Reviews with content warning for Torture - A Breath of Snow and Ashes

By now this has become such a comfort series for me that every time I pick one of these thick boys it's like receiving a warm hug. Which feels paradoxical to say, I know, because the characters in this book are never comfortable. Not for long at least.
This six book is set in 1772 and covers 4 years of adventures, or misadventures should I say, of our beloved Fraser-McKenzie family.
It is a LOT of time to cover and consequently, a LOT of stuff happens. A lot of it was interesting to read because it deals with the igniting of the American Revolution and the relationship between the English and the Indian tribes. Suffice it to say there's a lot of political and military talk which I don't usually mind but considering this was 1400-ish pages, there were times when it got a bit tedious.
As always, I really enjoy the focus on Claire's activity and practice and her explanations of plants and their different uses. This time we also have Brianna's engineering creation too which I didn't get in earnest but was fun to read anyway.
Reading these books really puts the romantic out of time travel because reading about what poor Claire goes through just because she knows things. A woman? Knowing things? Not submissive to her husband? She must be a witch.
It's heartbreaking to read and it made me dream less about being in a similar situation myself. Time traveling I mean.

The thing I like the most about Gabaldon's writing is that it's such an immersive experience that I feel like I'm getting a truthful and genuine insight into life in the 18th century. With all its gruesome reality and tough everyday activity and bigot mentality where reputation is everything and religion is the main explanation for everything.

Since, as I mentioned before, this book covers a long period of time, and they go through such hardships, at times it felt like too much. So many bad things happened to these people in such a short amount of time it feels unnecessary pain, you know what I mean?

In the previous two books, I felt like Gabaldon had lost her way in the plot a bit. I didn't see a reason for some plotlines and certainly for the page number. This one felt a lot more balanced in my opinion.
It's true that you could stop reading after "Voyager" and you would be fine but the truth is that I've grown so attached to these characters that I like the fact that my time with them is prolonged.

Content Warnings

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challenging emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This has been my favourite of the series so far! It was much easier and more engaging to read, so much happened it was like reading more than one book, as most of her work is. I really loved how the characters developed through this one, Brianna and Roger especially.

i do think the Claire’s reactions and mental state post all the very horrific things that happen in this book are kinda downplayed or looked past? We hear less from her perspective after which makes sense, and a few references to her flashbacks and ptsd, but otherwise it felt very business as usual. Especially it skipping like a month? Between her kidnapping and then the next chapter.

Even with the time stamps, I struggle to follow the time line of the book a lot and I have no idea how old Jem is supposed to be by the end lol.

Content Warnings