The Sharpest Blade by Sandy Williams

Release Date: 31st December, 2013

Publisher: Ace

Pages: 320pgs

The Story

Torn between two worlds.

Torn between two lives.

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.

The Review

A big thanks to the publisher for providing me with a review copy of this book!

THE SHARPEST BLADE was a delightful end to this adult fantasy trilogy and while it wasn't exactly my favourite instalment in the series, but I was still pretty happy with how everything was concluded in the end. It was nice and clean. Straight to the point too.

Now for the majority of this series, I've always had this fondness for our main character, McKenzie, and let me tell you she was a very tough heroine throughout the series, especially in this third and final book. She was very kick-ass, in fact. Now despite her romantic troubles between two very powerful guys (which is solved by the end of this book thankfully), but when it comes to fighting against the fae and their other creatures, McKenzie never allowed anyone - not even once - to push her around and so . . . she definitely holds her own in any situation that she faces, which - I guess - is one of the many qualities that I've always came to admire about her. Another thing too, McKenzie, at least what I found, had already made her decision with who she wanted to be with between her two love interests from   the end of book one and she never regretted her choice with this particular 'love' of hers, which is a nice change to read about considering love triangles don't always end well for the heroine, so yeah that was nice.

Overall, THE SHARPEST BLADE contained so many elements that I love in the fantasy genre and I would definitely recommend this series for sure! It's such a fun, quick read.

The Rating

4/5 stars

The Shattered Dark by Sandy Williams

Release Date: Out now!

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