Sandy Williams - The Shadow Reader

A Houston college student, McKenzie Lewis can track fae by reading the shadows they leave behind. For years she has been working for the fae King, tracking rebels who would claim the Realm. Her job isn't her only secret. She's in love with Kyol, the King's sword-master-but human and fae relationships are forbidden. When McKenzie is captured by Aren, the fierce rebel leader, she learns that not everything is as she thought. And McKenzie must decide who to trust and where she stands in the face of a cataclysmic civil war.

Comment: I've had this book in my TBR list for a long time. I don't even know why I put it aside for so long but the point is, it was finally its time.
This book was very well liked when it was released. I remember reading two or three reviews about it and in all of them people would say it was a fresh view of Fae and adventures within their world. I think it might be why I wanted to read it to, to see if a new world would appeal to me. Yes, because from the blurb I imagined a love triangle and that is one of the things I dislike the most in romance books.

So, this is the story of McKenzie, she's a student at the university but it is taking her years to graduate because she also works for the Fae king and he wants her help in the most inconvenient times, even when she's in the middle of her exams - which she eventually fails. She's been working for the king for ten years and all that time she's been in love with Kyol, the king's sword master but it's forbidden for Fae to have a relationship with humans, so she's still waiting because she knows there are feelings between them.
One day she's kidnapped by the Fae rebels and she learns there are two sides of everything and although she fights it at first, with time she starts to understand everything she's been told by the king might not be completely true. Besides she's very attracted to Aren, the rebel leader and he is not afraid to tell her he likes her too...

My first impression of this book was that too many good people died in it. At least two did and I didn't like it. I think there is no reason for it unless the enhancement of drama.
Overall, it was an intriguing story but I wish we could have more details of the world, of the people in there instead of all the fighting. Well, the fighting parts weren't that extensive, they just looked like it to me. I think the good parts overshadowed the bad ones in my opinion so I can't really complain, but it was something that kept buzzing in my head even after finishing the book.
About the overall storyline, I liked to know McKenzie and how she lived her life for so long and how her perception of things had to change, after all nothing is totally just black or white. I was hoping she might see Aren through different eyes because after all that time Kyol still didn't say what he felt for her and in this aspect I liked how the book ended. The author did a good job putting everyone's feelings in the open but like I said, I dislike love triangle because someone always ends up feeling bad and I hate to think someone has to be hurt. It was inevitable but that's life. I also hope the author manages to find a real love interest for the one who stayed out.
I enjoyed the book because the writing also appealed to me. There were times I had to put the book down but I always felt I had to read just one more chapter.
Like I said some things happen in the story didn't particularly like or felt it was needed but now that it did, I'm very eager to know what happens next, I'm very curious to know more about the world of the Fae and their rules and way of life.
I'll try to get the next book when it comes out or if I can't, I'll try to read it as soon as I can.