Reviews with content warning for Body horror - Shadowshaper

Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Shadowshaper by Daniel José Older

4 reviews

lawmixitup's review

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adventurous mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

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wellreadandhalfdead's review

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adventurous hopeful mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

I enjoyed this book, but not enough to continue to the sequel. I like the way the magic took shape - the ability to bring art to life. It discusses a lot of topics that are still culturally relevant and gives voice to the Afro-Latinx community through a diverse cast of characters. The discussion about anthropology, i.e. who gets to study who and why was a theme that pleasantly surprised me for the audience this is marketed to.

However, I am not the target demographic for this book; it reads on the younger side of 'young adult.' The writing lacked the complexity I look for in books. While the book was short, the pace was lightning-fast, so everything felt like it happened in between blinks. When a story happens in such a short frame of time as this one, I feel it needs to be shored up by slice-of-life scenes that fit the microcosmic scale of the narrative.

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bluejayreads's review

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adventurous

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

I didn't really have high expectations for this book. I've been in a reading slump when it comes to fiction, I only picked it because it was available immediately at the library, and I fully expected this to end up on my "this may not be a bad book but I'm not in the mood so I'll come back to it later" pile.

And then it turned out to be really, really good.

The plot is fairly straightforward. It doesn't take Sierra long to figure out who's behind the dead shadowshapers, and there aren't really any twists. The emphasis of this story is on magic and community, which are intertwined. Magic infuses the spirits of the dead into art, and shadowshaping is part of Sierra's family history and legacy. One of the things that I love so much about this book is that even though shadowshaping was kept from Sierra, she refuses to keep it a secret. Her community of family and friends is strong, and when she discovers this magic she doesn't think twice about sharing it with her friends. Shadowshaping magic is community magic, and she shares it with her community.

Also, the magic is pretty awesome. The spirits get put into art, from paintings to sculptures to music to stories, and Sierra draws and paints. When she needs help from the spirits, her artwork comes to life and helps her. The descriptions in this book are beautiful and vivid, which just makes the artwork coming alive even more awesome.

There are so many fantastic things in this book. Epic street murals, strong friendships, spirits both friendly and terrifying, a cute romance, fascinating magic, and an absolutely epic final battle. I loved the interplay between shadowshaping and community, and Sierra's strong community is pretty much the only reason she managed to do as much as she did is because she relied on her community and they were there for her.

I really enjoyed this book, despite the plot being simple and twistless. There is a trilogy of Shadowshaper books, and even though this one wrapped up completely and could be read perfectly fine as a standalone, I might pick up the next book just to spend some more time with these characters doing this magic.

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bookcaptivated's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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