Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I bought this book at the beginning of a 15 hour drive from Florida to Illinois. Reading the cover, I diagnosed it as a "historical bodice-ripper" type book that happened to have a "time-travel" hook. It was listed as #4 on some best seller list; it was long enough that even if I liked the book, I might not finish before the end of the drive. Reading, I quickly discovered "bodice-ripper' is precisely correct. The time-travel twist makes the book interesting not so much for the excuse to include historical details, but because he time travel permits the heroine to have two husbands and so can compare the two. In contrast, typical bodice rippers require the heroine to be faithful to the 'one true love' as some readers won't tolerate a heroine who is perceived as sexually unfaithful. In Outlander, our heroine Claire has lots of sex initially with hubby #1, later with hubby #2. The book works up to a point. For bodice-ripper fans who don't mind rather repetitious descriptions of the physical hunkiness of men, or sex scenes to explain just how gung-ho the hero and heroine are, the story can be a page turner. Up to a point. That point is reached 2/3rds of the way through the book. After that, the book falls apart. Why? To understand we need to know what's right about the first 2/3rds. During the early portion of the book, the time-traveling heroine Claire really, really, really wanted to arrive at the rock formation-that-was-the-time portal and somehow use it to get herself back to the 20th century where she would be united with her nice enough though somewhat bland, short rather uninspiring overly academic husband, Frank. All sorts of obstacles prevented this. Claire really, really, really wants (or thinks she wants) something and the reader knows what it is. The book was moderately engrossing; I alternated reading and chatting with my husband as he drove. Many readers especially those stuck in cars with little else to do will turn the pages to read scenes where the heroine alternately makes decisions to achieve her goal and being thwarted in some way. Unfortunately roughly 2/3rds of the way through, the plot has Claire reveal her desire to return to the 20th century to her hunky red-haired well muscled (and hung) alternately abusive and loving husband Jaime who, having recently beaten her (for her own good) and then raped her (because he found beating her turned him on and he wanted to prove he was the boss of her), immediately believes her time-traveling tale. Without informing her of their destination, he takes her straight to the time-travel portal and after some conversation advises her to use the portal to return to Frank and the 20th century. Evidently, he gives her the option of returning because he loves her. What happens next? Claire has an epiphany about her feelings for hunka-hunka-burnin' love Jaime, decides not to go through the portal and rushes back to Jaime explaining that she gave up a future of perpetually available hot baths for him. I advise closing the book at this point. It's ok for the heroine in a bodice ripper to think she wants something and then realize that she was wrong and not want it anymore and to realize that the hunky somewhat rapey guy is what she really wants. It's a tried and true formula, so common as to approach cliche. If you treat this scene as the end, you will have read book that could be enjoyed by those who like bodice rippers that are on the graphic-rapey-sex end of the spectrum. Alas, I must continue my review because the novel does not end here. Instead, the book starts to wander aimlessly and for this rather obvious reason: After Claire realizes she wants to stay with hunka-hunka burning love Jaime, the heroine of our story no longer really wants anything specific. Worse, in Outlander, the reader doesn't know what any other character wants. Here are my guesses: What did Jaime want? Possibly to turn Claire into his chattel, bend her to his will and have sex with her sometimes when she wanted it and sometimes when she didn't? What did husband #1, Frank, want? To have a wife he mostly paid little attention to until night when he came home and had sex with her? Those are my guesses. But if these were the things husbands #1 and #2 wanted, both seem to already have what they wanted. That situation doesn't make the reader want to learn what happens to anyone. Still, as I was still sitting in the car, I did read a few more pages. Claire meets the inlaws. Who cares? She learns her now-pregnant sister-in-law is married to a guy with a woodden leg, but it turns out sis-in-law was not raped by Black-Jack-what's-his-face because sis-in-law kicked him in the nuts and he couldn't get it up so the 2 year old sister-in-la named after hunka-hunka burnking love Jaime is not Black-Jack's bastard. Who cares? Sister-in-law brushes weeds and nettles out of Claire and Jaime's hair making them look attractive again. Who cares? Claire continues to have sex with 18th century hunka-hunka burning love Jamie. Who cares? Presumably even more stuff happen after that. Having read reviews, it seems the last 1/3rd of the novel includes lots of brutality, flogging, Jaime gets tortured and anally raped. Many who wrote 1 star reviews objected to the the brutality; some who gave 5 star reviews accused other readers of being squeemish. I can't tell you whether those scenes are as brutal as the 1 star reviewers say because our road trip had ended and I didn't care enough to finish the book. At this point, I really don't care if Jaime, the wife-beating wife-raping well hung hunka-hunka burnkin' love, gets anally raped or whether the suddenly becomes leader of the Jacobite rebellion, distorts history and puts Bonnie Prince Charlie on the throne. I suspect the latter might make for a more interesting follow on story than the former.