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A review by dorhastings
The Last Shadow Warrior by Sam Subity
2.0
I feel bad giving such a low rating to this book, but here we are. I love this idea, and I love the genre. To be completely fair, I may have compared this a little too much to Percy Jackson.
That the book was fast-paced and fairly action-packed is consistent across many of the reviews I've read for this book, and what can be a benefit did not appeal to me in this book. I wanted more explanation and more POV of Abby Beckett. Alliances were made so quickly. I didn't understand the concept of the school (which, to my understanding, is meant to be a "normal" middle school built by Vikings (which is overt), but Vikings concepts such as Valkyries and Aesir are not (as are just Vikings in general). I appreciate that the door is open for speculation regarding Grimsby.
The logical connection between events was just missing to me, as was a more developed explanation of Vikings culture. You have to think that your audience is mostly unfamiliar with Vikings mythology and culture, so part of the fun of creating a present-day mythology is weaving the past into present situations, but it's just not there for me.
So I guess what I'm saying is that there was a massive hole of backstory. And backstory can be really tedious and boring to do, but there are creative ways to do it. I just didn't see it here.
The cover is lovely, though! I picked this up because it's a local author, and I'm glad there will be a series.
That the book was fast-paced and fairly action-packed is consistent across many of the reviews I've read for this book, and what can be a benefit did not appeal to me in this book. I wanted more explanation and more POV of Abby Beckett. Alliances were made so quickly. I didn't understand the concept of the school (which, to my understanding, is meant to be a "normal" middle school built by Vikings (which is overt), but Vikings concepts such as Valkyries and Aesir are not (as are just Vikings in general). I appreciate that the door is open for speculation regarding Grimsby.
The logical connection between events was just missing to me, as was a more developed explanation of Vikings culture. You have to think that your audience is mostly unfamiliar with Vikings mythology and culture, so part of the fun of creating a present-day mythology is weaving the past into present situations, but it's just not there for me.
So I guess what I'm saying is that there was a massive hole of backstory. And backstory can be really tedious and boring to do, but there are creative ways to do it. I just didn't see it here.
The cover is lovely, though! I picked this up because it's a local author, and I'm glad there will be a series.