Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Sam's Secret by Ruby Dixon

16 reviews

kb33's review

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Stalking, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Domestic abuse, Rape, Kidnapping, Trafficking, and Gaslighting

tostita's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Sexual content, Murder, Violence, Stalking, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Sexual assault, Fire/Fire injury, and Trafficking

Minor: Pregnancy and Slavery

bbygirl21's review

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

I loved Sam and Sessah. I was really excited to get into this one because I've been waiting for Sessah's story. I wanted see him finally find his mate. And I couldn't have asked for a better pairing for him than Sam.

I also loved the character arch of Sam. I loved seeing her overcome her fears with patience, acceptance, and support from Sessah, and I love how she doesn't need someone else to save her. That she's very capable of doing so on her own even if she doesn't have to. 

The only thing I didn't enjoy was how long the Kvasaht storyline was. I understand it was needed for Sam's character development. I just wish it wasn't so long. It could have been a chapter or two shorter in my opinion. Otherwise the story was enjoyable. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, Sexual content, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Stalking, Sexual harassment, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Pregnancy and Slavery

ehmannky's review

adventurous emotional 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

4.25

A kind of unexpected pair, but I liked reading Dixon's reasoning for it (essentially she felt Sam as a character needed a guy who had some highly adept emotional intelligence and that just ruled out all the remaining characters from the island lol). Their relationship is really sweet and I loved Sessah and Sam throughout the whole book. I honestly did not *love* the introduction of the random violent man from outer space, and it felt kind of out of place in this series (it felt a little bit like the earlier parts of Ice Planet Barbarians than the latter half of the much more gentle Icehome books), but everything else balanced it out. Also, random violent man is disposed of relatively quickly so it could have been worse. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, Sexual assault, and Blood

Minor: Stalking and Domestic abuse

katbenimble's review

adventurous dark emotional tense 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

4.25

Holy smokes.  This one is a little darker than Ruby's normal content.  There were definite moments where I was hanging on the edge of my seat.  But as always, it does have a happy ending! {more than one kind}.  I loved Steph and Sessah paired together and can't wait to see what happens next!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexual content, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Stalking, Sexual harassment, and Sexual assault

Minor: Trafficking and Slavery

elledanie's review

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Murder, and Violence

lightlessxo's review

medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Murder

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, and Stalking

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders

caughtbetweenpages's review

emotional lighthearted fast-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

3.5

My goodness, did I miss the traditional SaKhui boys from Ice Planet Barbarians! Don't get me wrong, I'm having fun with the Ice Home books, but there's something really special about the adoring, kind instincts of the men from the first series, and that return to form in Sessah (who it was really cool to see all grown up!) was especially important for this pairing. He was so overwhelmingly excited to start a family, and so much more mature as an adult about the sort of things he values in a partner. His thoughtful, caring nature, letting his partner set the pace of their relationship, and open and honest communication about his feelings made him properly perfect for Sam.

And speaking of, my goodness, did I love Sam! A good number of the human refugees are emotionally damaged in some way, but I really loved the portrayal of post-traumatic stress as it appeared in her. I found her paranoia and desire to be self sufficient quite true to life, as well as her avoidance of being alone with men. It only makes sense after her experiences on earth. And given those experiences, I was very proud of her as she slowly overcame her fear. 

I'm also glad she was given both the opportunity to allow a strange man the benefit of the doubt, and also

kill him dead when he proved himself to be a rapey, creepy piece of shit.

That sort of release isn't always given to female victims of violence, so I'm glad she got to live that out, on behalf of other victims. AND I love how ride-or-die Sessah was about it. His only regret being

that he didn't protect her from the trauma of having to experience another man trying to hurt her? And agreeing to keep it quiet

to allow Sam peace of mind afterward? Chef's kiss! 

This is one of the standout books of this spinoff series for me, and I'm excited for Ice Planet Clones.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Stalking

Minor: Fire/Fire injury

sdemo08's review

lighthearted tense 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

5.0

The perfect balance of "opposites attract" with a RD twist.

[Seashell on "emerald energy" crocheted blanket]

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Content Warnings

Minor: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Rape, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, and Death

westcdf's review

adventurous emotional fast-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? It's complicated

4.5

Sam and Sessah's coupling is really sweet, and I love how Ruby Dixon tackles the topic of domestic abuse. I loved watching Sam grow emotionally and learn to trust Sessah. I didn't love the plot point and the way it ended felt unsatisfying to me and unrealistic, but this was a great story and a well developed romance. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Sexual harassment, Domestic abuse, and Sexual violence