Shadowshaper by Daniel Jose Older

Shadowshaper (Shadowshaper Cypher, #1)

by Daniel José Older

Come to the crossroads, to the crossroads come

Sierra Santiago planned an easy summer of making art and hanging with her friends. But then a corpse crashes the first party of the season. Her stroke-ridden grandfather starts apologizing over and over. And when the murals in her neighborhood begin to weep real tears . . . Well, something more sinister than the usual Brooklyn ruckus is going on.

Where the powers converge and become one

With the help of a fellow artist named Robbie, Sierra discovers shadowshaping, a thrilling magic that infuses ancestral spirits into paintings, music, and stories. But someone is killing the shadowshapers one by one -- and the killer believes Sierra is hiding their greatest secret. Now she must unravel her family's past, take down the killer in the present, and save the future of shadowshaping for herself and generations to come.

Full of a joyful, defiant spirit and writing as luscious as a Brooklyn summer night, Shadowshaper introduces a fantasy heroine and magic unlike any you've ever seen before, and marks the YA debut of a brilliant new storyteller.

Reviewed by Angie on

3 of 5 stars

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Shadowshaper was a pretty good read! It all starts when Sierra's grandfather, who recently suffered a stroke, tells her that someone is coming and mentions something about shadowshapers. Everyone thinks the old man is crazy, but Sierra believes him and wants answers. Her grandfather had also told her to find a boy named Robbie to help her finish the mural she's been working on. Turns out that Robbie knows all about shadowshapers, because he is one. And so is Sierra.

Shadowshaper was quite fun and unique. Although at times I couldn't help but think about that SpongeBob episode Frankendoodle (which is one of my favorites, but still weird). The ability of the shadowshapers is really interesting, but also creepy at times. I mean, pulling a spirit into a drawing and having it come to life to do your bidding is pretty awesome. Unless you're power mad like the villain is, which is when things go terribly wrong. Of course, there's also family secrets. I love family secrets!

The one thing I didn't like about Shadowshaper was that the pacing was very inconsistent. There's infodumps, then Sierra is dancing, then there's some action, then another infodump, more dancing, then more action. Lather, rinse, repeat. It was just very up and down which made my attention waiver. I wanted to know more about how shadowshaping worked and why the villain was doing what he was doing, but it all took the form of "lessons" from Robbie, Sierra's brother Juan, or a librarian named Nydia. Then those lessons are interrupted by baddies, and pick up later on. It was rough.

In the end, I enjoyed Shadowshaper. It was a bit of a bumpy ride and I definitely wanted more world-building. But it was a fun, one-sitting story. I'm not sure if it ended with me being invested enough to want to read more though.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 24 March, 2017: Finished reading
  • 24 March, 2017: Reviewed