Outlander

So I read this back in 2015 I hated it. I mean I HATED it. I think what saved this for me the second time is because I listened to it with audible.There were a few things I really liked about this book. One Claire was not your usual damsel in distress, she made her own choices often owned up to them and seemed like a very 3 dimensional character. Often in ‘romance' novels we get very flat characters who are either a damsel or a bad-ass takes no names type. This is not the case in Outlander we quite possibly get one of the most 3 dimensional characters I've read in a romance book. Another awesome thing about this book is it's not just the before the marriage it's after and the many problems a marriage can have. Plus she shows the characters growing together as a couple instead of just leaving the reader to form the happy ever after.

The things I didn't like. Honestly the book was too long for me in some parts. That first 5% in the 1940s dragged. It took me ages to just get through that first chunk and that meant I was constantly putting the book down. The violence towards the end between Jamie and Randall was a bit too intense for me. I also felt like some of the ending portion was a bit too out of character for Jamie and that bothers me to have a character change so drastically in a way I wouldn't see them changing near the end of a book. Finally I hate a book that ends with a literal beginning to the second book and Outlander does that. Now at 600+ pages I feel like a book shouldn't do that and should give you a solid ending that doesn't leave you in a weird part of the unknown for the story.

Finally I'd score the book 3/5 stars and would say that if it sounds like something you'd enjoy reading it'd worth the cash. I was left intrigued enough by the ending to at some point pick up the second book in the series.