Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Barbarian's Prize by Ruby Dixon

74 reviews

thelongroadtosanity's review against another edition

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medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5


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ohsunnyaa's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0


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tinkerswiftie's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful medium-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? Yes

4.0

I ended up liking Tiffany way more than I expected. She has so many layers and is so scared but I loved how gently she is loved. 🥹 This was a sweet story.

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roziereads's review against another edition

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1.0


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mbasford's review

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emotional hopeful lighthearted tense medium-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


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seasonedreadings's review

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emotional hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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pbella3's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75


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roorooreads's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Dixon has such fun books! I just love the escapism of these. This book was more heavy then some of the others as Tiffany deals with the aftermath and fear cause by being taken and assulted. The love interest was so amazingly gentle and supportive, which was perfect! 

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pastryghost's review against another edition

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

4.0

Tiffany and Saluhk are the absolute cutest, I love how their relationship evolved and was a sweet friendship with devotion and understanding.

Characters:
Saluhk's narration felt very distinct from the other male leads in the series, he is pensive and does not act rashly - something that Tiffany definitely needs in a partner. I liked the author's note that when Dixon was writing their story, she focused on Tiffany being the main character going through change, while Saluhk remained a constant, which put the focus on Tiffany's growth. The "courtship games" were also not a large element in the story, which is what I had expected from the synopsis. Instead, it facilitated a reason for Tiffany and Saluhk to get alone time without the other suitors constantly bothering her.

While a lot of Tiffany's narration is filled with anxiety, she also has a lot of interests that I really loved seeing. She likes crafting and tanning, and figuring out how to plant seeds in the ice wasteland. I really love her close friendship with Josie, those two in particular are the besties on the planet and I love that!

Story:
I enjoyed Tiffany and Saluhk's honeymoon bonus chapter as well. It's nice to see Dixon revisit her characters in these mini stories, and also see a little bit of how the characters have changed since she wrote the stories 5+ years ago. (The addition of sensitivity readers seemed apparent to me, since Tiffany is the only Black character - and the only character of color? - and we see her wearing a sleep bonnet and working oil into her hair. Makes me wish for more diversity in these books, though that's a longer subject.)

I also love Farli and I'm really curious to see her story. I love that she's artistic and the scenes with her and Chompy the dvisti foal were sooo cute.

I think this is my favorite of the series so far, at least on par with the first. I'm probably only gonna read a couple more of these, because I like Josie and I wanna see her story.

Connection to the Ice Planet Barbarian series:
The other books (especially book 4) have a big emphasis on pregnancy and the...breeding trope of the khui resonance. I appreciated that this book focused more on the emotional journey of overcoming trauma and embracing love.

In the other books in the series, I notice a lot of this pattern of writing: "Something something. Question? Obvious answer." Me? I don't love that kind of writing style. And when it appears more than a dozen times in a book? It kinda drives me crazy. 😂 Happy to report that Tiffany does not do that as much as the other protagonists. However, in the brief chapters of Josie that we get, it looks like she's back to that pattern of question-answer tics. Oh well.

Content TW for assault flashbacks and mentions of rape at the hands of the kidnapper aliens, not graphic but still upsetting. Tiffany has nightmares and a big fear of unwanted male attention. The bad aliens returning is NOT a subplot in this book, and the characters are physically safe throughout. It is foremost a book about dealing with past trauma. More character-driven over plot.

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carmineslamp's review

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adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Best  of the 2.5s, but still eh. It's decent, but I just didn't FW the couple, I don't think.

Tiffany spends a lot of time struggling with her trauma from being SA'd on the alien ship, and I honestly kind of like how she still kind of struggles with it even after falling in love with Saluhk, which might sound messed up, but. BUT ALSO I hate how it IS kind of cured after she gets that D. Idk, it makes sense but also it doesn't, but also this is a novella smut book so I shouldnt expect nuanced takes on mental illness/trauma. 

I digress. It is pretty decent though, I must reiterate. I like how patient Saluhk is with her. These men being so respectful is the only thing keeping me sane,,

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