Not too long ago I picked up and read the wonderful book that is "Outlander" by Diana Gabaldon. I cannot recommend this book enough! It is simply beautiful and amazing and will absolutely rip your heart out.
Summary
"Outlander" follows the story of Claire Randall as she unknowingly gets transported back in time. The novel begins in the year of 1946 as Claire is enjoying Scotland on a second honeymoon with her historian husband, Frank. During this honeymoon, Claire happens upon some standing stones (similar to Stonehenge) and gets transported back in time to 1743.
Once there, Claire must learn to navigate the new culture that she is thrust into and must gain the trust of those around her in order to survive. There is lots of twists and turns and betrayals and romance and action. Claire is a very talented nurse and meets a great (and not so great) cast of characters along her journey as she tries to stay alive in order to get back to her the standing stones and her husband. However, things change when Claire is unexpectedly forced to marry a young Scot in order to save both of their lives.
Writing
I love Diana Gabaldon’s writing!! She is an amazing author and has a beautiful way with words. She is able to describe scenes so perfectly and does a great job with internal dialogue sounding natural and not forced. Really, nothing seems forced throughout the entirety of "Outlander" which is always nice when reading.
Characters
Man, oh man. The characters in this novel will have my heart forever. There are so many intriguing and complex characters throughout the whole book.
I loved Claire as a main character. She was very strong and not weak as I fell many main characters can be. She had her flaws which was also refreshing to read about and wasn’t afraid to say her mind. She can be very stubborn which I also enjoyed reading about. I don’t think Claire is your typical protagonist, but in the most amazing way ever.
Jaime is also just as amazing as Claire, if not more. He is so kind and caring and will do anything for Claire. At the same time, he has an impeccable sense of right and wrong and, just like Claire, will stand up and do what is right no matter the cost. Jaime is another very strong character and I loved reading about him from Claire’s perspective
Geillis Duncan was another of my favorites. She was so mysterious and slightly evil but with the best intentions. I love her back story and am so sad we don’t see much of her in the following books.
I found Dougal to be so creepy! He would just not leave Claire alone. Jenny Fraser was another one of my favorites also. She is seriously the strongest character of the whole bunch, which is really saying something. I loved her and Jamie’s relationship. Jack Randall is simply evil. Enough said.
Plot
I absolutely loved the plot and story line of this novel! So much happens and there are so many little details that you read about at one point and then they come back up later in the most perfect way. "Outlander" is a pretty hefty novel so there is plenty of time for lots of events to happen as Claire goes about learning how to fit in during 1743 Scotland.
The plot is normally pretty fast paced but there definitely are some slow parts of the book that are more just used as set up and explanations of certain events. I’ve read the second book in this series and that one is a lot slower than "Outlander" ever was. "Outlander" is definitely one of those books though where you get done with it and are like “Geez how can the author fit so much into one book?”
Just as a warning, the ending of this book is very graphic, disturbing and terribly sad. I won’t say who it is with because of spoilers, but there is a horrible rape scene and it will just destroy your heart. The scene does serve a purpose in the novel and is not just put there for the sake of being there, as I feel many rape scenes are.
Overall
Overall, "Outlander" is an outstanding novel. I could not put it down and really loved everything about this book. I highly recommend everyone read it! It will make you cry and laugh and want to throw the book at the wall. Simply amazing.
