Shadowshaper: Chapters 15–21

by Daniel José Older
When her Brooklyn neighborhood is threatened, Sierra must master and protect an ancestral form of magic called shadowshaping.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–7, Chapters 8–14, Chapters 15–21, Chapters 22–32, Chapters 33–Epilogue

Here is a link to our lists for Dactyl Hill Squad by Daniel José Older.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. syncopation
    a musical rhythm accenting a normally weak beat
    Then the pianist let loose a sequence of rising and falling syncopations and a man’s crooning voice stretched over it all.
  2. octogenarian
    someone who is between 80 and 89 years old
    Some octogenarian politely tapped Robbie on the shoulder, and Robbie offered him Sierra’s hand.
  3. sultry
    attractive and suggesting hidden passion
    The pretty black mermaids formed a dancing ring around one of the dragons, who appeared to be showing off a sultry two-step.
  4. wayward
    resistant to guidance or discipline
    She caught one of his wayward swinging hands and spun into him, wrapping his long arm across her chest.
  5. enclave
    an enclosed territory that is culturally distinct
    But somehow Sierra had stumbled into a quasi-suburban enclave of stand-alone houses, complete with front lawns and porch swings.
  6. cascade
    rush down in big quantities
    It cascaded over the shiny streets, drummed the tops of cars, and pooled in dark curbside gullies.
  7. gully
    a deep ditch cut by running water
    It cascaded over the shiny streets, drummed the tops of cars, and pooled in dark curbside gullies.
  8. raspy
    unpleasantly harsh or grating in sound
    A raspy intake of air hissed all around her.
  9. unfathomable
    impossible to come to understand
    She was proud of how calm she’d managed to make herself, standing there without even a tremble, waiting for some unfathomable wraith to come and deal with her.
  10. wraith
    a ghostly figure, especially one seen shortly before death
    She was proud of how calm she’d managed to make herself, standing there without even a tremble, waiting for some unfathomable wraith to come and deal with her.
  11. seething
    in constant agitation
    Another cluttered, seething breath sounded over the endless rain splatter.
  12. lope
    run easily
    Then a shadow loped out from behind a car without so much as a sound.
  13. appendage
    an external body part that projects from the body
    It limped toward Sierra, thrusting one long dark appendage forward and then fluidly gliding ahead on the other like a wounded giant.
  14. blubber
    cry or whine with snuffling
    Another mouth appeared along the creature’s shoulder; this one blubbered and gnashed.
  15. ungainly
    lacking grace in movement or posture
    She turned back and caught a glimpse of the towering creature taking a slow, ungainly step in her direction.
  16. shroud
    burial garment in which a corpse is wrapped
    A few feet away from her, three towering golden shrouds stood glowing in the middle of the street.
  17. machismo
    exaggerated masculinity
    “You know Abuelo was all into his old-school machismo crap. He probably just didn’t think you’d get it.”
  18. emaciated
    very thin, especially from disease or hunger or cold
    “Why?” she said, watching the emaciated chest rise and fall beneath his sheets.
  19. initiate
    accept people into an exclusive society or group
    I mean, I got the shadowshaping skills—Abuelo initiated me, but I don’t really use them a lot, so it’s all still kind of wild to me, to be honest.
  20. concoction
    any foodstuff made by combining different ingredients
    “So what happened to Robbie?” he said, prodding his spatula into the yellow, lumpy concoction.
  21. ether
    a medium that was once thought to fill all space
    And then whatever it was he was mumbling about would literally take shape around him, like materialize from the ether and go after the bad guys or whatever.
  22. overbearing
    having or showing arrogant superiority
    And yet, when I ask Lázaro about filling the void that this overbearing spirit woman left behind, all I get in response are murmurs and shrug offs.
  23. assume
    occupy or take on
    This weekend I will approach Laz one more time about assuming the role that Lucera has vacated.
  24. sway
    influence a person or outcome
    She will be swayed, if not by my logic, then by the sheer fact that already the disastrous effects of her exile can be seen: Shadowshapers slip away daily.
  25. euphoria
    a feeling of great elation
    For a minute she allowed herself to hang deep underwater, floating somewhere between utter desolation and euphoria, all alone and yet surrounded by the hands of a million murmuring ancestors.
  26. outlook
    an attitude that determines how you respond to situations
    Slapping Robbie had given her a whole new outlook on this otherwise grim night.
  27. cudgel
    a club that is used as a weapon
    The man was ripped, and various axes and cudgels dangled off his many belts and sashes.
  28. lore
    knowledge gained through tradition or anecdote
    I’ve just heard about them in rumors and lore and stuff, but a throng haint is when someone—someone powerful—uses binding magic to enslave a group of spirits and then fuses them together into one huge shadow.
  29. induct
    accept people into an exclusive society or group
    Some stranger had shown up and gotten inducted into a family legacy that Sierra herself had been kept from her entire life.
  30. semblance
    picture consisting of a graphic image of a person or thing
    “It doesn’t have to be perfect, okay? You just want some semblance of what you’re thinking.”
  31. sojourn
    a temporary stay
    For a few seconds, there was no Wick, no phantoms, no weird family history, no murals. Just Robbie’s peaceful face and the leaves on their gentle night sojourn, buffeted by the summer breeze.
  32. buffet
    strike against forcefully
    For a few seconds, there was no Wick, no phantoms, no weird family history, no murals. Just Robbie’s peaceful face and the leaves on their gentle night sojourn, buffeted by the summer breeze.
  33. exultant
    joyful and proud especially because of triumph or success
    The voices ranged from low and mournful to high and exultant; they blended together in rising and falling harmonies that filled the night.
  34. incessantly
    without interruption
    But the sound kept with her, burned incessantly through her ears, trailed her like a stalker around every turn.
  35. buffer
    protect from impact
    Something about these spirits buffered her, kept her afloat.
Created on Fri Mar 30 11:18:18 EDT 2018 (updated Thu May 23 09:55:08 EDT 2019)

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