Scan barcode
tinkerswiftie's review against another edition
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Sexual violence, Animal death, Cursing, and Sexual assault
Minor: Stalking, Trafficking, Violence, Toxic relationship, Rape, Emotional abuse, and Kidnapping
roziereads's review against another edition
1.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Rape, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Animal death, Death, and Death of parent
Minor: Excrement
pastryghost's review against another edition
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Minor: Death of parent, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault
hanreadsbookself's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Rape, Pregnancy, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Kidnapping and Trafficking
Minor: Injury/Injury detail
m43m43's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Barbarian books are the comfort food of books. This one was not as fun as others, but I'll keep reading them.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence and Sexual assault
jadedreader13's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Violence, Grief, Rape, Sexual violence, Pregnancy, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, and Death of parent
dollyboochky4books's review
emotional
relaxing
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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual violence
infectiousreading's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
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? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Rape, Trafficking, and Kidnapping
lindslikesbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
Not my favorite one of the series but still made me chuckle a few times. This one is a bit more sad and I would check TW for it.
Plot:
Tiffany is one of the last two women left on the ice planet who hasn’t mated. She wants to find her man but she’s fine waiting because she still has nightmares about the aliens who abducted them. She was one of the women they raped when they were taken so she knows she’s not ready.
Enter Salukh, her big blue alien man. She wants to push through her ptsd so she’s like let’s fool around.
Idk 😣 it felt like a weird way to cover a serious issue. Maybe not the series for it.
⭐️⭐️.75
Plot:
Tiffany is one of the last two women left on the ice planet who hasn’t mated. She wants to find her man but she’s fine waiting because she still has nightmares about the aliens who abducted them. She was one of the women they raped when they were taken so she knows she’s not ready.
Enter Salukh, her big blue alien man. She wants to push through her ptsd so she’s like let’s fool around.
Idk 😣 it felt like a weird way to cover a serious issue. Maybe not the series for it.
⭐️⭐️.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Kidnapping, and Sexual violence
missbliss's review against another edition
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: Rape, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Confinement, Trafficking, Slavery, Sexual content, and Sexual violence