I can think of a whole slew of other series (Richelle Mead’s Vampire Academy books and the Twilight series spring to mind) where I was similarly unhappy with the heroine’s choice of hero. My main problem with THE SHADOW READER is that McKenzie chooses between her two love interests, Aren and Kyol, by the end of the book and…no spoilers…she doesn’t pick the guy I liked best. Even her doomed, reckless escape attempts made me like her more. Even though has no survival skills or supernatural powers, I was constantly amazed by her strength. At the same time, she’s no flip-flopper, and her loyalty is a powerful thing. She’s been loyal to the Court for a decade, but she’s still open-minded enough to hear new information and reconsider her preconceived notions. The greatest thing about McKenzie – and I’m not the first reviewer to notice this – is that she always tries to do the right thing. It’s not easy for her to learn that the prejudice against humans, and against cross-species romance, might be strongest – not weakest – at the Court. The most tempting thing about the Rebels is that they treat humans more like equals, inviting McKenzie to learn their language and understand their motivations, instead of just ordering her around. Williams handles this very skillfully, and seeing how McKenzie negotiates her place among the Fae – who, at Court, don’t think very highly of humans – was one of my favorite parts of the book. The rebels, and her protector/captor Aren, make McKenzie reconsider everything she’s ever learned abut the Fae. It’s probably not a good sign that she’s decided, given that knowledge, that she wants out: she’s about to quit and try living a normal human life when she’s kidnapped by the fae rebels, who want to make use of her skills…or at least keep the Court from continuing to benefit from them. McKenzie thinks she understands the Fae and her place in their world. For about a decade, she’s worked for the Court and suffered through a star-crossed love affair with Kyol, the King’s sword-master. That makes her sort of like a living instrument of military intelligence.
When one of the fae teleports, she can read the traces of their passage and determine where they’ve gone. So McKenzie is a human with a particular skill.
The best urban fantasy debut I’ve read in a while – though, just to be snarky about it, pickings have been thin for the past few months – with a vivid, sympathetic heroine who deserves the love of the two handsome fae trying to win her loyalty.
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