The Last Shadow Warrior by: Sam Subity
Release Date: May 4th, 2021
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Genre: Middle Grade, Fantasy
Pages: 320
Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Indigo Books | IndieBound
Synopsis
Content Warnings: Main characters’s mother has died four years earlier and her father is critically injured and hospitalized for most of the book.
Twelve-year-old Abby Beckett is proud to come from a long line of elite Viking warriors known as the Aesir. She’s spent her entire life training to hunt the horrific creatures known as Grendels – the ancient foe of the Aesir – just like her mother did before she died. But there’s just one, small problem: No one has seen a Grendel in centuries, and the Viking Council wants to disband the Aesir . . . forever.
When her father is injured in an attack that leaves him in a coma, Abby is forced to take refuge at Vale Hall, a mysterious school in Minnesota where nothing is quite as it seems. She soon discovers the tables have turned and a Grendel is hunting her, but when she tries to alert the Viking Council, they accuse her of making up stories for attention . . . just like her mother did.
Desperate to protect her father and clear her mother’s name, Abby goes on a dangerous quest to discover the truth–a journey that brings her face-to-face with some unlikely foes, including a Ping-Pong-playing sea monster with a wicked backhand, and a dark Valkyrie with a fondness for bingo. Abby quickly realizes that someone at the school is trying to stop her progress and destroy the Aesir for good. And only she can unravel the sinister plot before it’s too late.
Review
Thank you to TBR and Beyond Tours and author Sam Subity for providing a copy of The Last Shadow Warrior to me in exchange for an honest review.
Norse mythology is by far my favorite mythology and one of my favorite courses in college was definitely my Viking Mythology course. Subity’s rich story about Abby and her friends on a dangerous mission to save the only family she has left was extraordinarily written and remarkable. I loved the pacing of the story as well as the friendship that forms between our main characters. The pacing is perfect and I didn’t want to put this book down at all. Our heroes face very real, dark issues in their quest and this is tackled really well by Subity. This Beowulf inspired middle grade fantasy will certainly not disappoint any prospective readers. If you loved the Percy Jackson series, you will definitely want to pick this book up.
Favorite Quotes
“Most people spend their lives collecting secrets.”
Chapter 1, The Shadow Darker Than Night
“…I knew that whatever the future held, I had my dad, … and new friends to help me find the answers.
Chapter 29, An Unexpected Visitor
Mood Board
Giveaway for ONE (1) signed finished copy of The Last Shadow Warrior (US only)
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Meet the Author
Sam Subity loves writing stories that explore the magic and wonder of being a kid and is thrilled to share his writing with readers everywhere—both the young in age and the young at heart.
When he’s not writing, you might find him running the trails of northern California where the endless, winding miles past fog and ocean inspire stories of adventure and mystery.
Or he might be mowing his lawn. Because that’s what adults sometimes have to do.
But in either case, Sam Subity is very likely imagining himself fighting mythical creatures or at the prow of a dragon ship feeling the wind and sea spray on his face alongside his own Viking queen and their two Vikelets. His greatest hope is that in reading his books, you too may be transported to another place where, for a little while, you can exchange the ordinary for the extraordinary.
TBR and Beyond Book Tour Schedule: The Last Shadow Warrior
May 24th
DJREADSBOOKS – Review & Favourite Quotes
Moonlight Rendezvous – Review
Stuck in Fiction – Top 5 Reasons to Read The Last Shadow Warrior
May 25th
Pages & Plots – Promo Post
I dream in Books – Review & Favourite Quotes
PopTheButterfly Reads – Review
Nine Bookish Lives – Promo Post
May 26th
Confessions of a YA Reader – Promo Post
thisbellereadstoo – Review & Mood Board
Brooklyn Blogs Books – Review & Mood Board
May 27th
Gwendalyn’s Books – Review
Justice For Readers – Review, Favourite Quotes & Mood Board
A Court of Coffee and Books – Interview
May 28th
Kait Plus Books – Interview
The Writer’s Alley – Review, Favourite Quotes, & Mood Board
Book Notes by Athina – Review
May 29th
Books. Iced Lattes. Blessed. – Review
Trapped Inside Stories – Interview
thebookdutchesses – Review
May 30th
Storme Reads A Lot – Creative Post – Middle Grade List
Celia’s Reads – Review
Books and Everything in Between – Review & Favourite Quotes
Instagram Schedule
May 24th
djreadsbooks – Review
moonlight_rendezvous – Blogger’s Choice
feliciareads11 – Top Five Reasons To Read The Last Shadow Warrior
May 25th
idreaminbooks – Blogger’s Choice
popthebutterfly – Blogger’s Choice
ninebookishlives – Promo
May 26th
brooklynblogsbooks – Blogger’s Choice
fangirlpixiebooks – Promo
jypsylynn – Review
tinybooknest – Review & Favourite Quotes
May 27th
kathreadsya – Review
justiceforreaders – Blogger’s Choice
acourtofcoffeeandbooksblog – Blogger’s Choice
gwendalyn_books – Blogger’s Choice
May 28th
kaitplusbooks – Blogger’s Choice
jrundy85 – Blogger’s Choice
trappedinsidestories – Blogger’s Choice
booknotes_athina – Blogger’s Choice
May 29th
ashton_reads – Review & Mood Board
tbrandbeyond – Promo
thebookdutchesses – Review
May 30th
stormereadsalot – Blogger’s Choice
books.n.everythinginbetween – Blogger’s Choice
ficticiouswonderland – Review
hturningpages – Favourite Quotes & Top 5 Reasons to Read The Last Warrior
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Justice for Readers 
ooh i love the moodboard!! i love norse mythology so much, and there’s just something so exciting about it that will always make me pick up books with norse mythology in them~ great review, i’ll add this book to my TBR!
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thank you so much!! we are definitely kindred spirits! 🙂
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