Diana Gabaldon's Written in My Own Heart's Blood
I think this is the first Outlander book where no one is raped (though there is an attempted rape and a lot of flashbacks to a previous rape), so, hooray for that? The racism is also toned down somewhat, though that's mainly because there are so few minority characters (there is some anti-Semitism, but that was period-appropriate and is expressed by the characters, not in the writing) (A black lady blushing is compared to a plum at one point, just FYI. Is that racist or just weird?). All in all, this was a much more pleasant reading experience than the last couple of books. I mean, it's still basically a time-traveling soap opera with an ever-expanding cast of characters (I had to Google two of them, b/c I had no idea who they were). And there are a few characters, like Roger, who disappear from the narrative for like 200 pages at a time--but that's ok, because Roger is boring. And a couple of plot points are left hanging. But I honestly feel like, with the way this wrapped up, this could be a nice finale for the series. Sadly, it's a huge money-maker, so I'm sure Gabaldon will think of some more torturous experiences for these characters to go through before it's all over.
I jsut noticed that I wrote all that and didn't even mention the plot, which is mainly b/c nothing much happens in 800+ pages. There's the Revolutionary War and whatnot, but still. Soap opera. B.
Awesome - thank you! I debated whether or not to buy this book or just wait for it to become available at the library. Library it is!
ReplyDeleteTotally and completely agree! Didn't like the last book at all, and this was no better. New to the series in the past year, and had almost all-nighters because I couldn't put some of the earlier books down. All activity in the house would go on hold until I finished the book (take-out for supper, laundry could wait! haha!). Had no problem putting this one down. Got SO annoyed with the massive switches between plot lines in the different sections/parts. Just when I would start to get invested in the characters again, BAM, back to a totally and completely unrelated plot line. Even debated on reading them out of sequence just so I could finish one story and then the other. The absolutely could have been 2 different books, and probably should have been. The last 4-5 pages could have been at the end of the second one. Sigh...I fear the days of the marathon Gabaldon reading are long gone. Sad.
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