Cross Stitch by Diana Gabaldon - I think I may have over-invested in the hype

[SongsAboutB]

Many people have recommended this series, but for ages it wasn't available in Kindle format. So now it is, and it was fairly cheap so I bought the first book. The thing is, I love a good romance but I find this only OK. I'm at the part where they have just had to get married. I'm not madly in love with Jamie and I don't really identify with Claire. The whole thing is a little turgid.

I don't know whether it's just the long wait and enthusiastic recommendations that have raise my expectations too high, perhaps if I had picked it up not knowing anything at all about it I might have loved it.

Did everybody else love it, or is there anyone else who was a bit ho-hum about about it?

[stripeyred]

I loved it

[SongsAboutB]

I was really looking forward to losing myself in a book, and having a whole series to continue with. I'm feeling sorry for myself.

[Sunnymeg]

I would persevere with it. To me, it doesn't really get going until they are married and have to learn to deal with things as a couple. I expect you have it a bit Mills and Boon like up till now, but it will improve.

[CaurnieBred]

I love the series - read it back when first published and have retread many times

[CaurnieBred]

re-read (pigging autocorrect!)

[pointythings]

The start is fairly poor, but it gets a lot better - stick with it. Oh, and don't read the last two books, they are a waste of time and money.

[SongsAboutB]

I will finish it, I usually do finish books unless they are terrible. It's not bad at all, it's just not the total immersion, pulling at my heartstrings experience that I was expecting.

[TheBogQueen]

It's one if the most bizarre books I have ever read. And not very well written either.

I got it on kindle as a bit of light reading for nightshift. The dialogue is so clunky, I couldn't bear the way he kept calling her sassenach.

Try Mary Stewart's Merlin trilogy - she is a master storyteller, she brings that world alive, an anazing writer and the stories are compelling.

[bibliomania]

Whether you like the end of the book will depend on your tolerance for <a class="break-all" href="//hurt/comfortfanlore.org/wiki/Hurt/Comfort" rel="nofollow noindex" target="_blank">//hurt/comfortfanlore.org/wiki/Hurt/Comfort themes.

I've ploughed gamely through the series. I think it has some strengths -Gabaldon is good at evoking the physicality of her world - but quite a lot of weaknesses too. And unless you fancy Jamie as much as Gabaldon - which is setting the bar veeeery high - then it can come across as faintly ridiculous at times.

[bibliomania]

link fail:

hurt/comfort

[Charlieboo30]

I loved Cross stitch but it is definitely the best book in the series! I have bought all the others and only made it to book 3! I will try again at some point.

[7Days]

same experience, very disappointed

and why was claire a ww2 person? it didn't add anything to the first half of book 1, anyway. she sounded too contemporary. I don't think gabaldon evoked either era well.

sorry for typing, bfing

[Sallystyle]

I loved the first book but could never get through the 2nd one.

[pointythings]

I've read all of them. The last two have felt like a waste of my time.

[SongsAboutB]

I finished it. I read three romances with fanciable romantic leads and a very nifty little thriller between my last post and actually finishing it, but I did finish it. I really recommend 3am by Nick Pirog BTW, it's free on Kindle.

It did improve, but I never fancied Jamie. He was too young to be a romantic hero for me, and also too something else, too emotional possibly. I quite like older, emotionally restrained, in-control type of romantic men and strong, intelligent, funny female leads who follow their own path and aren't particularly inclined to change their personality to suit any man. Jamie reminds me of the adult son of one of my friends, both in looks and personality, which is the kiss of death as far as romantic interest goes, unfortunately.

7days, I think Claire had to be from WW2 so that she was used to dealing with battle wounds and functioning under pressure. The nursing in WW1 wasn't advanced enough for the purposes of the story. Army nurses after WW2 are enlisted rather than conscripted and I think she needed to be an ordinary civilian who would never have chosen to be involved in a war rather than a solider IYSWIM.

[Redglitter]

I must admit I love them. I wasn't so keen on Echo in the bone (book 7) bit the 8th book Written in My Own Hearts Blood, which came out this month definitely made up for it.

stick with it

[ecuse]

Loved it. Despite it being completely preposterous.

[SconeRhymesWithGone]

I like the fact that Jamie is less experienced and younger than Claire; it plays against the usual romance trope. And then in the later books, we get a romantic and sexually active couple in their fifties and sixties, which is very appealing. There are some things I don't like about each of the books, but I have to say that I was hooked when I read the first few pages of Outlander/Cross Stitch, and I have kept with it. I am now about a third of the way into Written in My Own Heart's Blood. So far so good.

[Redglitter]

Is it any more preposterous than other works of fiction.

I must admit tho I hope the next book is the last