Grandios. Ein weiteres Meisterwerk von Frau Gabaldon! Ich hatte anfangs meine Zweifel ob mich Band 2 genauso begeistern kann wie Band 1. war der Einstieg in die Geschichte hier doch zuerst etwas verwirrend. Und Schottland hat mir zu Beginn sehr gefehlt, aber ich konnte mich dann doch ganz gut auch mit der neuen Szenerie und den neuen Gegenspielern "anfreunden". Und die letzten hundert Seiten habe ich mehr als einmal Pause machen müssen weil ich echt heulen musste. Aber das Ende lässt mich stark auf Band 3 hoffen!

1000 páginas depois, recheadas de uma letra minúscula (!), encerrei mais um volume desta saga que me mantém apaixonada!!!
O histerismo continuou e explico-vos melhor em vídeo, a partir do minuto 14:18):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsMBR...

I picked the second book up after watching the first season of the TV series and tricking me into believing that the first one had been okay. Not sure why my mind played tricks on me because all the things that I hated about book one were ever-present and I managed to get even more annoyed with the characters.

Time traveling is probably my favorite concept - while also being in love with historical fiction I prefer to read about people traveling to the past than to the future. So, the book actually combines a lot of the things that I love which makes me wonder even more why I don't even like it. I'm actually a big fan of the beginning of the book which confused me for a couple of pages but it was a great start. Unfortunately, the book went down the drain afterward.

I've got to admit that I definitely enjoyed reading some parts of the book. For example, their time in France. There are also quite a lot interesting characters that I liked to read about. But (and this is a big one) I never felt as if the historical aspect of the story was really important. It might be because I don't know much about the time and actions involved but it certainly seemed as if the author didn't really bother with explaining everything. I know stories get boring when there's too much explaining but there's a difference between nothing and too much. To understand what was going on and who were the variously presented characters I had either to ask my husband for help or use google. Easy to say, not my favorite way to read a book.

One aspect the author paid a lot of attention to was the relationship between Claire and Jamie. While I had big issues with their relationship in book 1 I thought I was prepared for what was to come. To be honest, I thought I could ignore it a little. After finishing book one I was very convinced that the series is foremost a romantic novel, not a historical fiction which is why it surprised me a lot how loveless their relationship turned out to be. I noticed that the book tried to convince me otherwise but I definitely wasn't feeling it. There was no involvement on my part into their relationship besides being annoyed how he treated her.

Maybe I'm just not made for this series. Whereas, I thought about giving it another go after the first book (which I did in the end) I now know that I'll find other books that I actually enjoy reading. The fact that it took me 8 months to finish it speaks volumes. I'm done.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ Jamie and Claire's epic love and adventures continues, this time in France. Thing spins out of control and the readers worse case scenario is a fact, which turns into the worst cliffhanger in history.

n  “I will find you," he whispered in my ear. "I promise. If I must endure two hundred years of purgatory, two hundred years without you - then that is my punishment, which I have earned for my crimes. For I have lied, and killed, and stolen; betrayed and broken trust. But there is the one thing that shall lie in the balance. When I shall stand before God, I shall have one thing to say, to weigh against the rest."

His voice dropped, nearly to a whisper, and his arms tightened around me.

Lord, ye gave me a rare woman, and God! I loved her well."n

All the praise in the world to Diana Gabaldon for managing a heart stopping plot twist that shattered me right in the prolouge. I thought my heart was going to burst. Not many authors can create twists that shocks me to the core but DRAGONFLY IN AMBER certainly did. I never read blurbs so the beginning in this book shocked the hell out of me. I think my exact thought was something like " what the f*ng hell??!!!!!!! The happily ever after we so desperately wanted for our beloved Jamie and Claire seemed to have vanished into thin air and 'crack', THAT was my heart breaking...So, if you don't want any spoilers WHAT SO EVER stop reading now!!!

The prolouge starts with a punch in the gut. Claire is back in her own time. And she has a daughter, Brianna. And she is twenty years old. Here I was really confused. Turns out that Claire, now a doctor, has taken her daughter to Scotland from America to finally tell her the truth about her father (which of course is Jamie’s for those who were wondering) and to find out once and for all what really happened to him.

The moment when Claire found Jamie's grave, my heart broke and I just wanted to put this book in the freezer Joey style, and mend my broken heart with ice cream. But I am glad I didn´t.

DRAGONFLY IN AMBER takes of right where OUTLANDER left of. Claire and Jamie are in France, trying to prevent something that only Claire knows will happen. If you fell in love with Jamie Fraser in book 1, your love will continue to grow for him here. He is just as irresistible as ever.

He will literally melt your heart.

His love for Claire is just as strong as ever. And just as EPIC! The love between the two of them conquers everything and they both would do everything to keep the other safe. That is why Claire in the end is forced to make the ultimate choice to protect the people she loves. Even if it will lead to unbelivable heart break and pain. She does it anyway, for Jamie. For the man she loves more then anything. My advice is, take your time and savour this because the plot is stunning!

The ending broke my heart. And just not broke it. Shattered it into tiny pieces. But a little bit of hope restored itself in the epilogues' last sentence. Holy freaking cliffhanger! 'Da mi basia mille'. (Jamie's inscription to Claire in her wedding ring) "Give me a Thousend kisses" in Latin. Sigh. (It has a significance in the story. Dragonfly In Amber is a magnificent story with flawless writing. I advice everyone to read it. Tissues will be needed.

Jamie Fraser...#King of Men!



| Hero 5 | | Angst | High focus |
| Heroine | 5 | | Romance | | High focus |
| Sexual tension | 4 | | Suspense | Medium focus |
| Storytelling | 5 | | Humour | Medium focus |
| Storyending | 5 |

n  n   

“‘No, my Sassenach,’ he said softly. ‘Open your eyes. Look at me. For that is your punishment, as it is mine. See what you have done to me, as I know what I have done to you. Look at me.’”

n  n
Don’t know whether to congratulate or curse Diana Gabaldon. Can, Claire & Jamie never get a break?!!

Expect love, loss, heartbreak, political infiltrations, battles and frustrating separations along the way. I found this to be a mostly angsty read and although there was the odd scene that made my lips twitch, there were also quite a few scenes that left me really mad/sad

This book was great after you get through quite a slow part, towards the middle. But once you get over the hurdle, wow! Fabulous ending and definitely more Jamie in this one!

'And here I thought I married you because ye had a fair face and fine fat arse. To think you've a brain as well!'

That's our loveable Jamie for you.

This book starts out with Claire being back in her current time plus twenty years....W.T.H?? I can't even begin to tell you the emotions I was feeling at that. You just KNOW, know things are not going to go good but In. No. Way. can you be prepared. I can't recall when I've ever cried so hard but I'm getting ahead of myself.

We start off with Claire taking her daughter, Brianna, back to Scotland after the death of Frank. Claire wants to tell Bree about her real dad and find out what happened to the men from Lallybroch. This part was really interesting especially with regards to Roger Wakefield. We don't get too much information ~ yet.

The story then goes back to the past and where Outlander ended off. Jamie and Claire have left the Abbey and are headed to Paris to help Jamie's cousin, Jared, in his business and get more information on the Bonnie Prince. This part is really slow and tedious and just bogged down with a lot of information. But to be fair, it could be that I didn't like it due to the fact that I didn't like how Jamie acted. He has to pretend to support the Bonnie Prince and runs around with him at all hours of the night and to unscrupulous places and with unscrupulous people. Poor Claire is having a hard pregnancy and naturally, some horrible things happen.

Probably around fifty percent plus, things picked up for me as well as for the book. They are back in Scotland and we get a verra few pages of tranquility. Of course, that doesn't last. War has come and I guess it's just the magical way Diana Gabaldon tells her story, you just feel that you're right there with the characters. All the lice comments were freaking me out!!

Believe it or not, things get even more intense and it's just mind boggling all the things that happen! That leads to the last ten percent ... the soul robbing, heart wrenching and tear tsunamis. There is just no way you can prepare even though you know what's going to happen! So, just find a quiet place and time where you can just let it go.

I think the only bright part is that you know there is five-six more books so there's hope BUT I'm also really, really nervous about what else might happen. These books are sooo emotionally draining and as much as I love these emotional books, even I have my limits but like the junkie Diana Gabaldon has made me, I can't wait for the next one. (after a break that is!)

Favorite lines (again...there are so many, I'll try to narrow them down!):

♥ "You are mine," it had said. "Mine! And I will not let you go."

♥ "Oh, Claire, ye do break my heart wi' loving you."

♥ "You're mine, damn ye, Claire Fraser! Mine, and I wilna share ye, with a man or a memory, or anything whatever, so long as both shall live."

♥ "Tell him I hate him to his guts and the marrow of his bones!"


**Days to finish book ~ 5 days/752 pages**

Not a bad historical fantasy, but I have some issues with it. I kept putting off my reading until close to its due date at the library. Even when I got started and the deadline was approaching, I kept looking longingly at other books on my library book pile and had to force myself to keep reading this one.

First, the book starts with Claire returning to Scotland (in the 20th century) with her grown-up daughter Brianna. They meet a charming young Scotsman, Roger MacKenzie, and sparks fly between Brianna and Roger. Well & good, I am interested in this new plot line. But does Gabaldon stick with it? No, everything takes an abrupt left turn, back into the past and we’re back in time with Claire & Jamie. And there are HUNDREDS of pages between appearances of Roger & Brianna.

The historical fantasy isn’t bad, as historical fantasies go, it just wasn’t what I was interested in. Claire & Jamie, blah blah, blah, Bonnie Prince Charlie, blah, blah, blah, Battle of Culloden, more blather. The manuscript is padded with all kinds of vignettes which do absolutely nothing to move the action along and only bogged me down (when Claire & Jaime discover the cave paintings, anyone?)

And this is going to sound very pedantic, but she mentions birds in the course of the book four times and only gets it right once. In the very beginning, chickadees are referenced. Well, there aren’t any chickadees in Scotland—they have related birds, the tits. If Claire had seen/heard Blue Tits or Coal Tits, that would be accurate, but not chickadees. At another point, Claire is woken by a mockingbird. No dice, there aren’t mockingbirds in France. Claire hears a meadowlark—impossible! Maybe a Skylark, but there aren’t meadowlarks in Europe. At least when Jamie feeds crumbs to some sparrows, she just leaves them as generic sparrows and doesn’t assign a species. I even hauled out my Birds of Europe with North Africa and the Middle East just to check that I hadn’t lost my mind, but it backed me up. If you want accurate historical fiction, you can’t just go sticking North American birds into a novel set in Scotland and France!

Okay, bird rant over. I can tell how un-involved I was in the story that I’d be counting and evaluating the appearances of birds in the text.

One thing I did enjoy was the prominence of genealogical research in the plot line. Turns out that Claire’s 20th century husband, Frank, fortuitously counted some of the characters in this narrative in his family tree and had made a big enough deal of it that Claire was aware of these details. She spends a fair bit of time convincing the 18th century husband, Jamie, not to kill these relatives too soon, to ensure that Frank will be born. There’s more talk of the paradox of time travel in this novel, and I enjoyed those speculations.

Book number 283 in my Science Fiction and Fantasy Reading Project.

This book is almost unbelievably long so in part it felt like a bit of a slog to get through. However the overall plot was gripping and the attention to detail made for a vivid portrait into life in 18th century France and Scotland.
Jamie and Claire make for a lovely couple and both are interesting characters in their own right.

I very much enjoyed reading this.

Ich gebe zu das das Buch nicht besser ist als der erste Teil, es ist anders. In diesem Teil geht es sehr viel mehr um Abenteuer und um die Geschichte Schottlands und ob das schlimmste in der Geschichte der schottischen Clans abwendbar ist. Aber auch die Romatik und die aus der besonderen Konstellation der Beziehung zwischen Jamie und Claire enstehenden Herausforderungen und Prüfungen bekommen ihren Auftritt, die mich wieder voll und ganz gepackt haben. Das Setting befindet sich zeitweise NICHT in Schottland und ich bin sehr gespannt wie es umgesetzt wird und freue mich auf die Kostüme

I hate you gabaldon, i hate you

It took me a while to finish this but I really enjoyed it and look forward to book #3.