Section 1: Urban Fantasy Books Similar to Shadowshaper
I see a lot of similarities in style and content between Older's Shadowshaper and J.M. Miro’s Ordinary Monsters. Both stories focus on elements of hidden magic and inequality related to race and socioeconomic situations. In Shadowshaper, Older focuses on the Hispanic community, the value they put on heritage, and how gentrification decimates their communities and livelihoods. Similarly, in Ordinary Monsters, Miro shows the visceral racism and prejudice of earlier generations and how that can separate children from their people and any connection to their ancestry.
Section 2: Most Powerful Themes Represented in Shadowshaper
From the story's start, Sierra, the main character, notices the ethnic murals in her neighborhood changing and growing dimmer. She almost can't believe what she's seeing because it doesn't make sense. How can images change? But then her grandfather, in an unprecedented moment of clarity after his stroke, warns her that the pictures are fading, indicating something insidious is coming.
From there, we discover that “shadowshapers” have created these mural images throughout their communities as places to give the shadows (ancestor spirits) new life. They put the energy of those shadows into the murals, and the shadows animate those images. But just as shadowshapers can put energy into a mural, so too can others drain that energy.
In a supernatural sense, the fading of the images indicates that the antagonist is growing in power by stealing it from the dead members of Sierra's community. From a cultural perspective, this layered metaphor portrays how the social majority appropriates what does not belong to them, erasing that history. The majority takes the bits and pieces they like from minority cultures and demands that minorities transform and fit in with the majority's view of social reality.
Section 3: What I Did Not Like about Shadowshaper
***Spoiler Alert***
While I agree entirely with the author’s point of outsiders coming in and appropriating other cultures, I worry about this lesson of ongoing mistrust, especially in today's society. Nevertheless, I don't have an easy solution or alternative to this dilemma. Historically, outsiders have proven themselves to be problematic in some cases and helpful in others, so there is no way I can say to any minority group that they should trust outsiders completely.
That said, a lack of trust in outsiders only further isolates us.
In the novel, Older almost implies that people should lean into that isolation to embrace and remember their cultural heritage. Yet this message seems convoluted, as Sierra’s sexist grandfather denied her magical heritage and chose to keep the truth about magic hidden from female descendants. Without the knowledge and connection, Sierra and her friends fumble through the book's adventures and almost get killed. Plus, since cultural rules keep them from trusting outsiders and keep outsiders from making alliances with them, Sierra and her friends often find themselves alone without the resources or knowledge they need.
Again, I'm not trying to preach or push an answer. Still, I am saying that when I read books on ethnic, gender, orientation, and socioeconomic struggle promoting the message of “Never trust or allign with outsiders,” it concerns me. I fear such books implore people to stay stagnant and isolated instead of trying to find ways to grow toward more inclusion.
Section 4: Who Will Love and Hate Shadowshaper
If you're uncomfortable with multicultural literature, different forms of magic, and/or prefer more non-human supernatural creatures, this book may not be for you.
Section 5: L. Rigdon’s Star Rating of Shadowshaper
As the first book in an urban fantasy series with a unique magical system, I applaud Older's framework choice with letting the reader learn about this world in sync with the main character. It draws you into the story and instantly puts you on the main character's side. I also love how Older showcases a multicultural community of Spanish speakers, highlighting how many different countries and cultures share this language and use it as a bridge to connect in a melting pot like the States.
The magic system further supports and comes from that mixed cultural heritage, which produces a beautiful story and makes you wonder what else this magic can do. While the story does show the cultural struggles of minorities forced to fit in the spaces left to them by the social majority, I also thought it was clever of Older to showcase the racism and sexism within the multicultural Hispanic community. It was a great nod to the social argument that we will never notice our real enemy if we fight amongst ourselves.