Review : The Sharpest Blade

This book is classified as adult but there is major YA crossover potential.

The Sharpest Blade (Shadow Reader #3)

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.

Source: Netgalley ( Thanks Penguin!)

Links: Goodreads , Review of Book 1 , Review of Book 2 , Amazon

My Thoughts:

I've been dying to read this book. The last book in the series had ended in such a HORRIBLE cliffhanger (in my opinion) that as soon as I saw this book on Netgalley, I had a mini heart attack.

Me when I saw this book on Netgalley

I've been waiting a year for this book . Actually more than a year it's almost 2014 after all . When my request was accepted, I was so happy! 

Now let's talk about the book. Now I was very worried that the whole book would focus just around the love triangle and the triangle is a focus of the book but that doesn't mean that the whole situation in the realm is forgotten. McKenzie comes back to the realm not to counter and face the love situation she does it for other reasons. 

The situation in the realm is not under control and problems keep coming up from left right and center.I loved seeing more of Lena and getting to know her better. The whole world building is amazing as always and some secondary characters are dismissed and some brought to the foreground wonderfully.

Something I really enjoyed in this book is that McKenzie becomes kind of a badass. I mean she's always been strong emotionally and very put together but she was never a fighter. In this book she actually uses the sword that you see in the cover (unlike the rest) .McKenzie stabs people . She doesn't magically transform into Black widow (Avengers) but she gets a little bit of the attitude. 

Aren and Kyol are still integral to the book. None of them are sidelined. There are many more sexy scenes in this book (read sexy as kissing and tension and all that) . I still think this series has less explicit adult content than any new adult book you'll find in the market. 

I didn't think the author would manage to surprise me in this book but she did. There were so many things that happened that I did not see coming .The curve-balls  made me realize how deeply  invested I was  in the book and it's  characters.

I wasn't sure that Sandy Williams would be able to wrap up this series in this book after the issues that came up in the last book but she manages to do so wonderfully. We come to see that the main problem is not the bond between Mckenzie and Kyol but something else. This is a more than satisfactory conclusion to the series. 

Overall, I would suggest this series to people. The Shadow Reader( book #1) is the best book in the series but The Sharpest Blade (Book #3) comes a close to recreating the magic of book 1. If it was the first book in the series I would have easily given it a 5. I cannot wait to read more from Sandy Williams.

My Rating:

4/5