Reviews with content warning for Gun violence - Long Way Down: The Graphic Novel

Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

Long Way Down: The Graphic Novel by Jason Reynolds

61 reviews

kaitlynnnng's review

challenging emotional reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

This is another book that’s difficult for me to rate.

I’ll start off by saying that I’ve read other books by Jason Reynolds, and I loved them, and I do think Long Way Down is an important book, so I don’t regret reading it, and it’ll definitely go in my classroom library, but it didn’t really do anything special for me.

This book tackles important topics like cycles of violence, and it reminds readers that what you’re told to think or do isn’t always the right thing to think or do. It was just incredibly brief! A majority of the story takes place in a 60-second time span, so I feel like I didn’t have time to know the characters or connect with them on any level. This is especially true of the people Will meets in the elevator. For a majority of the book, I wasn’t sure if these people were actually dead or if they were just believed to be dead, and they were introduced so quickly after one another, which left me distracted and confused.

I did listen to the audiobook while I read this graphic novel, and I enjoyed Jason Reynold’s commentary at the very end. It was the best part!

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readwithsophsx's review

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dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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bookshelfofbee's review

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dark reflective fast-paced

5.0

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cwatson1234's review

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challenging dark emotional sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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sunflowersarepretty's review

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dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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bookworm247's review

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challenging emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

marissasa's review

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This outstanding, raw graphic adaptation of a novel originally written in verse was very quick to make me cry. The poetry and the story are deeply emotional and rooted in so much pain, anger, and sadness. The watercolor art direction was a perfect choice for this work, and I was breathless when big moments in the verse were paired with a full two page spread. The concept of the main parts of the story taking place all in a 60 second elevator ride alone is genius, but the execution went above and beyond with layers of complexity that I know I will be thinking about for days.

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