Come to the crossroads, to the crossroads comeSierra 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 … 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.
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More books like this please! A YA urban fantasy that wonderfully weaves awesome magic (graffiti summons ancestral magic, UM YES), realistically drawn and diverse characters (flawed but kickass, ranging across races/genders/sexual orientations/socioeconomic classes), barely-there romance, and excellent world-building interspersed with high-octane plot and casual social commentary without ever feeling preachy. This is the #weneeddiversebooks we need. I can’t wait to read the next installment.
This is easily my favorite book of the year. I enjoyed the action, the characters, the dialog, and the setting. Daniel Jose Older has written a beautiful novel, and I can’t wait to read the other books in this series.
What if your family tried to keep their connection to a powerful magic away from you?
What happens when you find out that your family is connected to that magic for years?
Sierra Santiago learns about her family’s connection to a powerful magic in Shadowshaper by Daniel Jose Older, the first book of the Shadowshaper Cypher Series. She is a normal teenager from Brooklyn that loves making art murals and hanging out with her friends. However, she goes to a party and a corpse was there. Sierra finds out that corpse was not there by accident and is pulled into a world that has family ties.
Sierra gets connected another artist named Robbie and he brings her into the world of the Shadowshapers. Also, her grandfather shows remorse in an unusual manner and Sierra discovers the deep family connection to this magic. With the help of her friends, Sierra faces Wick, an anthropologist that wants to harness the Shadowshaper magic for himself.
Older created an interesting and likable protagonist with Sierra Santiago and provided a excellent setting with Brooklyn that adds a lot to the story. However, I did not find Wick as a compelling antagonist for Sierra. I wanted to know more about him and his motivations for pursuing the Shadowshaper magic. I realized this is the first book of the series and has a lot of room for further development.
I plan to read Shadowhouse Fall and Shadowshaper Legacy to get the full picture of Sierra’s story. Older has written a love letter to Brooklyn and Boricuan culture that is much needed in contemporary fiction.
I enjoyed the ethnic speech and character of Sierra, her family and her ancestors! I love the stories brought forward through family lines! I will stay in her loop through the series!
This is an amazing book. I read it in two days. I love the unique story world and the perspective of a Latina teen from the Bronx. Highly recommended.
I love the originality of the world of the shadowshapers as well as the urban landscape the author places them in. Sierra was sassy without being annoying and I breathed in the New York urban setting in a way that I don’t normally get from books set there. The shadowshapers and their backstory was unique and fascinating and I loved the way they were able to bring their powers forward. I am eager to read more in this series.
Urban fantasy set where I live, with characters as varied as I run into every day. I think there may be a series building, but this stands alone fine, and I’d definitely buy a sequel.