carolesrandomlife

This review can also be found at Carole's Random Life.

I feel like I should warn you before you read too much of this review that there will be gushing. Major gushing. You see, I am in love with Jamie Frasier. I can't help it. It just happened and I am powerless to stop it. I had to admit to my husband that I was in love with a fictional character. He just shrugged his shoulders and looked at me like I was crazy. Oh well.



This is a story that is really all about the characters. And Jamie is one heck of a character. Oh sure, I like Claire well enough too but Jamie is in a whole different league. I think that the entire cast of characters in this novel are really very well portrayed and they simply come to life on the page. The characters are so realistic that many of them actually remind me of certain people that I have met just based on personality traits. All of the characters are flawed and make mistakes and I love them because of that.



This isn't a book that really has one major plot but instead focuses on a time period during their lives. There are a lot of things that happen in this book. I must admit that I was a bit confused when I started listening to this audiobook because of how it started. I stopped and checked and then double checked that it was in fact book #2 in the series. I read this book years ago and didn't remember that it started the way that it does. The way the book begins really does take any surprise out of how it ends but the entire journey is wonderful. There are a lot of descriptions in the book that I am sure could have been edited out but I am glad that they weren't. I wasn't looking for a short book when I started this series. I was hoping to be swept away by an epic story details included.



I think that Davina Porter has to be the perfect narrator for this series. The way this book is read really adds a lot to the overall experience of the story. She expertly handles a wide range of distinctive voices. She is the voice of Jamie which is somewhat odd to say. In most cases when a narrator is doing the voice of the other gender it feels wrong to me in some way. Davina Porter's range is so large that her male voices sounds as authentic as her female voices. Her execution of Jamie's Scottish accent and Claire's British accent are truly remarkable.



I highly recommend this series to anyone. This book picks up right where Outlander leaves off so you do really need to read this series in order. I would also say that I recommend the audiobook version of this series because it is a absolutely wonderful way to experience this story. I couldn't wait to continue my journey with Jamie and Claire and have already started the audiobook for Voyager, which is book #3 in the series. I am really looking forward to all the time I plan to spend with Jamie this year as I make my way through this series.

Initial Thoughts
I think that I liked this story even better the second time. The narration of the audiobook was absolutely outstanding. The story grabs you and doesn't let go. Plus, there is Jamie.



I am completely in love with this fictional man. I love Claire just as much. Yes, there is a lot of descriptions in this book but I really enjoyed all of it.

Full review to be posted just as soon as I can collect my thoughts and stop swooning.