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 Stephanie on

3 of 5 stars

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This book was a lake and someone was just skipping stones across it. There is something deeper underneath all of this but I felt so disconnected from the characters. Meh. Bumping up one star because I want more of Older as an author because he is hilarious.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 27 December, 2016: Finished reading
  • 27 December, 2016: Reviewed