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A review by lovebugger
Shadowshaper by Daniel José Older
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
3.0
read this for my race and diversity in childrens lit class! heres what i wrote about it :)
As someone who has come out on the other end of amazing YA fantasy stories that have truthfully changed the way I view the world, I can’t help but feel a little disappointed in regards to Shadowshaper. I think a big part of this could be the lack of emotional connection I had to the books, as the things that did intrigue me about the story like the world building and the main cast of characters never felt developed enough for me to form an attachment to them, at least within this first novel. I felt like the magical aspects within Shadowshaper were just not developing in interesting enough ways for me to be attached to the book in that aspect.
As someone who has come out on the other end of amazing YA fantasy stories that have truthfully changed the way I view the world, I can’t help but feel a little disappointed in regards to Shadowshaper. I think a big part of this could be the lack of emotional connection I had to the books, as the things that did intrigue me about the story like the world building and the main cast of characters never felt developed enough for me to form an attachment to them, at least within this first novel. I felt like the magical aspects within Shadowshaper were just not developing in interesting enough ways for me to be attached to the book in that aspect.
When it came to the personal relationships I felt a similar problem because the characters in her platonic and romantic relationships never had any large arcs or story development about their relationships with Sierra or otherwise (for the majority of them at least) that I would have really enjoyed. When it came to the cast of the characters themselves, I didn’t really feel passionate about any of them because they weren’t (in my opinion) given enough time to make themselves feel like they had their own motivations and stories, and with the characters who did have that time, they didn’t really have anything interesting to say and lacked the type of detail I craved.
I will say, I really do enjoy the initial concept of this book. When I was first starting my reading I felt very intrigued by the premise and had very high hopes for this magical system that was being introduced. I think my disappointment in the way it developed and was expressed really factored into my opinions. I would have had better feelings if the “slow burn” of what’s behind shadow shaping felt more complete. I also enjoyed the Latinx representation, as someone who does try to learn more about race through books and the experiences of characters, it is very prevalent and unnerving how there is a lack of properly done POC representation especially with a lack of Latinx, Indigenous, and Asian stories from my personal perspective. I did enjoy what little I got to know about this cast of characters and their cultures, but I think in a story that focuses on ancestral ties to the spirit world, I would have liked a little bit more exposition on their cultural experiences. In general, because I didn’t really feel motivated about this book at all, I’m giving it a 3 star rating on Storygraph! For me that means the book didn’t strike a chord for me in any way, and it wasn’t an unpleasant experience (probably because I used an audiobook version), but I don’t have much to feel fond about. It kind of felt like I was proofreading a fanfiction.