Reviews with content warning for Rape - Barbarian's Mate

Reviews tagging 'Rape'

Barbarian's Mate by Ruby Dixon

43 reviews

kae_okie's review

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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smuttymcbookface's review

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.25

Easily one of my favourites from this series. Grumpy-sunshine is always a wonderful pairing, and mix in the enemies to lovers and the crazy spicy scenes, and it's hard not to love this.

Plus, it's kind of great that Haeden remains a surly Neanderthal when it comes to Josie.

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seasonedreadings's review

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lighthearted relaxing medium-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

3.25

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pbella3's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted fast-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? No

4.75

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robinwritesallthethings's review

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challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

What It’s About: Josie, the last woman left without a mate, finally resonates, but it’s Haeden, who she doesn’t want, and she’s determined not to give in just because she’s supposed to.

Spice Level: There’s a lot of stop and start in this one, which makes sense with this couple, as well as a lot of yearning. But when they finally get around to it, it’s epic!

Realism: This book really explores the idea of what you can do if you resonate to someone you personally don’t like, and definitely drives home the idea that resonance doesn’t change your emotions, though it might make you more aware of them in the end. It also highlights the importance of communication. Once these characters talked and understood each other better, they realized they were perfect for each other.

Trope Alert: Enemies to lovers, grumpy/sunshine, miscommunication.

Trigger Warnings: Child sexual abuse and adult rape are mentioned at several points throughout the novel.

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pastryghost's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted medium-paced

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

2.0

It was fine, disappointing after I liked Tiffany's book so much. The plot was compelling, but I was frustrated at the end when it was passed over for the climactic romance scene. But that could be a plus for some readers!

I think this book would please fans of the, um, breeding plot, and readers who enjoy this series mostly for the spice and the resonance trope. There is some very important world-building (and series advancement) that is ultimately overshadowed by the spicy romance.

I was expecting Josie and Haeden to try to resist their resonance, or keep it a secret, for longer than they did. The book pretty much immediately dives into the "everyone knows we resonated" pressure as soon as it happens. I wanted a bit more of hiding-our-resonance-because-i-hate-you-but-we-still-wanna-kiss antics. Similar to the other books, the plot allows the leads to have prolonged alone time to emotionally connect and reckon with their feelings. And lots of smutty scenes.

I liked Tiffany's narration in the last book, so unfortunately it felt a bit of a letdown to go back to a narration that feels very similar to the other books in the series. The girls use a lot of the same slang. And once again, there are dozens of examples of the "Rhetorical question? Obvious answer." writing style. This kind of unnecessary question style? Well, it's my biggest pet peeve of Dixon's writing. And honestly? She could just use a comma instead.

Overall, not for me. I'm interested in

the two sisters who were freed from the stasis pods, the main characters of

the next two books, but I should probably peter off this series now. Urgh.

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charliexox's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny slow-paced

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

4.0

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allingoodtime's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful fast-paced

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

4.0

This is the first book in this series I have read as an audiobook and it was great. I was really able to fall into this world without worrying about new words and pronunciations.

While I found Haeden to be overbearing in previous books, I knew his heart was always in the right place. Since he had lost his whole family to illness and barely survived himself, you just know there is a lot that motivates his grim looks and scowls. Josie could never seem to cut him a break, and still doesn’t once they resonate. Once Josie’s backstory is told, I understand her reactions to Haeden a bit more but it still took me a bit to settle into her character.

Although I wasn’t crazy about Josie at first, I still felt there was amazing chemistry between her and Haeden. They couldn’t help but be drawn to each other and it was almost heartbreaking the way they couldn’t get past the chips on their shoulders to see that. Every time it seemed they would finally give into their true feelings there would be a misstep to pull them back again. The way Josie and Haeden both thought they were unwanted broke my heart over and over. Yet in the end they are perfect for each other, the only ones who can understand those feelings and make sure they’re never felt again.

Of course, with Josie being the last of the humans and this book isn’t even halfway through the series, there is a discovery made and some intrigue at the end of the story that will keep things moving along.

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just_klaudia's review against another edition

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medium-paced

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

3.5

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lilalhreads's review

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emotional hopeful lighthearted sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

the IPB books kind of just feel like the exact same story over and over again with just a few minor differences

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