sarahxify's Reviews (703)

The length of these books makes them very difficult to review. So much happens in them and there are so many storylines, some of which I dislike and some of which I absolutely love. These books are so immersive with so many events that it just feels like you're reading about the life of the Frasers, rather than reading a constructed novel with a story arc and a climax and all that kind of thing (not to say that the books aren't dramatic, they definitely are). I really love that element to the books, and particularly I like the depth of each character that this kind of storytelling allows. I love the world Gabaldon has created, and it makes me sad that I am nearing the end of the series. 

This was weird. And good. I didn't know anything about it when I started it, and the whole thing was a real surprise. I loved the way the book jumps forward and I loved the way we're following Holly Sykes and her life in a secondary way, by following various characters that meet her during her life. It gets really fantastical towards the end and I never would have predicted the end of the book from the beginning. It was brilliant and it's a shame it didn't make it to the Booker shortlist.

(2017 review: SO GOOD. This is one of the best ones in this series so far. I love the amount of characters there are in these books now. I often see complaints in reviews of these books that there are too many characters or plots, and that the books are hard to follow - personally I find them extremely easy to follow, each plot line and characters is introduced slowly and naturally and they have a clear and unique contribution to the story. These books have now spanned the majority of the main characters' lives, and I love the way Gabaldon writes such a rich story for each of them. The characters are also incredible, each person is so well written and well-characterised and I really enjoy reading from each perspective.

Just a note, I am really glad I adhered to the recommended reading order for these books - Gabaldon recommends reading the Lord John books well before this one, and doing this really adds to the story. If you don't want to read all three of John's books, I recommend at least reading Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade before this one. As well as being an excellent book, it gives you the whole backstory for Percy and John, and it makes their story in this one so much better!)

Overall, I liked this story. I like reading about cultures very different from my own, and I particularly enjoyed the parts of the book that took place in Afghanistan.

I don't think this was as good as A Thousand Splendid Suns, and I would definitely recommend that one over this one. This book has a real lack of female characters, which kind of ruined it for me. The only woman in this book is Amir's wife, Soraya, whose role in the book is basically to be another person for Amir to feel guilty about. Amir was also a very unlikable and selfish character, which certainly made the book interesting but not hugely enjoyable.

Don't really know how I felt about this one.

The good: the character and plotline of Marie-Laure, the writing style, the descriptions of a blind person getting around in the world and the detail of how they would do so. I really liked all the characters in Saint-Malo, I liked the way they all rallied together to look after Marie-Laure, I especially liked Etienne and I liked the way it wasn't a very happy  ending.

The bad: the character and plotline of Werner, the weird coincidence at the end when he just managed to make his way into her home with seconds to go before she would have been killed, the way the plot jumped back and forth. I don't mind when books aren't linear, but this was jumping back and forth between the space of only a few years and it was really annoying. I would get to a new chapter which was in 1944 and I would have to flip back because I couldn't remember if the previous chapter was 1942, 1948, or also 1944. Werner as a character I found really flat. The most interesting character in his storyline was Jutta, and she was barely in it.

So, overall...meh

There was a lot more to this than I was expecting. It was a bit weird and intense at times, but I really liked it.

Nice end to this series. I particularly liked how the political situation in Lunar ended up being settled. I think it would have really benefited from cutting a lot of the beginning bits where the author just basically needlessly amplified the situation on Lunar; it meant the end was quite rushed and the characters weren't really given much time to each have a resolution.