McKenzie is a human who can read shadows left behind by fae. For years she has been working with Kyol, the king's sword-master, and the Fae court against the rebels in a war. After only a few pages there's an attack and the heroine is kidnapped by the rebels. She spends most of her time there. Aren, the rebel leader, has her learn the fae language and tries to sway her to their side, when others would rather have her dead. A love triangle forms as the story goes on and as McKenzie learns more of the war she's been involved in.
I thought the book was okay. It's well written and has a good "voice". It has potential as a series. I liked the characters. There's fighting scenes. There are some flashbacks to moments with Kyol, but I would like to have seen more of him. Both guys are good characters, but I wasn't very fond of the love triangle.
I lost interest a few times, but there were some good scenes.
I would read the next book to see where the story goes.
I thought the book was okay. It's well written and has a good "voice". It has potential as a series. I liked the characters. There's fighting scenes. There are some flashbacks to moments with Kyol, but I would like to have seen more of him. Both guys are good characters, but I wasn't very fond of the love triangle.
I lost interest a few times, but there were some good scenes.
I would read the next book to see where the story goes.
Helpful Score: 1
*WARNING* Big, long, slobbering, giddy, love-fest about to commence:
Yum, yum, yummy deliciousness! This is the reason I read personified! "The Shadow Reader" was undoubtably the BEST urban fantasy/paranormal I have read THIS ENTIRE YEAR!!! AND it's a debut author, AND the start of a series, AND (at least for now) it accomplishes this astounding feat while staying clean, A.MA.ZING!
Sandy Williams was somehow able to build a fae world around ours, with all it's politics, machinisms, prejudices, etc., while never once becoming boring or long winded. Instead, all the needed knowledge just flows within the story so smoothly that the reader doesn't even have to stop to accept the assumptions, of course they are real, why wouldn't we believe?!
McKenzie Lewis's character finds herself thrust into the middle of a war she wants nothing to do with. She is one of a very rare breed of humans, however, that can not only see the fae, but can "read" their shadows and thus track where they are going - an important talent coveted by both sides of the fae conflict. As the reader follows MacKenzie's abduction by the rebels through her re-capture by the court, we - along with her - are able to see that in any conflict there is rarely a distinct black or white but most often many shades of grey, each with it's argument for right and each with it's setback toward wrong. This theme is carried through into Mackenzie's' love life also, as she (and we) struggles between a love held for years but never admitted or a love newly developing but with a recklessness that may be devastating in it's consequences.
There are so many rich layers in the storyline to discuss, one review just isn't adequate - the concepts are deep but are told with such finesse that we are stretched to understand human nature even as we struggle to decide who to root for and who to hiss at in this riveting tale of suspense and love. For any more particulars of the story, one must just trust and dive in believing - you won't be disappointed!
Yum, yum, yummy deliciousness! This is the reason I read personified! "The Shadow Reader" was undoubtably the BEST urban fantasy/paranormal I have read THIS ENTIRE YEAR!!! AND it's a debut author, AND the start of a series, AND (at least for now) it accomplishes this astounding feat while staying clean, A.MA.ZING!
Sandy Williams was somehow able to build a fae world around ours, with all it's politics, machinisms, prejudices, etc., while never once becoming boring or long winded. Instead, all the needed knowledge just flows within the story so smoothly that the reader doesn't even have to stop to accept the assumptions, of course they are real, why wouldn't we believe?!
McKenzie Lewis's character finds herself thrust into the middle of a war she wants nothing to do with. She is one of a very rare breed of humans, however, that can not only see the fae, but can "read" their shadows and thus track where they are going - an important talent coveted by both sides of the fae conflict. As the reader follows MacKenzie's abduction by the rebels through her re-capture by the court, we - along with her - are able to see that in any conflict there is rarely a distinct black or white but most often many shades of grey, each with it's argument for right and each with it's setback toward wrong. This theme is carried through into Mackenzie's' love life also, as she (and we) struggles between a love held for years but never admitted or a love newly developing but with a recklessness that may be devastating in it's consequences.
There are so many rich layers in the storyline to discuss, one review just isn't adequate - the concepts are deep but are told with such finesse that we are stretched to understand human nature even as we struggle to decide who to root for and who to hiss at in this riveting tale of suspense and love. For any more particulars of the story, one must just trust and dive in believing - you won't be disappointed!
