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A review by rensreading
Ice Planet Barbarians by Ruby Dixon
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
it is 1:19am and i have just finished my first alien smut novel, give me 8 hours of sleep to collect my thoughts.
OKAY! so! im glad she took out the non-con scene for the special edition but we have to address the dub-con. i genuinely don’t believe someone who has just been caught in a literal hunting snare after being kidnapped from her own bed, being forced to witness many scenes of sexual assault, and then murdering one of the living beings that violated them would react the way geogie did when she wakes up to some unknown huge blue alien eating her out.
i get that sexual pleasure can be intense, more so for others, but to disregard all the non consensual stuff she’s been through and seen in a short amount of time just to get it on with the first person who is nice to her? something about that just gives me the ick.
also, all the violence against women specifically made me so uncomfortable. i had an idea of it after reading the synopsis of the story but it definitely didn’t give me the full picture as actually reading the story did.
as the story goes on, yes i see that vektal does actually care about georgie and their language barrier does keep them from communicating the finer points of their conversations and arguments but the way he described the mate bond between them screams of sexism and misgony. in a way, it feels like the author was trying so hard to not exhibit those ideals and ended up circling back to them anyway.
plot was there but definitely not the main focus. the writing style was a little too ya for the adult book it is so i didnt particularly enjoy that. its not bad, but it definitely needs a lot of work.
the sex scenes were a delight once you got past the dubious consent elements and simply for that, i give this 3 stars
OKAY! so! im glad she took out the non-con scene for the special edition but we have to address the dub-con. i genuinely don’t believe someone who has just been caught in a literal hunting snare after being kidnapped from her own bed, being forced to witness many scenes of sexual assault, and then murdering one of the living beings that violated them would react the way geogie did when she wakes up to some unknown huge blue alien eating her out.
i get that sexual pleasure can be intense, more so for others, but to disregard all the non consensual stuff she’s been through and seen in a short amount of time just to get it on with the first person who is nice to her? something about that just gives me the ick.
also, all the violence against women specifically made me so uncomfortable. i had an idea of it after reading the synopsis of the story but it definitely didn’t give me the full picture as actually reading the story did.
as the story goes on, yes i see that vektal does actually care about georgie and their language barrier does keep them from communicating the finer points of their conversations and arguments but the way he described the mate bond between them screams of sexism and misgony. in a way, it feels like the author was trying so hard to not exhibit those ideals and ended up circling back to them anyway.
plot was there but definitely not the main focus. the writing style was a little too ya for the adult book it is so i didnt particularly enjoy that. its not bad, but it definitely needs a lot of work.
the sex scenes were a delight once you got past the dubious consent elements and simply for that, i give this 3 stars
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Trafficking, Vomit, Blood, Confinement, Death, Excrement, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Sexism, and Sexual content
Moderate: Sexual violence, Torture, and Misogyny
Minor: Abortion, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Medical trauma, and Pregnancy
It is mentioned in the first few pages that a minor character is forced to terminate a fetus after being kidnapped.