Reviews with content warning for Rape - Barbarian's Prize

After hearing the recent alien news, I figured now would be a perfect time to begin the Ice Planet Barbarians series, and let me just say, I am in LOVE!
As someone who was sexually abused, I found myself relating to Tiffany and her emotions toward sex and men in general. I've seen a lot of reviews saying that they found Tiff "annoying" but I feel that Tiff is a great representation of what life is like post-assault.
Saluki has got to be one of my favorite male characters ever written...where can I find a man like this IRL?!? His patience, understanding, and eagerness to please are so attractive and make his POV chapters a treat to read.
All in all, I'm more than happy that IPB could be the series to introduce me to the sci-fi romance/smut genre. Although this book isn't the first in the series, I had no problems jumping right in and immersing myself in the story. I'm glad that this series is one that can be read in any order, however, I definitely plan on getting the rest of the series and starting from the beginning.

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c0urtn3yy's review

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emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

4.0

I wasn't super excited for this one since Tiffany & Josie haven't really been mentioned a whole lot in previous books, but I really liked it!! A few things Tiffany did (or didn't do) bugged me, but I LOVED Salukh. I also laughed quite a bit reading this one too - the Miss America Pageant competition was fantastic. I'm looking forward to Josie's story.

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lindslikesbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

Not my favorite one of the series but still made me chuckle a few times. This one is a bit more sad and I would check TW for it.

Plot:
Tiffany is one of the last two women left on the ice planet who hasn’t mated. She wants to find her man but she’s fine waiting because she still has nightmares about the aliens who abducted them. She was one of the women they raped when they were taken so she knows she’s not ready.

Enter Salukh, her big blue alien man. She wants to push through her ptsd so she’s like let’s fool around.

Idk 😣 it felt like a weird way to cover a serious issue. Maybe not the series for it.

⭐️⭐️.75

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missbliss's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Finding Intimacy Through Fear and PTSD

This was a solid entry though not my favorite. The installment focuses on the couple of Tiffany/Salukh. I will say that this story felt more intense in that there are not in depth descriptions of the rape Tiffany experienced like there were in the first book which describes it happening but flashbacks of her fear and the experience of being trafficked that felt very first person POV. In many ways that felt more emotionally intense to listen to so a heads up that this story is depicting someone struggling deeply with PTSD after being trafficked and sexually assaulted. This is a predominate struggle for Tiffany and drives all of her decisions or fear of making decisions. Some folks might find her avoidance and terror of the sa-khui men annoying or forced I actually thought this was depicted in a realistic manner and how often PTSD responses and avoidances inevitably often creates more conflict. I think Ruby does an excellent job of making all of these characters feel very distinct and have very real personalities. Also the growing universe of how each human woman is adapting and what she focuses on in this new world. I find the continued world building keeps pulling me in and also appreciate how the sex scenes really are character building too, as the scenes are tailored to the personalities of the individuals involved and speak to aspects of them instead of being wash, rinse, repeat. I think the symbiont khui relationships with the individual is fascinating and I am curious how this will continue to be developed. Octavia Butler has a series known as Lilith's Brood that discusses what happens when an alien species couples with humans and the after effects that are different from what is depicted here but I keep thinking of it as I listen to these stories. The relationship Salukh had with his khui had me smiling and laughing and was very different than has been described with other characters and again I enjoyed it. I feel like the story telling is consistent and audiences will be drawn to some books more than others based on characters they prefer. But all the characters feel realistic. The narration continues to be good, I will say there was a brief bit where Hollie sounded almost like a Valley Girl and it really pulled me out but did not last long. I keep forgetting that I think the women here are early 20s because with the narration and stories I see them as older, which isn't a bad thing. So many stories folks are supposed to be much older but behave like high school children, I appreciate a story that does not feel like that at all. Overall still loving this series and meeting everyone in the town.

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