Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon

Title: Dragonfly in Amber (Outlander #2) Author: Diana Gabaldon Genre: Historical Fiction, Romance, Fantasy, Time Travel Published: July 1992 My Rating: 5/5 For twenty years Claire Randall has kept her secrets. But now she is returning with her grown daughter to Scotland’s majestic mist-shrouded hills. Here Claire plans to reveal a truth as stunning as the events that gave it birth: about the mystery of an ancient circle of standing stones ... about a love that transcends the boundaries of time ... and about James Fraser, a Scottish warrior whose gallantry once drew a young Claire from the security of her century to the dangers of his... Now a legacy of blood and desire will test her beautiful copper-haired daughter, Brianna, as Claire’s spellbinding journey of self-discovery continues in the intrigue-ridden Paris court of Charles Stuart ... in a race to thwart a doomed Highlands uprising ... and in a desperate fight to save both the child and the man she loves...

In case you haven’t read this book and want to read my review of the first one in the series, you can find it here: Outlander by Diana Gabaldon.

I’ll be talking about things that happen in the book, so there are going to be some spoilers. So, let’s begin…

Well… weeeell…. This is not what I expected... AT ALL.

I think Diana Gabaldon hates me. Yes, hates me. I’m taking this personally, man. I am!!

When I started reading I didn’t know what was going on! I found myself thinking ‘Am I reading the right book?’ So I stopped and went to Goodreads and yes, I was reading the right book. And that’s when I asked myself: ‘WHAT IN THE NAME OF GOD IS GOING ON?!’

Everyone says George R. R. Martin is a cruel author, but no no no, my dear friends, oh no. To me, the throne belongs to Diana Gabaldon here. She broke my heart. I felt like such a useless human being for a few days, now let me tell you why: I started reading this and then I see that Claire is in the 20^th century. Well, ok, all right, be cool Carla, let’s see why she’s not in the 18^th century anymore… Oh, OH! A daughter? A grown daughter??! A redheaded daughter?! AND WHERE’S JAMIE?! TWENTY YEARS?!... No, seriously, I was dying. So, why do I say I was a useless human being? BECAUSE I KEPT THINKING ABOUT THE FREAKING BOOK 24/7. And I’m always very busy with university, my extracurricular activities and what not. I felt like I needed therapy, Diana. I hope you’re happy! (But I love you though :P)

When I finally understood what was going on, I felt so bad. They had been separated for 20 years and you find out just like that, like taking off a Band-Aid. But it’s not painless, oh no… I know I get emotionally attached to books (something I need to seriously work on after this, because OH GOD) but come on! I couldn’t have been the only one feeling so bad about all this :( And then there’s this part where Claire finds the grave and she says Jamie’s supposed to have died at Culloden… but then I started thinking: these book came out years ago, and it’s just the second one, there are a bunch of other books in the series... Surely he’s alive and they’ll be together again!! But how??

I’m going to be honest with you. I felt so bad I was thinking of putting this down and be done with. But I really, really wanted to know what happened. Claire and Jamie are just so perfect for each other, I needed to know.

 

At first I didn’t know how to feel about Bree and also about Roger; I guess I was still in shock or something. But then I started liking them, especially Bree. Maybe I would’ve appreciated this part of the story a little bit more if I hadn’t been so mortified about what happened between Claire and Jamie... which I still needed to find out!

Then they were looking for Geilies Duncan and I just asked myself: ‘What now? Are you going to find her and tell her that she’s going to be burned? Really?’. I was really confused. But then the book takes another turn and you’re back in the 18^th a few years back (well, you know what I mean). Thank you Lord, thank you! There Jamie and Claire are happily together. And they’re pregnant!

And then a lot of things start to happen. Jamie’s kind of part of Scotland’s history and I was really impressed by that… But how did they plan to change the future though? I thought they were playing with fire there. It just couldn’t work… This book felt very different from the first one, maybe it was because they were in France, they had money and it all was just so very different? I don’t know. But I did like it.

Oh and I knew, I kneeew that Jack Randall wasn’t dead!! And it was also very obvious that Alex was Frank’s ancestor instead of Jack.

There’s also little Fergus. I have to say I adored him, he was so very cute. And the way he idolized Jamie! I also liked that Claire got to work in the hospital, I think I would’ve done the same thing had I been her, I would’ve died of boredom if not.

Then things start getting a little bit more dramatic. I think that the part where Jamie almost cheats on Claire was completely unnecessary! Haven’t I been through enough already?! (Yes, me, I mean me). And he was just exaggerating man, I’m sorry. Do you act on impulses so much, Jamie, that you see people being intimate and you feel you have to join them? He said he couldn’t leave, but I didn’t understand why. Why did they need him to watch anyway?? Unnecessary, I say!!!

After that he goes to the duel with Jack Randall… we all know what Randall did to him, ok. But Jamie, you knew Claire’s pregnancy was really delicate. I actually thought: ‘You’re gonna make her lose the baby, man! You’re gonna!’ And he did. Well, all right, maybe she would’ve lost the baby either way. But he was the reason she lost it that very moment. And then he disappears and I just want him to go and beg her for forgiveness!! But he doesn’t appear! But, of course, he was in jail, like he always is.

Am I the only one who thinks Jamie should start apologizing for the things he does? Like, a bit more seriously. He went to the duel while Claire was in that condition even though he promised her he wouldn’t, he felt kind of uncomfortable because Claire went to the king and did you know what (oh but you brought this on yourself, buddy. She did this for you) and then he strips her in front of his men to trick the Englishman!!!!

But oh well, for some reason we always go back to loving Jamie, don’t we? I think one of my favorite parts of the book was when he got bit by the deerfly. I don’t know why but I just found it incredibly funny and kept laughing for so long! I also liked the part where Rupert is dying (well not that, exactly) and he says that Claire should’ve married him instead of Jamie hahaha! How cute.

Finally you see that they indeed couldn’t change the future like they wanted to. So there! I was actually a little angry at them for trying, I don’t know, I just thought it was no good and that they shouldn’t do it! It’s dangerous, dude! And that’s how Jamie got his butt on Charles’ side.

Then it all happens really fast. Jamie kills Dougal, he takes her to Craigh Na Dun and he’s stupid. I must say I felt kind of betrayed after seeing Dougal wanting to kill Claire, I really liked the fact that he liked Claire for some reason :(

And that’s it… Jamie’s still alive, he didn’t die at Culloden, the book ends… WHERE’S MY REUNION?? How are they going to find each other again?? I read the whole thing waiting for it and now I have to read the next one to see it?! And not just that, but I’m pretty sure it’s going to take a while, it won’t be in the first pages, that I know. And what if Jamie’s not waiting for her? Oh God, if he’s been with another woman then I’d feel even worse than when reading this book. I think I’m going to cry.

Oh, in case you’re wondering why I gave this book 5 stars… I do wonder about that too. I guess it was because it just sucked me in and I loved reading about Claire and Jamie and their adventures, even with all the bad things that happened. It was very entertaining… But oh my heart…

I think the worst thing about this book is that you know that their time is limited, you're just there waiting for her to go back through the stones... *sigh*

What did you think of Dragonfly in Amber?

Thank you for reading! Bye-Bye! ♥