The Shadow Reader 2 : The Shattered Dark, by Sandy Williams

McKenzie Lewis has a gift. It allows her access to a world few have seen, and even fewer can comprehend. It’s her secret. And it exists in the shadows… 

McKenzie was a normal college student, save for one little twist: she’s a shadow reader, someone who can both see the fae and track their movements between our world and the Realm. It’s a gift for which she has been called insane, one for which she has risked family and friends—and one that has now plunged her into a brutal civil war between the fae.

With the reign of the king and his vicious general at an end, McKenzie hoped to live a more normal life while exploring her new relationship with Aren, the rebel fae who has captured her heart. But when her best friend, Paige, disappears McKenzie knows her wish is, for now, just a dream. McKenzie is the only one who can rescue her friend, but if she’s not careful, her decisions could cost the lives of everyone she’s tried so hard to save..

Review 

It took me over 2 months to finish The Shattered Dark, second opus in The Shadow Reader trilogy.

I’ve read the first book almost two years ago, and I shouldn’t have waited so long to go back in this universe. I forgot too many things and the first half of the book was really hard to get into. I’ve started it in French and after 200 pages, I’ve decided to keep reading it in English, and as soon as I did it, I was more involved in MacKenzie’s world.

A big part of the book takes place in the Realm, the place where the faës live.  MacKenzie is in the middle of trouble, and she helps the rebels keeping the castle. But her best friend, Paige, is kidnapped by the enemies and MacKenzie will go after them .

I won’t talk too much about this book, because I’m not sure I understand everything, especially because I was not focused at the beginning.

About the romance, I liked the way Sandy Williams comes to it. We learn in the first book that MacKenzie was in love with Kyol for 10 years, and that she fell with Aren when he took her away from the kingdom. Things are not so simple and the characters are not all black or white. I really felt the love between Aren and MacKenzie but also Kyol’s hurt. We also learn things about Aren’s past and what he had to do to become who he is now.

We also learn more things about secondary characters, as Naito’s story for instance.

Finally, I thought there was a lot of action and fights, and I’ve been really surprised by some revelations!

I did not see the end coming and I wonder how MacKenzie will live after that.

What is sure is that I won’t wait two years to read the last opus, I hope I can finish the series  by the end of the year.

Merci à Claire pour la correction :)