Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

First off, starting this book I realized how little of MOHB I remember. I thought that one was utterly forgettable. I’ve just finished this one and… also forgettable. Maybe even more so. Nothing happens! There is no tension other than a vague thing from a book that Jamie and Claire worry about but of course, this is not book 10, so we know the outcome won’t be dire. I miss racing through books desperate to discover what happens at Culloden, how Jamie and Claire find each other again, etc. Instead I’m treated to 900 pages of wandering narrative about a million side characters I can’t and don’t want to keep track of. Maybe 15% of this book is actually about Jamie and Claire. I was waiting for a plot twist I thought I saw coming but…. nope. No twists. One little “oh, interesting!” right toward the end but that’s it. Also not understanding Gabaldon’s obsession with nursing womens’ breasts constantly leaking and/or projectile spraying milk (not actually a universal experience, speaking as a nursing mother twice over), her apparent new obsession with the word “fichu” that I think appeared once every three chapters, and the other unceasingly redundant bits that I think she needs a better copy editor for. It’s just really disappointing. I first read outlander in 2007. My mom started reading them when they came out. They used to be page-turners. This one, I just kept turning the page hoping something would finally HAPPEN. Another reviewer who compares it to the Clan of the Cave Bear series is right - we’re this close to two hundred pages of emotionless descriptions of cave paintings and people urinating in the corners of caves. Time to wrap it up and it had better be with a bang.