Book Review: Ice Planet Barbarians (Ice Planet Barbarians #1) by Ruby Dixon

Book Title: Ice Planet Barbarians

(Ice Planet Barbarians #1)

Author: Ruby Dixon

Published Date: April 3rd 2015

Format: Ebook

Number of Pages: 188

Book Rating: 3 Stars

For my Star review system information click here.

Book Description:

You'd think being abducted by aliens would be the worst thing that could happen to me. And you'd be wrong. Because now, the aliens are having ship trouble, and they've left their cargo of human women - including me - on an ice planet.

And the only native inhabitant I've met? He's big, horned, blue, and really, really has a thing for me...

Review:

* Disclaimer: I start all my reviews with this disclaimer. I might not have liked a book but that doesn't mean you won't. We all read books differently based on personal opinions, personal preferences, personal life experiences, etc. Same goes for me loving a book, you might not feel the same way and that's completely OK! The beauty of reading is that no book will be read the same way. Hell, sometimes even reading a book a second time will make it hit completely differently or make me question why I liked it in the first place. All this to say, I hope that reading my reviews can help you learn more about the book and why I felt the way I did, and then help you decide based on your personal preferences if the book would be a good fit for you or not.

So here's the thing. I was a victim of "booktok" made me do it. Which is ironic since I don't have booktok... but I am in book groups on Facebook and they were also gushing about this book. So I guess "A bookish Facebook group made me do it?" Doesn't have the same ring to it haha.

I have seen this book around for a while but never was drawn to it. Most recently "averielovesbooks" on YouTube has been the one I saw talking about it. And when it became the talk of the book community I decided. Why the hell not. Let's give it a shot. So I did, and honestly I didn't hate it. I can also see why there is a lot of hype to it.

First, its light and fun (something we all need these days with COVID and all) and there is more then just sex (though the sexy times are quite awesome)! I love me a good romance, but I also need to have some substance to it (i.e a plot and character arcs) and there is a fairly good premise to this book. It's not the most original or high stakes premise but it's still good and things aren't thrown in without explanation like some books I've read. There is a reason why things are the way they are and I love to see it.

Now let's get to the romance. So, I just said that there is a reason why things are the way they are, and this applied to the romance somewhat. Most of the romance "made sense" and I found myself shipping the two parties. What I didn't like so much is that in a week the romance went super far super fast. Like by the end of this week (aka this book) these two are in it ALL the way. I won't say more because it could be a spoiler but suffice it to say A LOT happened in a week. I could see why a high stakes situation and the "paranormal/sci-fi" elements could bring people closer faster but a week still seemed a bit too short a period. Not enough of a thing to stop me from liking it though, especially as I went in for a fun read.

re-romance. The extra parts and bits this alien has made for interesting sex scenes. Just saying. I will let you experience those as they come up.

More points I loved:

- Humor

- The language/miscommunications troubles. (Honestly this is one of the best parts!)

- How this book set up the rest of the series (which by the way follows the plot of this book but with different couples.)

- How the author made me ship this couple and fall for an alien (like Kudos, that is impressive)

- The culture of these aliens

- How the aliens also have a back story (made me want to know more!)

- The "parasite thing" it was a cool concept.

Points I didn't love/disliked:

- The "bad guys" were defeated a bit too easily. But not too upset by this because I think they might come back?

- While most things were well explained some things were a bit too "coincidental". Like the whole pods situation at the end which I can't say more about, just that they dealt with it a bit too easy. I've seen star trek, those things should be harder to control, open, etc.

- The ending was a bit rushed in my opinion but again I feel this was intentional because of the rest of the series (which is like 20+ books)

- Side characters were ok but I wanted more from them. (Again see above I think this might be addressed more as it goes on/was intentional)

Things that could have been improved:

- The complexity of the characters and their arcs

- The depth of the romance (I liked it but could have been more)

- The ending (many things were not as built up/executed as I had hoped :(

So, to summarize, will I continue with this series? Maybe one day, but for now I think I have had my dose of it and want to read something new. I started the next book right after finishing this one to see who's POV it would be in, and while I didn't mind this character in this book was not a fan of her attitude and personality in the first 20 pages of book 2 (another reason why I am pausing this series).

Overall though I would recommend you give it a try! So fun and very glad I read it! Thanks Booktok ;p

Until next time,

Maya Lemaire