A review by greebkit
Barbarian Alien by Ruby Dixon

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

3.0

I read this because I had fun with the first book of the series. There are good parts, but every little thing that bothered me about the first book seemed amplified in this book. The kidnapping trope was very prominent in this book when less so in the 1st. I had a really difficult time not cringing to several things in this book that was more fun in the 1st. Right away the issue of the women being able to choose not to accept the symbiote was trampled on and it is forced on the main character, Liz. Then she is kidnapped by her "mate" even though that was also promised wouldn't be allowed. There was an early part where he ties her up, but then unties her soon after. There's a scene where they both masturbate in front of each other and later it is framed as an attempt to "show independence,"(?) but it is just cringy. He does all this stuff to "protect" his beloved mate, but purposefully doesn't make her shoes so she can't run. There is a very gross part during which Liz keeps telling him no and not to do X, but then wants and enjoys him doing it and then later he fully says that "no means yes" as she taught him and that gross "lesson" is never addressed! She fully realizes what she "taught" him and then it is never brought up again. Later, she argues that he should be fully forgiven for kidnapping her because she loves him now, but also acknowledges that if there is no consequence it puts a bunch of women at risk of being dragged off and raped - which is acknowledged and then never addressed!
I read this for fun, but it was hard to ignore the Stockholm Syndrome and super rapey things going on. There was still some enjoyable parts, but I just could not shut my brain off and ignore these cringy parts. Even the smut wasn't enough to ignore this.
However,  I did still give this 3 stars because I do now want to read the next book in series. The 1st book made me, maybe not invested, but curious enough to read this book because it was centered around Liz who I liked as a side character in the 1st book. I previously read the synopsis of the other books in the series and wasn't interested in going beyond this book. Now having read this book, I am interested in the 3rd book because I liked the side character of Kira more so than in the 1st book. So, the author does a really good job with fleshing out these characters and makes you interested in their story. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings