Book Review: Barbarian Alien (Ice Planet Barbarians #2) by Ruby Dixon

Book Title: Barbarian Alien

(Ice Planet Barbarians #2)

Author: Ruby Dixon

Published Date: July 24th 2015

Format: Audiobook

Number of Pages: 248

Book Rating: 3.5 Stars

For my Star review system information click here.

Book Description:

Twelve humans are left stranded on a wintry alien planet. I’m one of them. Yay, me.

In order to survive, we have to take on a symbiont that wants to rewire our bodies to live in this brutal place. I like to call it a cootie. And my cootie’s a jerk, because it also thinks I’m the mate to the biggest, surliest alien of the group.

BARBARIAN ALIEN is a sequel to ICE PLANET BARBARIANS. You do not have to read both in order to understand the plot, but the story will be richer if you do!

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 this is the second book of the now Tik Tok famous alien smut book. I surprised myself by picking this up when I did. I was in a sad mood and wanted something light, mindless and that could easily you pull you in. This was exactly what the Doctor ordered.

In some ways I enjoyed it more than the first one, but in others I enjoyed it less. I think my main problem with this book was the main character Liz. When I finished the first book in this series a little while back I had immediately started this one was almost as immediately turned off by Liz/ the MC. I put the book down only a short way in and never picked it up again until now.

When I started it this time the same feeling of disliking Liz was present but for some reason it wasn't as bad when it was narrated via audiobook. I was driving to a destination about 45 min away and by the time I got to where I was going I was hooked. It got my mind off my worries for a bit and that was precious for me in this time where my brain is in constant worry mode.

However, while I really enjoyed listening to the book Liz still frustrates me. I tried to see it from her view point. She just got captured by alien and now she is captured again and that helped a bit but there is some things she did which were just mean. And she never really apologized for those mean things either.

She had some redeeming qualities and some things I could relate to but overall I think her character is what was holding this book back from being just that much better.

Now for the love interest. Raahosh himself was a nice character, but for some reason he lacked a bit of depth to me? He had a backstory which was interesting but sometimes it felt almost separate from him. Like it was only used to further the plot but wasn't completely tied to Raahosh as a character.

With that aside he wasn't my favorite love interest, much like Liz he did some things which were questionable but by the end I had pretty much decided to let those go. Overall I think he was sweet but again there was something missing and I didn't really connect with his character too much.

Now for side characters. Georgie is someone I am unsure about, I liked her in book one but in this books she felt distanced a bit, different from book 1. Maybe that's because of the narrator throwing on a thick southern accent? Who knows. She did redeem herself for me though in the end. As they say "The man might be the head but the women is the neck and she can make the head turn whichever way she wants it to)

Next character I want to mention is Aehako. I don't why but I love this character! I am excited to read more about him and maybe get to know Kira more? Kira is another character which feels very one dimensional to me.

I think that's it for this review. Will I read the next one? I'm not sure, I think these are the type of books that I pick up when the mood strikes but aren't the type that I quickly devour in one sitting. I am also not a huge fan of the "accidental pregnancy" trope and I am unsure how I would like the books when everyone starts having babies (which I assume may start as early as the next book). So we shall see if or when the mood strikes again.

If you are looking for something fun and spicy to read then I do recommend it. It's a great escapist read and while some things were lacking I did still find myself enjoying it quite a bit.

Until next time,

Maya Lemaire