ARC Review--The Sharpest Blade by Sandy Williams

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.

I received this ARC from the publishers via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, I was in no way compensated for this review.


The Sharpest Blade is Sandy Williams' conclusion to the Shadow Reader trilogy, and while I am always sad to see a series go, I have to say Sandy did end it superbly! It's the kind of ending you are left happy and content with upon finishing and I am definitely happy and content!

McKenzie has definitely had one helluva year. The trilogy seems to have happened all within a span of months. And McKenzie is trying to get a breath of normal in. She has her own place, her own car, a new job at the library; things are going well. Until they aren't. She still has a life bond with Kyol and it is definitely putting a major cramp into her relationship with Aren. The worst part is that she does care for Kyol even without the added life bond thing, so feeling his emotions all the time gets pretty intense.

Then there's still the problems within the world of the fae. Lena hasn't officially been crowned Queen yet. There are still many high society people questioning her right to rule. Then to add to the problems, the false king is upping his attack. Who the false king is still remains a mystery--but never fear for it does get revealed!

Other issues include the Sight serum being loose in the real world and McKenzie is trying to find out who has it and more importantly, which formula they have. The one that actually works or an earlier version that results in death. And she still has to figure out which version her best friend, Paige took and in order to do that she needs to find Paige as a lot of telephone tag goes on between the two and it's not until the very end that we ever see Paige.

The Sharpest Blade was definitely one wild ride! There was so much tension and mystery that I kept wondering how was this going to all end! There was tons and tons of action! And it was exhilarating and thralling. I will admit to a few tears at one point, but won't get into why. This one was definitely one emotional read and probably makes my list of emotional reads this year.

Despite the friction between McKenzie and Aren, I will say that there is still some romance going on between the two. The best part about just a little romance in a book is when the author makes that little appearance of romance totally swoon worthy! And Sandy definitely does that! It's all about quality, not quantity and the romance scenes here are definitely the quality variety!

The Shadow Reader trilogy has been quite the exciting read! With so many twists and turns and surprises galore, the whole thing has become quite the adventure! There was romance, action, humor...everything one could want in a read! While I am sad that the series is over, I am very happy with how it all ended. I look forward to more of Sandy Williams' work and cannot wait for her next book to release!


Overall Rating 5/5 stars


The Sharpest Blade releases December 31, 2013