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skylacine's reviews
1049 reviews
The Robin: A Biography by Stephen Moss
4.0
I genuinely had no idea these cute round birbs can turn into murder machines when it comes to defending their territory.
Het loon van de duivel (De bende van de Bokkenrijders #4) by Ton van Reen
5.0
Bullet review:
+Definitely the most anxiety-inducing book of them all, you never once feel like you get a moment's rest alongside Mathijs because he might be arrested and tortured at any point in the book.
+Interesting character development for Mathijs (and to a lesser extent Kirchhoffs).
+Some very brutal scenes, but written in an engaging way still.
+Lots of action in this one.
-Ending is a bit ambiguous. It didn't bother me TOO much but I can see this putting people off, since this is the final book in the series.
+Definitely the most anxiety-inducing book of them all, you never once feel like you get a moment's rest alongside Mathijs because he might be arrested and tortured at any point in the book.
+Interesting character development for Mathijs (and to a lesser extent Kirchhoffs).
+Some very brutal scenes, but written in an engaging way still.
+Lots of action in this one.
-Ending is a bit ambiguous. It didn't bother me TOO much but I can see this putting people off, since this is the final book in the series.
De gesel van het zwarte goud (De bende van de Bokkenrijders #3) by Ton van Reen
5.0
Bullet review:
+Van Reen is REALLY good at making the reader feel immersed in this location, the characters and the culture at the time.
+This is a book that has mostly more mellow scenes and less "Bokkenrijder-ing", but it still was thoroughly engaging. Honestly I could read a book JUST about Mathijs' studies and the mineworkers' rights and I'd be just as engaged even without the Bokkenrijder stuff.
+Interesting character development for Mathijs and Kirchhoffs.
+Van Reen is REALLY good at making the reader feel immersed in this location, the characters and the culture at the time.
+This is a book that has mostly more mellow scenes and less "Bokkenrijder-ing", but it still was thoroughly engaging. Honestly I could read a book JUST about Mathijs' studies and the mineworkers' rights and I'd be just as engaged even without the Bokkenrijder stuff.
+Interesting character development for Mathijs and Kirchhoffs.
Babylon's Ark: The Incredible Wartime Rescue of the Baghdad Zoo by Graham Spence, Lawrence Anthony
4.0
Really interesting account of the author's journey to help the animals at the Baghdad Zoo around the time of the Iraq war. At times hard to read and quite brutal, but it makes the heroic efforts of Anthony and the other rescuers all the better to read about. I quite enjoyed reading this book and really got enveloped into the events here. Might check out more of Anthony's books at a later date.
The Great Timbers by Erica Summers, James A. Kane
3.0
Not terrible, but pretty disappointing.
Bullet review:
+Ross and Keeka are likable characters.
+The final battle wasn't terribly executed despite the ridiculous concept.
-The wolfdog on the cover isn't a very major character in this book and I don't think she should be featured so front and center to lure in wolf fans like me. Feels a bit like false advertising.
-The concept of the final battle (where a bunch of animals fight human hunters) is pretty ridiculous and hard to take seriously.
-There is very little nuance or morally gray to be found in the antagonists. They're pretty much all morally bankrupt villains.
-This book is kinda sexist. There are much fewer female characters than there are males, and they're usually just there to be love interests or accessories to the male characters. Most of the females also don't have much of a personality or arc (Keeka being the only exception) and they're not allowed to participate in the final battle.
Full review at: https://skybookcorner.blogspot.com/2025/02/book-review-great-timbers-by-james-kane.html
Bullet review:
+Ross and Keeka are likable characters.
+The final battle wasn't terribly executed despite the ridiculous concept.
-The wolfdog on the cover isn't a very major character in this book and I don't think she should be featured so front and center to lure in wolf fans like me. Feels a bit like false advertising.
-The concept of the final battle (where a bunch of animals fight human hunters) is pretty ridiculous and hard to take seriously.
-There is very little nuance or morally gray to be found in the antagonists. They're pretty much all morally bankrupt villains.
-This book is kinda sexist. There are much fewer female characters than there are males, and they're usually just there to be love interests or accessories to the male characters. Most of the females also don't have much of a personality or arc (Keeka being the only exception) and they're not allowed to participate in the final battle.
Full review at: https://skybookcorner.blogspot.com/2025/02/book-review-great-timbers-by-james-kane.html
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gore, and Fire/Fire injury
The Wolves of Elementa: Flaming Fate by Sophie Torro
3.0
While overall a solid installment in the series and not a bad conclusion, there was one MAJOR factor holding me back from enjoying this book: How Ember was written in this.
He was ridiculously making obviously bad decisions and justifying it for himself, and it just felt super annoying and repetitive to read. The author even seems aware of this fact and tries to (poorly) justify it through Ember's internal monologue, but it didn't work for me. It was just frustrating to read and since Ember is our main POV character we're stuck in his head throughout pretty much the entire book and there's no escaping his annoying character writing.
Full review at: https://skybookcorner.blogspot.com/2025/02/book-review-flaming-fate-by-sophie.html
He was ridiculously making obviously bad decisions and justifying it for himself, and it just felt super annoying and repetitive to read. The author even seems aware of this fact and tries to (poorly) justify it through Ember's internal monologue, but it didn't work for me. It was just frustrating to read and since Ember is our main POV character we're stuck in his head throughout pretty much the entire book and there's no escaping his annoying character writing.
Full review at: https://skybookcorner.blogspot.com/2025/02/book-review-flaming-fate-by-sophie.html
Brilliant White Peaks by Teng Rong
2.0
One word: bland.
For a more expansive bullet review:
+A wholesome relationship between the two main siblings.
-Almost none of the characters have names, resulting in it being harder to connect with them.
-No interesting world-building for the wolf society, lore and culture, etc.
-Characters are very bland and forgettable.
-The plot (if you could even call it that, this book is mostly just wolves doing wolf-y things without much of a story) is equally bland and forgettable. It's an inconclusive book, too.
-Overall just feels like a nothingburger of a book. I don't feel I got anything out of it.
Full review at: https://skybookcorner.blogspot.com/2024/12/book-review-brilliant-white-peaks-by.html
For a more expansive bullet review:
+A wholesome relationship between the two main siblings.
-Almost none of the characters have names, resulting in it being harder to connect with them.
-No interesting world-building for the wolf society, lore and culture, etc.
-Characters are very bland and forgettable.
-The plot (if you could even call it that, this book is mostly just wolves doing wolf-y things without much of a story) is equally bland and forgettable. It's an inconclusive book, too.
-Overall just feels like a nothingburger of a book. I don't feel I got anything out of it.
Full review at: https://skybookcorner.blogspot.com/2024/12/book-review-brilliant-white-peaks-by.html