Sandy Williams - The Sharpest Blade

McKenzie Lewis’s ability to read the shadows has put her—and …those she loves—in harm’s way again and again. The violence must end, but will the cost of peace be more devastating than anyone ever imagined?
After ten years of turmoil, the life McKenzie has always longed for may finally be within her grasp. No one is swinging a sword at her head or asking her to track the fae, and she finally has a regular—albeit boring—job. But when a ruthless enemy strikes against her friends, McKenzie abandons her attempt at normalcy and rushes back to the Realm.
With the fae she loves and the fae she’s tied to pulling her in different directions, McKenzie must uncover the truth behind the war and accept the painful sacrifices that must be made to end it. Armed with dangerous secrets and with powerful allies at her side, her actions will either rip the Realm apart—or save it.

Comment: This book was released last year, in December, and I had it pre ordered but only now I picked it up to read. I think one of the worst things of long time between releases is how you loose a bit of that drive when you are reading an installment and you like it. Time passed and this one was set for next month and then the next and so on until five months were gone. After that time I just grabbed and went with it.

The Sharpest Blade starts with Mackenzie living the life she wanted, at peace and without fae rushing her to places or putting her in danger. But she can't stop thinking about Aren or everyone she cares about in the Realm, so her life is divided between what she thinks she wants and the feelings telling what she is leaving behind and what she could be doing to help. Then she makes a decision one day and her fate is sealed from that on.

This is the third and last installment in the shadow reader trilogy by Sandy Williams. After a heartbreaking finale in the previous book, with something so unexpected, I was very curious to see how the author would lead the characters towards a HEA.
In a way, things ended well, because there is a HEA happening in the end, but honestly, I don't know if it was the author intention from the start or just needs due to conclude the trilogy and that was it, because it was really annoying how the death numbers pilled all the time. Too many people died here (and in all the trilogy) for this to be a world I feel like going back to. Yes, it's UF, and we should be glad there's even a HEA, but personally I think the violence results were over the top.

Mackenzie faces quite the dilemma but in the end, of course she follows her heart. This isn't a surprise. I felt invested in some characters and was thinking how will the author turn things around in a way that everyone could find happiness, or at least a satisfying ending...well, whether by killing them or just leaving them alone, things ended in quite the grey area... I'll try not to tell spoilers, but the most difficult problem, the one thing readers certainly wanted to see solved the most...well, that was left the way it was, and the characters have to life and deal with it, because, hey, life is unfair at times.
Then the whole royalty issue about the fae throne, well that was achieved more happily, in my opinion, but not before an epic battle and of course, the death of some innocent people and possible important characters to the future.

I think part of the fun of the end of a book is how the reader can be left alone to imagine future scenes, possibilities, it's a world of thoughts about what was read, about what could or should happen, it's dreaming about the after. In this case, I found that hard, or should I say, I found it hard to picture any happy things because I'd remember who died and how things wouldn't help someone and how unfair to the other and so on...tricky and not what I thought we'd get in the final story. I think closure is what's missing here.

The first book didn't seduced as much but I kept going. The second was better despite the end. And now I expected solutions, tricks to change what was in need of changing, but it didn't happen. Oh well...

In a way I'm glad this is over but at the same time I feel a bit bad it wasn't the kind of story we should have gotten. Maybe it's me that feels this way and other loved it, for sure. But I wanted things to be done more decisively and in a way that spoke of ore certainty to readers. I feel like I should be happier with this, but I'm afraid the story just didn't work for me as well as I wanted it to.
Grade: 5/10

Sandy Williams - The Shattered Dark

McKenzie was a normal college student, save for one little twist: she’s a shadow reader, someone who can both see the fae and track their movements between our world and the Realm. It’s a gift for which she has been called insane, one for which she has risked family and friends -- and one that has now plunged her into a brutal civil war between the fae.
With the reign of the king and his vicious general at an end, McKenzie hoped to live a more normal life while exploring her new relationship with Aren, the rebel fae who has captured her heart. But when her best friend, Paige, disappears McKenzie knows her wish is, for now, just a dream. McKenzie is the only one who can rescue her friend, but if she’s not careful, her decisions could cost the lives of everyone she’s tried so hard to save.

Comment: This is the second book in the Shadow Reader trilogy/series? and I have it for a couple of months or so but now could read it and so it was the last book of march.

This book starts right after the other one finished, more or less, and we get to see the changes the group of rebels is doing to help Lena being queen. It's all about the right conversations and tactics in the conference room but there's also the dealing with the rebels outside the Rebel Army and those who don't seem to accept the possibility of a female leader. Our heroine Mackenzie is happy for she has Aren but when she finds out her best friend Paige is gone she asks the fae help to look for her and once again, gets herself in a lot of risky moves until the shattered end.

Mackenzie is one of those heroines that just doesn't know the meaning of the word careful. I mean, why should someone think and plan if the path to troubles and life threats is right around the corner? It borders on ridiculous how someone human, with the expected frailties and without much fighting experience, can get until the end of the book without serious injuries and when she does get out of luck, she is saved of course. But it doesn't look like she was that concerned...I guess is a sore point with me, because despite these stories being more on the fantasy side than the paranormal one, Mackenzie is human and she seems quite reckless at times. I think a bit more balance in her attitudes wouldn't be a bad thing...

Still, it was a thrilling voyage because things happened really fast, I don't recall a boring time in the book, or a resting chapter..there was always something happening, it almost looked like we couldn't breathe! In a way, it's god because it does captivate the reader, but it also made for a fast read that could become stressful at times. Once again, the key word here would be balance.

One of the things that put me off when I was going to start the fist book was the love triangle, something I tend to dislike immensely in my books, but I was quite happy to see it was being worked on and that book ended with things solved, or in a very satisfying, more resolute way. Now, in this book things get tricky again. Not because of feelings, but something had to happen and now the situation is...complicated. I guess the author will solve it in the next book, I have no idea how, but I'm sure it means some heartbreak until it's done. I get why, it intensifies the drama, gives a bit more power to the story, but it's a bit annoying too...when we thought things were close to finished...I sure hopes this doesn't get a simple "oh it's done" because the way things ended in this book, I was close to yell at the author what was she thinking...

The book had several new things happening in terms of plot related issues, which means things happened here and there to make the reader think what it might mean to the development of the story. I'm very curious to know what role those new findings can mean to the positive solution our favorite characters need to make things right. It's quite addictive to think about it.

So, in the end a fast paced story, new and fun things and annoying dramatic others, I really wish the author can write fast so I can finally know how this all ends!

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.