A review by lilbookbee
Barbarian Alien by Ruby Dixon

adventurous emotional 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? No

3.5

I've been slowly working on a deep dive into Ruby Dixon's backlog after reading a Risdaverse book I loved. So, despite really not liking Ice Planet Barbarians, I decided to try again with Barbarian Alien. And while I did not love it, I significantly preferred it to the first in the series.

The issue I keep coming up against in these books is the consent issues. Some of them are communication related, some of them are because of not knowing each other's customs, and some are just due to the nature of the khui and this iteration of fated mates. It's the one thing I keep coming up against that stops me from fully immersing myself into the story.

That being said, once we got past most of the consent issues, this book wasn't bad. It was a bit too much insta-love for this length of book, but it was manageable. There was enough tension that I was still able to enjoy it. 

I'm probably gonna jump to another Ruby Dixon series for now. But I do think I will make my way back to read another in the Barbarian series. I just need the cushion of the other 'verses to help me enjoy this in-between.
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