Shadowshaper: Chapter–Epilogue

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. bearing
    the direction or path along which something moves or lies
    And once she got her bearings and they’d dealt with Wick, she could see what all this being the shining center of the shadowshapers business was about.
  2. plod
    walk heavily and firmly, as when weary, or through mud
    Her feet plodded over the sand.
  3. gist
    the choicest or most vital part of some idea or experience
    Sierra tried to explain the gist of her encounter with Lucera, but her heart wasn’t in it.
  4. eccentricity
    strange and unconventional behavior
    “That your abuelos were crazy magicians? That they thought they could communicate with the dead? Es una locura, Sierra, family eccentricities. It has nothing to do with you.”
  5. commiseration
    feeling of sympathy and sorrow for the misfortunes of others
    Neville grunted in commiseration.
  6. cataract
    disease that involves the clouding of the lens of the eye
    His left eye was foggy with cataracts.
  7. headlong
    in a hasty and foolhardy manner
    She had simply landed on an answer and run headlong into whatever mess awaited her.
  8. alcove
    a small recess opening off a large room or garden
    A fire extinguisher gathered dust in a little alcove right next to the door.
  9. coy
    showing marked and often playful evasiveness or reluctance
    “Don’t try and be coy with me, Nydia! I know you’re a shadowshaper—”
  10. preside
    act as executive officer
    Beyond it, drooping willow trees presided like mourning gods over a tiny churchyard.
  11. audacity
    aggressive or outright boldness
    Who is this fool who thinks she can address the Sisterhood of Sorrows with such audacity?
  12. billow
    rise and move, as in waves
    The Sorrows billowed around her.
  13. jaunty
    having a cheerful, lively, and self-confident air
    “Good thing we brought flashlights,” Juan said jauntily as they stumbled inside.
  14. grudgingly
    in a reluctant manner
    Once Juan stopped them, sent an uneasy glare across the empty floor, and then grudgingly motioned to keep moving.
  15. acrid
    strong and sharp, as a taste or smell
    Not by that acrid taste, not by the dread of facing the thing that had pursued her through Flatbush and down the shore at Coney Island.
  16. gangly
    tall, thin, and awkward
    Each painted demon had gangly arms with razor-sharp nails drooping down from hunched shoulders.
  17. feral
    wild and menacing
    Sierra felt them bristling like a pack of feral dogs.
  18. recess
    an enclosure that is set back or indented
    It ducked quickly into the dark recesses of the room and disappeared.
  19. smitten
    affected by something overwhelming
    His face changed from shocked to slightly smitten.
  20. burgeon
    grow and flourish
    The spirits were still all around them, glaring toward Wick and his burgeoning army.
  21. vise
    a holding device attached to a workbench
    That familiar holy terror tore through her blood vessels and wrapped a vise grip around her heart.
  22. dogged
    stubbornly unyielding
    No. They, Sierra and the spirits, would not be manipulated, dogged, oppressed.
  23. cleave
    separate or cut with a tool, such as a sharp instrument
    She felt the dull resistance of its physical presence, felt her hand cleave easily through it.
  24. conduit
    a passage through which water or electric wires can pass
    She was no longer the conduit; she was the form, the vessel.
  25. nonchalantly
    in a composed and unconcerned manner
    She reached nonchalantly toward his bruised face and placed her hand on it, allowing tiny flecks of light to seep into his cells and follow along his neural pathways.
  26. macabre
    shockingly repellent; inspiring horror
    They would crush her between them, tear her to pieces, and leave her body scattered amidst the dusty crates, a macabre blurb in tomorrow’s obituaries.
  27. myriad
    too numerous to be counted
    Each of the myriad swirling spirits inside her spoke the words too.
  28. culmination
    a final climactic stage
    She was the shimmering culmination of all her ancestors’ strife, joyfulness, and struggle.
  29. nefarious
    extremely wicked
    It left him too much room for some nefarious rebirth in the afterlife.
  30. rapture
    a state of being carried away by overwhelming emotion
    She was in the full rapture of love.
  31. intimate
    marked by close acquaintance, association, or familiarity
    He screamed as the spirits swarmed through him, burrowing into the most intimate reaches of his soul.
  32. entrails
    internal organs collectively
    Little flashes of light blinked out as the spirits sped through his blood vessels and entrails, crisscrossing synapses and cell membranes.
  33. synapse
    the junction between two neurons
    Little flashes of light blinked out as the spirits sped through his blood vessels and entrails, crisscrossing synapses and cell membranes.
  34. ramshackle
    in poor or broken-down condition
    Sierra could feel the purge; feel the tremendous vacuum as every last echo of Wick’s spiritual power was obliterated like a ramshackle hut in a monsoon.
  35. promenade
    take a leisurely walk
    He put his hand over hers and then wrapped her arm around his elbow, and together they promenaded down toward a secluded area of Coney Island beach by the edge of the water.
Created on Fri Mar 30 11:21:23 EDT 2018 (updated Thu May 23 09:55:36 EDT 2019)

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