Shadowshaper by Daniel José Older

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Shadowshaper by Daniel José Older


                Sierra Maria Santiago should be finishing the mural at the Tower. Instead, she is heading to the first party of the summer, meeting up with some of her best friends and enjoying the end of the school year. Well, that was the plan. Until her grandfather tells her that she is a shadowshaper and that the weird kid at school that has drawings all over his clothes will help her finish the mural. Sierra has no idea what he is talking about. Her grandfather had a stroke a year ago, and has barely said anything coherent since. That is until tonight. But what does it even mean to be a shadowshaper? The people who know won’t give her a clear answer, and the night she asks Robbie she ends up being chased by a reanimated dead body known as a corpuscule. But shadowshapers use magic to help the dead and unknown to Sierra, she comes from a family of them and she will be part of the legacy.

                Hold on to your garters because things happen quickly in this book. From very early on action starts to take place. We know that something amiss but it takes us a while to get to the point of shadowshaping, what it means and how Sierra is directly connected. In the mean time though, we meet some really awesome characters and become immersed in some really great world building. I loved that this story was brimming over with culture, family and tradition. It’s a central aspect of the novel and everything came back to family and tradition. And it was represented in many of the characters, with their varied backgrounds and that was really nice to see. I also loved that Older openly discussed gentrification and it’s affect on people and the different cultures.

The problem I have with this novel is one that I have had with others before. I don’t care for plot lines being driven by unanswered questions. It bothers me to no end when other people know the answer to a question and refuse to answer it, so the main character has to keep asking the question or brooding on the what the answer may be, when it would take no time for the character’s question to be answered and for us to move on with the plot. I feel like that happened with this story. Sierra is told it’s important to finish the mural but does not know why. She is told that shadowshapers exist but doesn’t know anything else. All of the people that could have told her didn’t until much later. It just bothers me when a character is left to constantly ponder a question, when people around the character can tell her and we can move on. That happened with this book to me early on and it bothered me and prevented me from getting too invested. It’s my own personal pet peeve I know and I’m okay with that.

Overall, this is a solid story with magical elements throughout. Would I recommend this? Yes, it was a lot of fun to read and really well imagined. Will I continue with this series? Yes, at some point I will finish this series because I am really fascinated with Sierra’s story and want to see what Older will take this. Would I read more from Older? Absolutely. He is a great writer and his stories overflow with great characters. I give this book a 3.5 out of 5.

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