Sierra is a 15-year-old girl of Puerto Rican and African descent who lives in the Bed Stuy neighborhood of Brooklyn. Sierra begins the novel as an ordinary girl who goes to parties and hangs out with her friends, has a crush on a boy at school, and loves to paint and draw. However, as the novel progresses, Sierra learns that she comes from a long line of shadowshapers, a fact which everyone else has kept secret from her. With this new discovery, Sierra begins to uncover hidden talents and strengths that she didn’t know she possessed. Sierra also develops the confidence to stand up to her family for the lies they’ve told, both about shadowshaping and their attempts to whitewash their heritage. Once Sierra learns that she is the next Lucera, a being who grants powers to the other shadowshapers, Sierra overcomes her own fears and insecurities to conquer the outside forces that threaten her family, friends, community, and heritage.

Robbie is Sierra’s crush from school, a quiet, artistic boy who mostly keeps to himself. When Sierra learns that she’s a shadowshaper, Robbie reveals that he is also a shadowshaper, and he teaches her