Release Day 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.

REVIEWS OF THE PREVIOUS BOOKS

**WARNING! Possible minor spoilers from volumes 1 and 2**

My thoughts: I’m certain that all my reader friends and all my older blog followers know that I’ve been fangirling over The Shadow Reader (and Sandy) since the first day of 2012. Yep! That’s how I’ve spent my New Year’s Day back then, reading the first book in this amazing series. And I couldn’t stop, It was SO, SO good!

Now, after reading the ARC of the third and final book and taking some time to let it sink in, I’m able to share my thoughts about it for the last time *sobs*. Yes, I’m nostalgic. I’ll miss it all: the amazing world of the Fey, my favorite and least favorite characters, the love, the angst...everything.

I’ve read it with a lot of patience, because I didn’t want for it to end, and with a little bit of fear: I was afraid of getting to the last page of McKenzie’s adventures, although I knew that Sandy wouldn’t disappoint me. And of course she didn’t.

The whole book, much like the first two in the series, explodes with action. The War isn’t over, another enemy appears and even if McKenzie has decided to cut all the strings with the Realm and live her life as a normal human being, she is more tied to it than ever. Actually, to my surprise, she finally learns how to use that blade she’s wearing on the covers. 

[...] any normal human would say they’re done with this. They’d leave us to fight our own war. You don’t. You always pick yourself up and put your life at risk again and again.”

I tilt my head. “Are you calling me an adrenaline junky?”

His arms tighten around me. “I’m calling you brave.”

I’ve kept my fingers crossed for Aren until the end, but not for the reasons you would think of. You’d have to read the book to find it all out, but I have to tell you that he changes a lot. Those who have already read The Shattered Dark might have seen this change coming, or some of it. I certainly haven’t expected for it to be this big. Well, he was very different from Kyol since the beginning, and he did let us understand that there are other things that matter to him more than the war and the laws of the fey, but in this book he lets you see past the Rebel in him. I actually wondered if the Rebel was part of him at all. Still, I fell in love with him all over again.

I’m addicted to his scent and his touch, to the way his arms encircle me, pulling me against him, but mostly, I’m just addicted to him. He’s a light in all this darkness. He’s strong and caring, and he’s sacrificed so much for Lena and the Realm. He makes me happy, and I want so much to make him happy, too.

For me, Kyol is the only character in this series who remained the same. I wasn’t his biggest fan at the beginning of the story, but he kind of grew on me in The Sharpest Blade. It’s not that he changed in any way, just that I had the chance to see him from different angles and I came to know and understand him better. I still can’t agree with him completely, but I do admire him.

This last installment in the series, besides the fact that it’s the last book and I generally have a love-hate relationship with these, ties up all the loose ends and brings the story to a sweet and much anticipated conclusion. There are loses, I almost cried for some of them, but they make the story more real and that’s the beauty of a great book.

Although I would have loved to find out more about The Realm and how the characters go on with their lives after the conclusion, this series is one of the best I’ve ever read and I recommend it to everyone! Sandy did an outstanding job and I’m going to stalk her forever and hunt down every book she writes! Maybe she’s preparing a novella for us. Don’t you, Sandy? 

I slide my hands to his face, pull him closer.

I can’t lose you, I want to say, but I kiss him instead.

Happy reading!