Publisher: Ace
Pages: 304pgs
The Story
McKenzie Lewis has a gift.
It allows her access to a world few have seen,
and even fewer can comprehend. It’s her secret.
And it exists in the shadows . . .
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.
The Review
After defeating the King and his Fae in the first book, The Shadow Reader, McKenzie still can't seem to catch a break from pretty much . . . well . . . anything paranormal. Since switching sides with the Rebels in a war between them and those of the Fae, McKenzie is not only falling in love with the Rebel leader, Aren, and also having complicated and contradicting feelings for her past love, Kyol, but she is also attempting to fight off Remnants coming after her and her rebel followers, the type of Fae who are still very loyal to their dead king and would rather kill his replacement. But with many other matters on higher stakes, with a possible Rebel traitor among them all and with McKenzie's human best friend, Paige, abducted by those deadly Remnants . . . McKenzie must do everything within her power to hold the Fae kingdom together before everything is destroyed in the end.
I really enjoyed Sandy William's debut, The Shadow Reader. It was a very fun and addictive urban fantasy read, and I thought its sequel THE SHATTERED DARK was clearly no exception as well. I loved it! It may not have been as strong as the first book in terms of some uninteresting sections of the book, but regardless of that I still loved the main plot and how it mostly focused on the rebel faes which I wanted to know more about so I was all for it really. And, as for the romance side of things, while it did - at times - fall into the pitfalls of love triangles (even if it's not really a love triangle per se but just some resolved feelings for another person), however I'm really glad one of the love interests was straightforward in his affections rather than hiding them for the main character and really . . . I love having high tension in anything romance-wise so I was pretty happy about that in this book!
Overall, THE SHATTERED DARK was a great continuation of The Shadow Reader series and with so much happening in the book - not to mention a great cliffhanger of sorts - I think many readers will enjoy this sequel just as much as the first book.
The Rating
4/5 stars
This sounds like a fun book. I need to read more adult urban fantasy. Although i do have to make fun of the cover. A girl with a weapon wearing a crop top is such a cliche. And that purple sky makes it look like winter. I'd think that exposed skin would be rather chilled. :-)
ReplyDeleteI mostly read books by Jeaniene Frost, Richelle Mead, and Rachel Vincent in the adult fantasy genre, so I definitely need to read more of those types of adult books too.
DeleteExactly! She should be freezing wearing that top! Haha. I'm not a huge fan of this cover but the first book's cover for The Shadow Reader was much prettier. :)