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A review by missbliss
Barbarian's Prize by Ruby Dixon
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
sad
tense
medium-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
3.75
Finding Intimacy Through Fear and PTSD
This was a solid entry though not my favorite. The installment focuses on the couple of Tiffany/Salukh. I will say that this story felt more intense in that there are not in depth descriptions of the rape Tiffany experienced like there were in the first book which describes it happening but flashbacks of her fear and the experience of being trafficked that felt very first person POV. In many ways that felt more emotionally intense to listen to so a heads up that this story is depicting someone struggling deeply with PTSD after being trafficked and sexually assaulted. This is a predominate struggle for Tiffany and drives all of her decisions or fear of making decisions. Some folks might find her avoidance and terror of the sa-khui men annoying or forced I actually thought this was depicted in a realistic manner and how often PTSD responses and avoidances inevitably often creates more conflict. I think Ruby does an excellent job of making all of these characters feel very distinct and have very real personalities. Also the growing universe of how each human woman is adapting and what she focuses on in this new world. I find the continued world building keeps pulling me in and also appreciate how the sex scenes really are character building too, as the scenes are tailored to the personalities of the individuals involved and speak to aspects of them instead of being wash, rinse, repeat. I think the symbiont khui relationships with the individual is fascinating and I am curious how this will continue to be developed. Octavia Butler has a series known as Lilith's Brood that discusses what happens when an alien species couples with humans and the after effects that are different from what is depicted here but I keep thinking of it as I listen to these stories. The relationship Salukh had with his khui had me smiling and laughing and was very different than has been described with other characters and again I enjoyed it. I feel like the story telling is consistent and audiences will be drawn to some books more than others based on characters they prefer. But all the characters feel realistic. The narration continues to be good, I will say there was a brief bit where Hollie sounded almost like a Valley Girl and it really pulled me out but did not last long. I keep forgetting that I think the women here are early 20s because with the narration and stories I see them as older, which isn't a bad thing. So many stories folks are supposed to be much older but behave like high school children, I appreciate a story that does not feel like that at all. Overall still loving this series and meeting everyone in the town.
This was a solid entry though not my favorite. The installment focuses on the couple of Tiffany/Salukh. I will say that this story felt more intense in that there are not in depth descriptions of the rape Tiffany experienced like there were in the first book which describes it happening but flashbacks of her fear and the experience of being trafficked that felt very first person POV. In many ways that felt more emotionally intense to listen to so a heads up that this story is depicting someone struggling deeply with PTSD after being trafficked and sexually assaulted. This is a predominate struggle for Tiffany and drives all of her decisions or fear of making decisions. Some folks might find her avoidance and terror of the sa-khui men annoying or forced I actually thought this was depicted in a realistic manner and how often PTSD responses and avoidances inevitably often creates more conflict. I think Ruby does an excellent job of making all of these characters feel very distinct and have very real personalities. Also the growing universe of how each human woman is adapting and what she focuses on in this new world. I find the continued world building keeps pulling me in and also appreciate how the sex scenes really are character building too, as the scenes are tailored to the personalities of the individuals involved and speak to aspects of them instead of being wash, rinse, repeat. I think the symbiont khui relationships with the individual is fascinating and I am curious how this will continue to be developed. Octavia Butler has a series known as Lilith's Brood that discusses what happens when an alien species couples with humans and the after effects that are different from what is depicted here but I keep thinking of it as I listen to these stories. The relationship Salukh had with his khui had me smiling and laughing and was very different than has been described with other characters and again I enjoyed it. I feel like the story telling is consistent and audiences will be drawn to some books more than others based on characters they prefer. But all the characters feel realistic. The narration continues to be good, I will say there was a brief bit where Hollie sounded almost like a Valley Girl and it really pulled me out but did not last long. I keep forgetting that I think the women here are early 20s because with the narration and stories I see them as older, which isn't a bad thing. So many stories folks are supposed to be much older but behave like high school children, I appreciate a story that does not feel like that at all. Overall still loving this series and meeting everyone in the town.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Trafficking, and Kidnapping