Reviews with content warning for Mental illness - Barbarian's Beloved

Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Barbarian's Beloved by Ruby Dixon

10 reviews

allingoodtime's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

I originally read this book a couple of months ago and somehow lost the review I had already written, which upsets me because I really loved this book. Instead of skipping posting a review or trying to remember details I decided to reread the book. I’m glad I did because I think Ruby Dixon does a lot with this story.

Ariana has always been a character who was just chilling in the background that everyone seemed to be annoyed by. She cried. A lot. But why was she always crying and keeping herself separate from the others? Turns out Ariana has extreme anxiety issues and, even with medication, could easily go into a spiral. As soon as she realizes what happened to her and that it meant no more medication or talk therapy she cannot calm her brain. Instead of being irritated with her like the rest of the tribe and humans, Zolaya is drawn to her and just wants to make her smile.

Zolaya and Ariana are perfect together. While all the Sa-Khui are protective of the tribe, especially their mates, Zolaya is also a natural caregiver. Because the Sa-Khui don’t have a preconceived notion about mental illness and the struggles that come along with it he never makes Ariana feel bad about her anxieties. In fact, Zolaya becomes her calming presence. And he loves that role. He loves making her smile and knowing he makes her feel safe. I found I have a lot of similarities to Ariana and my husband is my calming presence. The author did a beautiful job of portraying that relationship. The helplessness and frustration Ariana felt for needing someone else and not being able to do it on her own. As well as the peaceful calm she could get from the one person who didn’t judge and understood her mind.

I am very appreciative that Ariana’s anxiety was portrayed as something her body did, not something that she was doing wrong. Zolaya knew that from the start and the healer reiterated that later. Her mental state had to do with her body’s chemistry, not her being weak or unreasonable.

As much as I loved this book for its mental health representation, it also had great chemistry. I love this couple and now look back at our little peeks at them throughout the series a bit differently. This story also introduces the possibility of there being another seer into the tribe via one of the children and I found that part of the story to be fascinating.

Content Warnings

melli_sophie's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.0

Content Warnings

tostita's review against another edition

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emotional 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

4.5

The more times I read this book, the more I like it. This is one of the less plot plot-heavy IPB books, but in exchange the character work developing Ariana and Zolaya is phenomenal. Their son Analay is adorable, too, with his emerging “knowing” powers. There are some timeline inconsistencies with the other books. Without them, I would probably give this a full five stars.

Content Warnings

bbygirl21's review against another edition

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challenging emotional lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This is my definite favorite book in this series so far. In fact it will most likely be very difficult to top this one for me.

I absolutely adored Zolaya and Ariana and of course they're little boy Analay. They're the sweetest family and I loved seeing the start of Analay's knowing sense.

I also absolutely loved how patient and understanding Zolaya is when it comes to Ariana's anxiety. Even before they resonate he's the first one to go up to her to see if she's okay, rather than get annoyed and frustrated by her crying like the others did. He showed up as her friend first and foremost and that's what I really enjoyed about him. They are my absolute favorite couple in this series.

It goes without saying that I would highly recommend this book.

Content Warnings

alyssarenee19's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional inspiring fast-paced

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

5.0

I loved these characters 🥰

Content Warnings

remi_jane's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional lighthearted reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

hazelgirl21's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted reflective fast-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

4.0

Content Warnings

martamae77's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional 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

5.0

Content Warnings

kbairbooks's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This was fine. I didn’t care for this story as much as others because despite the reasoning Ariana’s character was really annoying to me. Her mate was really sweet and lovely though. Also the timing of this book was funky although I understand stylistically why the author did it but it was different.

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psydneigh's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional fast-paced

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

3.5

This was cute. I wasn’t dying for Ariana’s story but I’m glad after reading it that we finally got it. Read the Author’s Note at the end of the book when you read. It’s great. For me, the beginning was so strong

with finding out Analay was like Rokan

that I kind of wanted to just get back to present day the whole book. This one made me excited to see the youngins mature.

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