Outlander

Outlander
By: Diana Gabaldon
Series: Outlander (Book #1)

"The year is 1945. Claire Randall, a former combat nurse, is just back from the war and reunited with her husband on a second honeymoon when she walks through a standing stone in one of the ancient 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 is catapulted 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 love so absolute that Claire becomes a woman torn between fidelity and desire—and between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives."

My Rating:

3 Bows

My Thoughts:

I was really excited to begin this book, and I am still glad that I read it and gave it  a chance despite the lower rating.

Let's start with the things that I did enjoy, and then head into what I ultimately had a problem with as the book went along.  First off, I love Jamie and Clair together as a couple.  I think they balance each other out well with Claire's stubbornness and Jamie's caring nature.  The description of Scotland is so lovely, and made me all that more excited to go and explore such an amazing country.  Currently residing in Edinburgh, it made the itch of seeing the Highlands all that more intense.  However, I'll wait to go in the spring/summer thank you very much (lol)! And, after much deliberation, I adore the television series and it's killing me to wait for the second half of season one!

There is one main reason why I ended up giving the book this rating, and will probably not continue on with the series.  Simply, it was slow.  I personally do not think it was needed to create a book this long, and I think it would have been so much better passed if the author "killed her darlings" so to speak. I found it to be repetitive at times with the information, and I think this may be why I adore the TV series so much more than the books.  The information needed is given, and then we move on with the story line which keeps everything fast paced and more interesting.

In the end, I ended up skimming and skipping through certain sections of the book just because I couldn't be bothered with it and read the sections I believed were important to the story line.  The series comes to a halt with me after this book as I do not find the urge in the slightest to pick up the second book.  I would rather wait for the TV series.

Let me know your thought and opinions on Outlander.  It seems to be a mix between loving the book and not really caring for it at all.