described the Scottish Highlands all I had to do was close my eyes and be transported there.

An added bonus was the narration, which in my opinion was just superb. I am not originally from the UK, so I cannot attest as to whether the accents were good or not, but they sounded great to me, and I could easily tell which character the narrator was reading simply from the accent and tone of her voice at any given time. Plus, accents are sexy and I enjoy audiobooks that play around with them.

Then, there were some that I felt like were just not my cup of tea, but I could accept.

For example, the description of Jamie did not sound appealing at all to me. He most definitely didn’t look like Sam Heughan from what I read, more like Hagrid and Arthur Weasley’s lovechild. Which as I said – does not make me hot, but to each their own.

Also, the sheer mysoginy of it all really threw me for a loop for a while there, but I decided to strike it up to 18th century realities, and breath through it. I mean, I cannot fathom a world where I would allow some guy to beat me and then simply let him screw me the next day because he shared stories about himself. And then fuckme raw and do it again the the next day despite my protests and not consider it rape. I mean when I heard the phrase “He would be gentle, but he would not be denied.”, I just shuddered and wanted to scream at the author/characters that gentle or not, not being denied is the definition of rape. That is just not okay.

But this was the reality of 18th century society. Rape and assault are just a small part of the everyday reality for those women and even if I was uncomfortable with the way the author was romanticizing it all, I would just have to accept it and try to ignore those parts. After all, I spent 40 quid on these 8 books and I wanted to enjoy them.

But then, came the parts I started having a bit too much trouble compartimentalizing, even considering this is just literature.

First came the victim blaming our so-called “hero” inflicted on his sister without even bothering to get his facts straight. I mean, he couldn’t go home because his sister “consented” to being raped to save his life? And lets say she had actually been raped and gotten pregnant. Her keeping the child and naming him after her brother was somehow offensive to him? It made her a whore? How? And what blame would the child carry for the circumstances of its conception, had that actually been the case? That seriously pissed me off.

And I won’t even get started on the fact that it wasn’t enough for Captain Randall to be a horrible person. No. The one fact that was supposed to move him from the horrible category into evil was the fact he was gay? Totally unnecessary and positioned this book possibly as the most homofobic book I have ever read.

And then, the pièce de résistance. Jamie gets raped. Violently and lovingly. And all of sudden, rape becomes a big deal. Cue the big pity party. Cue the moment when it is suddenly understandable for a guy to kill himself because he was raped, while it is perfectly normal for women to be raped on a regular basis and still be expected to love their husbands. Cue the guy starving himself and making a big deal of the fact he wants to die, starving himself and receiving last rites from the monks.

While I am not trying to say that male rape is unimportant by any means, what I cannot stomach is the different treatments given to a man and a woman put into the same situation. Because I can guarantee you that if the one who had gotten raped was a woman, Jamie would still feel like he was the one wronged. Oh, wait, no “if” necessary: that did happen.

I will again refrain from touching the clusterfuck that was the scene where Claire pretends to be Randall trying to rape Jamie again and he gets a hard-on trying to fight her off. I just had no idea what was going on there.

A little over 2 hours to the end and I just feel like throttling the author and actually started the review before I actually ended the book. I have never done that before. That is how mad I was.

Anyway, this just means I am confused. If I had read this book 10 years ago, before I was really aware of myself, my opinions, and the injustices of the world around me, I might have loved this. It is well written, it was beautifully narrated, and I couldn’t take my headphone off for the best part of 4 days. I wanted to know what would happen next. But there were some parts that were just unnacceptable to me. I tried, but I just couldn’t deal with the hypocrisy.

So I need some help here: I spent quite a bit of money on this and I don’t want it to go to waste, but I don’t know if I can stomach much more of the mysoginy and homophobia.

Some please tell me whether I should continue on with the rest of the series. Does it get any worse?

Juliana Matias &
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

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