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What are y’alls thoughts on the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon?

What are y’alls thoughts on the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon?

Precious #review

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170 Answers

Wendy

My addiction.

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Susan

Well-researched and beautifully written. My favorite series of all time!!!

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Georgina

UGH.

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Lauren

I love it, though it was not an easy read.

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Vickie

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

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Jennifer

Outstanding! You will love!

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Courtney

She is such a descriptive author, literally takes you in, time travel in a book. Highly, highly recommend!!

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Ruth

Starts well, gets tiresome. The TV series is much better.

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Jed

Ruth, this is pretty much my sentiment with the reading. Haven’t watched any, yet

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Maudia

Lots of detail and a good storyteller!

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Jed

I read so many varying reviews of Outlander that I went in firmly set on my 100 page guideline. If I wasn’t up late reading and page turning, it would be a DNF.

I do think Gabaldon treats the time travel (hope that’s not a spoiler – I think this plot device is fairly widely known) with a balanced touch: not focusing too heavily on it, but not ignoring it either.

The historical info isn’t burdensome, at all, just enough for me to learn a bit and crack the dictionary occasionally for old Gaelic definitions. She does lean a bit heavily on ‘dinna’ for ‘did not’ as the primary “they’re speaking with a Scottish brogue” reminder.

Other than that, I sailed past page 100 eager for more.

Now, around page 400, the romance is starting to take more of a front seat and it feels like the story is plodding along from one small adventure to the next, for fillers sake. You know when you get to the point in a read when you verbally say to the book “GET ON WITH IT ALREADY!” Yep, that’s where I’m at. A few have said it’s well worth finishing, so I’ll just take a break and dive back in a bit later.

You asked! ?

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Rachel

Read the first one. Have the second one. I just can’t be motivated to read it.

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Beth

Love all the books and have reread them 5 times. As a nurse, I enjoyed all the medical parts but also liked the story of Claire and Jamie. Also love the Outlander series on Starz

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Ellie

Ok.

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GeorgeAnn

Loved it. Read all of them and can’t wait for the next one! They are long, and took up most of 2015!

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Amy

Unpopular opinion: meh. I liked the first few books but somewhere around the 4th book it was just too much life and death and drama for me to enjoy.

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Kristi

I felt like this too. After the fourth I ‘gave up’. Then I, for some reason, got the 5th on audible and never looked back. Lol.

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Lisa

I liked Outlander but not the rest.

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Carla

I loved them.

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Anne

I’m in the loved them camp. I’ve read each one multiple times. Yes, they’re a bit cheesy and overdone here and there, but overall great storytellling.

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Catherine

Loved it.

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Heidi

I’ve read the first 5. I really like them.

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MaryAnn

Tried reading the first one. Really disliked it. Don’t think I even finished it.

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Keryn

Love them all!!!!

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Colleen

I made it through the first 2 or 3, then stopped. They just didn’t hold my attention beyond that. The first one was the best, it was all downhill from there, in my opinion.

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Karen

Drivel but very popular drivel.

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Ally

I am stuck on The Fiery Cross right now. It’s just not pulling me in.

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Laura

I just finished it. Took forever. But the ending makes it SO worth it!!! Just keep going! Lol

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Crystal

I’m about 75% into the 6th book and to be perfectly honest – I think I need a break. I haven’t read anything BUT these books for a few months now, and I’m dreaming about reading anything other than Outlander. Don’t get me wrong – they’re great and well written (if you like that, very descriptive to the point of almost being overkill, kind of writing)… but with each book being approximately 900+ pages each, it’s a commitment for sure.
As for me, I do think I will step away from the series for a bit. I miss the excitement I felt with the first few books!

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Kristi

I do this too then I start to think ‘I wonder what Claire & Jamie are up to’ and that’s when I know it’s time to go back.

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Crystal

@Kristi I’m really hoping that will happen for me!! I do love the books and characters very much. Have you read any of the Lord John books by chance? I was thinking about getting those at some point.

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Kristi

NO! I didn’t even know those existed

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Crystal

@Kristi oh dear! There’s a bunch of them. The Lord John series, and then all of the short stories that coincide with the Outlander series. There’s also the 2 Outlander companion books (I just found the first one on ThriftBooks but haven’t really done more than skim through it). Quite a lot of reading if you ever want more of Diana Gabaldon’s characters. 🙂

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Kristi

@Crystal well shit! Ha! I knew about 1 companion book but nothing else!

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Crystal

Haha! Well now you know and can keep an eye out for them! Happy reading!! ?

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Linda

Taking a break is such a good idea. Too much of anything can dampen one’s enjoyment. There is one drawback, if your memory is like mine, I forget all the characters. For that problem there is there are the companion books – I haven’t used them yet but feel they would allow breaks and provide catch-up.

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Crystal

Very good point ! I’m still keeping an eye out for a good deal on the 2nd companion book. I will be taking a break once I finish this one, and I’m really hoping I’ll be eager to jump back in afterwards.

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Shelly

I loved it, but its been quite a few years since I read them.

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Audrey

Loved all of them!

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Deb

I thought the torture of Jamie was too graphic

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Katina

This got me too and I’m not really shy about violence. It just felt overdone.

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Susan

Terrible

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Angela

I loved them all but maybe the first two I enjoyed the most.

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Melinda

Love them and the whole story…that doesn’t mean that I don’t get exasperated with the storyline sometimes, but the accurate historical aspect makes me love them

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Jennifer

LOVE!!!

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Jennifer

And not drivel.

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Kira

My favorite

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Kat

I read the first one. Loved the story but couldn’t handle the graphic sex and violence. Just a personal thing for me. When I mentioned it to the person I borrowed the first one from, she said, “That stuff only gets worse. If you found that aspect off-putting, you probably don’t want to read the second one.” So I didn’t.

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Monica

Meh. I didn’t care for the sex and violence either, and the protagonist was disrespectful and selfish (IMO). Couldn’t finish the first one.

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Katina

I liked these but I tend to loose interest in series and this one lost me at book 4 or 5.

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Carol

Love, love, love it! Can’t wait for book 9!

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Kelly

Love them!

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Christina

The first few we’re fantastic, but I got tired. These people just can’t catch a break.

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Yvette

Love it.. I cant wait for the next one.

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Steve

LOVE IT!!

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Cristina

I loved it. I read them out of order though. To me the historical details and Claire made the story not the sex.

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Elissa

All time favorites!!

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Trev

Read a couple of chapters filed it under romance and ignored it and the tv programme.

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Jocelyn

Love love love. ❤❤❤ They are long, and her writing can be verbose, but the way she weaves everything together, history, love, family, torture, intimacy, passion. IMO its art. And the show, Oh My Starz, I’ve lost count how many times I’ve watched it.

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Kim

I didnt like the first one. Wife going back in time. Cheating on her husband. Graphic sex, violence. To many other great books to read.

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Ellie

Lol, the sex scenes were the only bit that kept me interested, if it wasnt for them, I’d have ditched it early lol

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Laura

Absolutely amazing.

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Kristi

❤️❤️❤️but listening to it is even better than reading it. The narrator is amazing. Edit to say: I must have been wrapped up I something else because that was such a small part to me, I barely noticed ?

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Jeri

We read the first one for book club years ago. We called it “Sex on a Rock.”

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Gail

Love them!

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Sabrina

Love it

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Dori

Awful.

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Alison

Too much gratuitous violence

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Courtney

It was a violent time in history.

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Alison

@Courtney every time is a violent time in history somewhere. I’m just suggesting that the descriptions of the violence-especially the sadistic sexual tone of some of it – was off putting to me. I have no problem with violence in books where it serves the story. I just felt she lingered on the descriptions in a way I found disturbing. Obviously most people are not bothered by it. It’s just my opinion. The reading world is big enough for lots of different tastes. Happy reading!

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Laura

I found it a bit much at times too – and even skipped over a part here or there as it was too much like being a peeping tom. Then I wondered why it bothered me. I also thought that part of what I enjoyed so much about the books is the way she put us inside the character and how the character dealt with all kinds of challenges and feelings. There were far more horrible things that happened in those times and it isn’t much of a stretch of the imagination to believe these things could happen. That the characters could withstand and survive much of what they did was harder to believe. But then that just amplified the strength of their love and their characters. The fortitude to survive and to fight is met with the opposing but equal depth of love and passion. This was the thinking that allowed me to move past those parts that made me feel like a voyeur. ????

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Courtney

@Alison agreed

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Alison

@Laura and @Courtney. I just want to thank you both for being a part of an on- line community where we can express differing opinions in a respectful and thoughtful way and with genuine curiosity about what each other thinks. It is wonderful and all too rare these days. You have actually helped me better understand why people like this book. I appreciate the discussion. Thanks.

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Laura

@Alison I agree with you. This forum has been excellent in that regard. I’ve had several thought-provoking, considerate conversations on this page and am grateful to have found this group.

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Courtney

@Laura Agreed!

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Tiffany

I felt like it had kind of a slow start, but overall good.

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Lisa

Read many of them years ago and loved them. They are on my to read again, at some point I got many of them bundled on my kindle

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Diana

I enjoyed #1 to 4, but needed a break. Will eventually get back to finish reading the rest. I do agree the sex is over the top as is some of the violence (although they were violent times ..)

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Connie

Love it

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Claudia

Love them!!

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Colleen

Liked them at first, not so much after they left Scotland. Diana takes too much time between books, I forget what’s happened and don’t have time to re-read 6 books to get up to speed. Too much gratuitous sex, especially when you read the books one after the other. Liked the first few but haven’t even read the last one.

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Courtney

It takes so long between her books because she does her research. I would rather wait for a well written novel than read one of the novels that are churned out one right after another. I believe that her books have weight and substance to them.

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Laura

As in young love that ages, the sex scenes do wane a bit in subsequent books as the characters age and they have more to deal with. Hang in there – the story is worth it!

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Renee

Love it!! The show is great to!

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Laurel

Love it

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Jan

Meh

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Katrin

Book 1 to 4 = ??

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Kimmy

Only the best romantic series out there ?

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Linda

Can’t beat it for passion, history, characters

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Courtney

Is anyone else irritated that the Starz series focuses more on the sexual content of the books? Really irritating because her books are about so much more than that. Interesting note…the series first came out in the Sci-fi genre and it was only later that it was released in the historical romance genre.

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Lisa

I recall being horrified that it was in the romance section. 😕

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Courtney

@Lisa if I’m not mistaken it was placed in that section because more and more women started buying the book. She actually has a solid male readership base. I have all of the books in hardcover and the first four are signed by her!

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Lisa

@Courtney very cool. I read the series with a group of newlyweds. Years ago now.. I stopped reading at some point but would like to reread.

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Courtney

@Lisa me too, but I’m finishing up my Associates degree (I’m an older student and work full time) so I don’t have much time for reading. I do listen to audiobooks on my commute to/from work though, so any good recommendations of similar books would be most welcome!

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Lisa

Hmm, no current recommendations for similar books but some audio I have enjoyed recently.. The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto, Trevor Noah Born a Crime, The Rosie Project, The Nightingale.. to name. Few that come quickly.

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Courtney

@Lisa The Nightingale was very good. I’ll check the others out. Thank you

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Sue

I quit watching the series because it focused so much on the sex. I loved the books!

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Robbie

Yes, very irritated. Cheapens the whole premise but I guess they have to do something to make it “good” for TV. I enjoyed all of them (on recommendation from my MIL) and even visited one of the towns in Scotland that was mentioned in one of the books, totally by accident, and with my MIL in tow.

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Linda

I agree that the TV series is more superficial than the books and that disappoints me but TV has so little time to tell the story and they do what they can with it. Character development loses out – the sex is okay with me because it is shown from a woman’s point of view and that is refreshing. Claire is told at the beginning, when her hand is looked at, that she is a sexual being so that lays the foundation for all the sex.

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Debra

Fantastic!! Diana is a phenomenal writer and has created an epic pairing of Jamie and Clare. Favorite series ever!!❤️

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Terri

Luv it!❤️

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Jenny

I had trouble getting into it

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Sylvia

lovely, sexy, but a bit fluffy

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Robin

Loved the first one, liked the 2nd and 3rd, grew weary of the 4th and haven’t read any of the others.

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Cara

Most people like it but I’m in the minority who didn’t.

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Ellie

It was just meh for me. Finished the first book but had zero desire to read the second.

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Auntie

Meh for me too… I didn’t even get through the 1st chapter.

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Juliana

LOVE!!!!!!

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Andrea

❤️❤️

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Kathy

Loved the first four, but then she got too long winded.

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Barbara

The absolute best!! Books similar but take different tracks in places than Starz series. Fun and beautiful read. And if like the series, please check out sistersTracy and Carol’s UTube blog/videos/ Outlander Purgatory. Smart and fun commentary?

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Leslie

Love the series, but… when you have a (soon to be) 9 book series there is little new in the latter ones, they tend to be formulaic. However, if you adore the characters it’s like visiting old friends whenever you start a new book. It will be hard to say goodbye to Jamie and Claire after all these years.

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Linda

I like it. A couple of the books ? I struggled with.

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Marie

Liked the first book but there were parts that made me feel iffy about it… still, liked it enough to stick with the series (especially since I had heard such great things)… now on book four and I LOVE the series! I have to force myself to read other books in between so the series will last longer 🙂 lol

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Chris

As soon as I saw this question I was like yep Marie will reply lol

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Iris

The series is my favorite. I’ve read then multiple times!!

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Andrea

Couldn’t do it. Got through the 1st two books and lost interest. ??‍♀️

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Barbara

Love them….have read them all and also listened to them all on Audible

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Elvia

I’ve seen the serie. And if the book is that lovely thing I won’t read it.

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Robbie

The books were WAAAAY better than the series which I think did a terrible job of translating.

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Elvia

Thanks for the information, btw where is the Author from?,

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Robbie

She’s American

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Elvia

Thanks

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Patricia

❤️ the series. The Fiery Cross was a bit slow and difficult to get through but absolutely love the entire series. Getting ready to start again at the beginning (for the 3rd time)

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Rossie

I lost interest part way through the 1st book. ??‍♀️

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PreciousQuestion author

I started reading it last night. So far I like it ? so we will see if I keep liking it as I read. Lol

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Robbie

It’s a series that stands up well to reading just the first one. A good premise and a fun romp. I did read the entire set but thought they made a huge mistake to turn the books into a cheap TV production.

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Rhonda

Love the series. I have read the entire thing twice.

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Jennifer

I found it boring.

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Shirleen

I have listened to the entire thing and I love it.

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Nancy

loved the first couple…then it got boring.

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Pat

I enjoyed it

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Toni

I am a huge Outlander fan, I’ve read them all & watched the series on Starz too. Now waiting for book 9 & season 4 to come out.

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Melinda

Me too!!

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Beth

Me too!

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Erica

I love the series i’m currently reading the fifth book and can’t wait until season 4 starts on Starz.

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Danielle

Tbr

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Chrissy

Favorite series of all time.

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Gayle

Love it!

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Julie

Been a fan since the nineties!!

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Claudia

I love it. Some of the books are better than others. I like the later books as they come to America, the characters age. Saw the first few episodes of the show and decided to stick with the books.

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Laura

It took me a few episodes on the tv series to adjust to faces and places unlike what I had imagined. However they’ve done a pretty decent job. I do still prefer the books. The author did such a fine job of setting the scene without being overdone and developing the characters. Just felt like I “lived with them” more through reading the books.

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Sara

Amazing! I started reading them in college and I’ve never looked back!

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Laura

This was the series that rejuvenated my reading habits. My reading had become dormant for several years as work and life in general took all my energy and attention. The series is absolutely captivating if you appreciate books with a solid sense of place, a healthy dose of romance tempered with characters who have dimension and strength of character built through significant challenges, and just enough of fantasy (time travel …- not a spoiler) to give it mystery and not bog the reader down in too much glaring reality or far-flung dystopia. Happy Reading!

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Janet

Horrible. Unless you think wives should be beaten and raped. Got very turned off when reading the first book which was recommended by a friend. Tell everyone I know not to read these awful books. Too much good literature available.

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Laura

Not sure we read the same book. Sometimes I can read something a year or so later – or re-watch a tv show that I gave short shrift the first time around and perhaps due to different experiences I’d encountered since or just having a different mood or frame of mind it turns out to be more appealing than it did at first. Just me… perhaps at a later date you might want to give it another read. Or not. Just a thought…..

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Carin

She was never raped by him…?? But the ass paddling part had me rolling my eyes. I do think she put tgat part in tgere for historical context because the world at tgat time WAS like that, and I think it was in there to show that Clare was basically like “touch me again and I’ll freakin knife you “

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Janet

The book I read had Jaime beating her and raping her. Turned me off completely.

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Wandy

Umm, that was probably Black Jack Randall, not our Jamie. I luv the series, but it is a bit violent in parts, I do warn about the horrendous rape scene in Book 1 when recommending it.

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Carin

Jamie never raped her. He saved her from being raped.

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Janet

No it was Jaime. She did something he did not like. They were in an inn. He beat her and then raped her. I have found many references to it on the internet. Lots of people don’t like it.

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Brooke

Love it. Agree there’s occasionally too much violence and/or bodice-ripping but over all I love the characters and the world she’s created. Like, I miss them and want to go visit them regularly. 🙂 (Assuming I’m not the only here who feels that way about certain books!)

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Carin

Read them all without stopping. Great series, and I am a romance novel hater…the historical slant got me

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Brooke

Same. I feel like I could possibly survive if we suddenly had no electricity (and all had horses and Claire’s green thumb!!)

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Laura

That’s what lured me in too. That and the medical background of Claire’s character. The author did her research and provided some great scenes using the medical / herbal practices of the times. It’s definitely not a one-dimensional, typical period romance novel.

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Angela

So so good! Her writing style is very smooth and it’s evident she spent a lot time researching that period in history.

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Donna

love the history.

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Barb

I couldn’t get into them. I was working at Borders when I first tried to read them and cringed when we moved them from the “romance” section into the regular “literature” section.

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Sarah

I enjoyed the first book very much, but haven’t had any desire to read those that follow. :-/

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Laura

First book was pretty good. 2nd book was a bit boring. I listened on audio. I do like the tv show. I still need to read voyage but I think I”m going to go audio.

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Janie

I read the first three. I did not like the third one, so stopped after that. Seemed repetitive, with some peril on every page.

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Chris

Love them

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Pam

My favorite books, I Love them!

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Darlene

Read the first, then went to audiobook on the way to work. Good way to pass the time, but don’t plan on reading anymore.

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Mary

Loved it

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Dona

Im with susan ! Yuck

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Jan

Loved it! I still haven’t read the last two though it’s been so long since I read the rest. I’d love to read it all again soon

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Niccole

Love it more than words can say.

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Barry

Brilliant!

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Donna

I love them and have read them several times.

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