Tuesday 30 October 2012

REVIEW: The Shadow Reader by Sandy Williams


The Shadow Reader by Sandy Williams

Series:McKenzie Lewis, #1
Publication Date:October 25th 2011
Publisher:Ace
Mass Market Paperback, 307 pages
Useful Info: Goodreads, Author's Website, Book Depository


There can only be one allegiance.
It’s her time to choose.

Some humans can see the fae. McKenzie Lewis can track them, reading the shadows they leave behind. But some shadows lead to danger. Others lead to lies.

A Houston college student trying to finish her degree, McKenzie has been working for the fae king for years, tracking vicious rebels who would claim the Realm. Her job isn’t her only secret. For just as long, she’s been in love with Kyol, the king’s sword-master—and relationships between humans and fae are forbidden.

But any hope for a normal life is shattered when she’s captured by Aren, the fierce and uncompromising rebel leader. He teaches her the forbidden fae language and tells her dark truths about the Court, all to persuade her to turn against the king. Time is running out, and as the fight starts to claim human lives, McKenzie has no choice but to decide once and for all whom to trust and where she ultimately stands in the face of a cataclysmic civil war.

The Shadow Reader is one of those books, that despite the fact that almost all of my trusted friend reviewers absolutely loved, it took me an awfully lot time to finally decide to pick it up. Honestly, I don't know what I was doing for a whole year now and why I kept postponing reading this book. It's absolutely incredible and really one of the best UF debuts I have ever read!

Sandy Williams has created a unique world, one that the action is never stopping and one where the fantasy element is so strong that makes The Shadow Reader a pure delight to read!

From the very first chapter where we meet McKenzie, the action is non-stop, the sexual tension between her and Aren sizzling hot and the world building incredibly intricate and fascinating. Honestly, those three elements are enough for me to never want to put a book down. And it has been a while since I picked an UF title that satisfied me so much in all those departments, so much in fact that it made me stay up late at night because I was unable to just put it down. I was promising myself that I would just read one final chapter and then I would be done for the night only to immediately start reading the next one because I just wanted to see what happens next! That's how good a book The Shadow Reader is!

McKenzie is strong and a perfect leading lady for this story, and even if she can't really fight that doesn't stop her from being badass! Her faith in what she believes is right is incredible, and even if she was stubborn to a fault, her devotion to the Court and the man she loved for 10 years showed her strength of character. A strength that was only highlighted further by her actions when her world turned upside down.

Aren on the other hand is deliciously hot and a man after my own heart, and the sexual tension between him and McKenzie was one of the reasons I couldn't possibly put this book down. His possessiveness was adorable and sexy as hell at the same time and I just LOVED him! I also loved Kyol, McKenzie's other love interest, and that says a lot about the way Sandy Williams chose to write her characters. And speaking of characters, the character development of main and secondary characters alike, is incredibly good. Because all of the characters here, even if they have a minor role in the plot aren't one dimensional and actually contribute to the whole story.

All in all, The Shadow Reader is an incredible UF debut that all fans of the genre should read. And I can't stress here enough that the only good thing that came out from me reading this book almost a year after its publication is the fact that its sequel is already here! So, I don't have to wait to get to the next book!


No comments:

Post a Comment

Current Giveaways


Related Posts with Thumbnails