Scrolling through all those hundreds of reviews on Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series, it's not difficult to determine that it's a series loved and hated by readers for its profound depicture of deep love and its image of abusive relationships alike. I guess I liked it overall, hence the four stars, but it was not until two-thirds of the story that I finally began to warm up to the characters of Claire and Jaime. Not because I did not realize how deep their connection is through all those meaning-full chapters, but because of several bewildering plot holes Diana Gabaldon threw into the story. 
 So, everyone loved this book, it has five-star-ratings everywhere you look ... and finally reading the story, I was like - Hm. Okay. Fine. Great. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it, I really did, but I wouldn't call it great literature, like a lot of other people did. Ursula Scheer called the TV show escapism TV, and that's what the book essentially is. (But I enjoy books which allow me to escape in different worlds, so that's not a bad thing). 
 Diana Gabaldon explored the relationship of Claire and Jaime with a convincing depth, but not the consequences of important issues like time-travel and rape, both of them being major plot elements. So, Claire jumped through time and arrived two hundred years earlier, finding the love of her life and not even once reflecting on why or if she misses her husband from the 20th century and what he might be thinking or going through back in 1946 until a long time later. I can't remember exactly (and don't want to skim the entire book again for it) when Claire actually began to question Frank's situation, but it was months until the first thought on her first husband arrived in the narrative. She needed some time to decide for one husband or the other, so I guess she must have loved Frank to a certain degree, but Diana Gabaldon wasn't really able to transport this dilemma. In addition, the time travel aspect was explored only in a minor way fifty pages or so before the novel finally ended. The consequences of altering history and even killing or rescuing people who might otherwise have died during the ordinary course of history, but are now because of Claire's actions as a nurse able to commit deeds good or bad have been brought up sporadically, but were never fully explored. I know there are seven (or even more?) novels in the Outlander series coming up which also need some plot elements to be investigated, and this one is likely to appear again later on, but it would have been a nice additional aspect which might have added positively to the story. 
 Whether you believe it or not, I liked the story despite its flaws, despite all those rape and abuse scenes which actually caused huge upheaval amongst fans, and I enjoyed reading about Claire and Jaime's adventures. I will read the second volume in the Outlander series at some later point, but will probably wait some time before returning to the series. 
 Three and a half stars, rated down to 3 because I don't approve of Claire's time traveller logic.