Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Barbarian Alien by Ruby Dixon

9 reviews

k_bee_readin's review

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I tried to give this series a chance but the writing is so painful. i went into it just a fun read so i wasn’t expecting much but  characters can be annoying and plot is just nonexistent 

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language_loving_amateur's review

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  • Loveable characters? No

2.5

 Dub-con. and explicit sex.
More adversarial relationship than the first book. I had trouble rooting for Liz because of how she treats the other humans. Her stance was very trauma Olympics and the fact that she was upset at the women from the pods for crying made me want to distance myself from her. It could have been narrated as their crying triggering the "don't scream" and what happened after someone did scream from the first part of book 1, but no. Liz's narration in part one was more like, "I've had it worse, so stop processing your recent trauma in ways that annoy me." 
Once she was alone with Rahosh she got more interesting, and a bit more likeable for me. 

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halopink's review against another edition

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

4.0


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yaoipaddle's review

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

2.0

This series is sci-fi horror and I love dissecting it.
I listened to the audiobook version which I highly recommend.

Barbarian Alien specific review:
The characterization for Liz is all over the place. She was likeable as a headstrong but supportive person in the first book. In the second book she veers from whiny, "not like other girls", love obsessed, rude and vindictive.... she's all over the place. I'm most upset at her characterization because I liked her so much in the first book. Hell even Georgie is barely tolerable in this one. Liz is also so disrespectful to the aliens in this one and it yet again reeks of weird racism.
The sex in this one was better than the sex in the first book.

Liz Quotes:
"There is no ownership. You are mine and I am yours." What the hell.
"As we check the traps, I mentally think of ways I can sexually torture my alien." mentally think???
"If I'm going to be fucking miserable, I'm going to take them all with me." this was moments after she said she was going to fake being happy so as not to drag down her other friends.
"Totally weird, but I'm into the hair pulling." You are being double-penetrated by a 7ft tall alien.

None of that matters. Ice Planet Barbarian is a horror series review.
People can argue day in and day out about the romance or relationships in this book, but it's useless. They are all victims of the parasite inside of them.

They admit they have no say in the matter of their mate, but they have no say in anything. The parasite controls every aspect of their lives. Not only does it choose their mate based on who will procreate best, but it fucks with their brains. The parasite changes Liz just like everyone else. She can no longer eat cooked meat. Instead it changes her to only enjoy raw meat. It makes food you enjoyed your entire life taste... like nothing because it wants to change you to enjoy eating raw food. (How very like a parasite that lived in a creatures heart before moving onto humans. Remember how the aliens always talk about how the heart is the yummiest part of the kill?)

Liz asks Raakosh if the other tribe will like her. He says they will accept her simply because she is his mate. The parasite rules them all. All it cares about is growing its numbers. Spreading to more and more people. They do not even choose their community. Who they spend time around. They are lucky the parasite doesn't make them rip each others heads off after they can no longer bear young.

I cannot blame any creature in their book for their actions as much as I can blame those bugs that jump to their death in water so the worm growing inside them can escape to mate.

These books are more fun to read if you stick with it for the horror of seeing how their lives are all controlled by a weirdo worm.

also liz seems like shed be racist to someone who didnt speak english well.

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katyhosbein's review

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

3.0

I enjoyed the story of Raahosh and Liz. I would’ve liked more development of the overarching story. The last third seemed rushed but I enjoyed it, anyway. 



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rensreading's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

i wanted to like this book. it had a strong beginning but i truly could not push past the stockholm syndrome shit going on. it was even worse than in the first book. liz rags on georgie’s relationship a lot without taking a closer look at her own and that irritated me so much because she’s such a strong and stubborn character. but she isn’t perfect and she fell for the dark, tall, and brooding man with the tragic past and parental issues that kidnapped her after she had just escaped another set of kidnappers. way to really stick to your own independence there, liz.

i did like that she mentioned all the shitty and unexplained things the sa-khui are keeping from the humans, unknowingly or not. especially this line: “I thought we were supposed to be equals but maybe the goal is to keep us all barefoot and pregnant and sewing.” bc that is essentially what the sa-khui are doing. she’s aware enough to stir up dissent but not self-aware enough to look at her own relationship and see that its toxic and unhealthy. raahosh is a very shy guy when you get down to it but we can’t just write off the fact that he forced their relationship on liz by shoving the khui into her when she was unwilling. whatever happened to people’s right to die on their own terms? mates a big thing in this universe dixon created, obviously, but they’re also the cause for a lot of dubious consent and plain, unforgiving non consensual sexual assaults too.

again, just more violence against women.

dixon’s writing is also very inconsistent and juvenile too. liz knows the name of the sa-khui’s language without ever being told it by georgie. raahosh acts like the concept of love is normal in their culture and then mentions later that its a big deal to liz without ever mentioning who he learned that from since it wasn’t from vektal or liz, the two most likely to explain that to him. in the epilogue raahosh turns from this mine-mine-mine possessive dude to oh-my-god-what-if-she-hates-my-guts kind of dude and the shift in his character was drastic enough to really catch me off-guard. there was so much being waved away and then explained later but, in the process, it made the first instance all the more confusing since you’re left wondering how characters even know that information.

the spice was alright. it was the only reason i finished this but i wont be continuing with this series any longer and will probably unhaul the copies i got too.

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brookesinfinitebooks's review against another edition

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

3.75

These books are so ridiculous, I love it. Book 2 of Ice Planet Barbarians follows Liz and Rahoosh after he kidnaps her away from the other human women when they resonate (a parasite tells him that they're meant to be mates essentially). It's absurd, and high-level cringe early on, but once we get past the kidnapping part Liz and Rahoosh are hilarious. 

There were so many laugh out loud moments in this one. Rahoosh's character development was also a hgih point, finding out his traumatic past and seeing him work through the lasting effects of it. I found Liz to be grating and petty often, but her sarcasm did make for many an entertaining scene. 

Low key favorite part of this book was Aehako! The jovial sa-khui hunter was a bright spot for me and I can't wait for his book next!

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megloveswords12's review

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adventurous dark funny fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

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juliette_95's review

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

3.75


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