Scan barcode
meganpbell's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-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
4.75
Boyz n the Hood meets A Christmas Carol in this powerful and moving young adult novel in verse about a young man contemplating his response, revenge, and “the rules” his brother, just killed in a shooting, taught him. Our bookstore is helping a local teacher give away 60 copies of this book to his students for summer reading!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Child death, Gun violence, Murder, and Blood
Minor: Death of parent
adearajean's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Grief, Gun violence, and Murder
Minor: Child death and Violence
lawbooks600's review against another edition
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Representation: Black characters
Well. I finally read the original version of Long Way Down. I read an adaptation before this one and enjoyed it so I hoped this edition lives up to the hype. I glanced the blurb, which made me think it would be a heavy yet intriguing read, all in poetry to boot. Unfortunately, when I closed the final page of Long Way Down, it underwhelmed me.
The plot is similar to the other adaptation, but here's a quick recap: Will sees his brother, Shawn, die from a gunshot, so he consults the three rules on what to do next. Don't cry. Don't snitch. Get revenge. He enters an elevator and everything looks typical except that Will can see ghosts of people who died in the past. They were victims of the rules and the cycle of gun violence and when the elevator reaches the ground floor, the ending is open. It's not clear if Will will follow the third rule. The concept is outstanding, but the execution--not so much. The art in the other version added impact and even though I liked some pages of Long Way Down, most of them were monotonous and felt like what happened when someone pressed the Enter key many times. I liked the message in Long Way Down, which is that gun violence kills many but the delivery is only okay, but I appreciate that it isn't too preachy. I wonder what the author's other fictional compositions are like.
To summarise, Long Way Down initially seemed like a promising narrative about gun violence in verse, but in the end, it dissatisfied me, making me feel like this novel isn't the best example of poetry ever. Maybe if it was written in prose it would've been better.
Well. I finally read the original version of Long Way Down. I read an adaptation before this one and enjoyed it so I hoped this edition lives up to the hype. I glanced the blurb, which made me think it would be a heavy yet intriguing read, all in poetry to boot. Unfortunately, when I closed the final page of Long Way Down, it underwhelmed me.
The plot is similar to the other adaptation, but here's a quick recap: Will sees his brother, Shawn, die from a gunshot, so he consults the three rules on what to do next. Don't cry. Don't snitch. Get revenge. He enters an elevator and everything looks typical except that Will can see ghosts of people who died in the past. They were victims of the rules and the cycle of gun violence and when the elevator reaches the ground floor, the ending is open. It's not clear if Will will follow the third rule. The concept is outstanding, but the execution--not so much. The art in the other version added impact and even though I liked some pages of Long Way Down, most of them were monotonous and felt like what happened when someone pressed the Enter key many times. I liked the message in Long Way Down, which is that gun violence kills many but the delivery is only okay, but I appreciate that it isn't too preachy. I wonder what the author's other fictional compositions are like.
To summarise, Long Way Down initially seemed like a promising narrative about gun violence in verse, but in the end, it dissatisfied me, making me feel like this novel isn't the best example of poetry ever. Maybe if it was written in prose it would've been better.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Death, and Grief
Full trigger warnings: Death of a father and uncle in the past and a brother, blood, grief and loss depiction, gun violence Score: Six points out of ten.te_ss_i's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Mental illness, Death of parent, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Child death, Confinement, Gun violence, Murder, Physical abuse, Trafficking, Body horror, Death, Grief, Blood, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Emotional abuse, Gore, and Violence
bt_wannabe's review against another edition
emotional
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Beautiful, lyrical, and poignant. A minute that will stay with you forever.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Gun violence
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Child death
susaned's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
5.0
Powerful novel in verse about gun violence. Will, a teen set on revenge after his brother's shooting death, gets on the elevator with a gun and has a ride down full of ghosts and smoke. You coming? Ends the book. So much death and tragedy in Will's life already. Will he join the ghosts? Simply an amazing book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Grief, Violence, Murder, Death, Drug use, and Gun violence
sydneyo_0's review
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Poetry normally isn’t my favourite thing to read but I believe that using poetry really helped set the emotional tone and the pace for this book. It’s an emotional book and it can be hard to get through but I think that this is a book that everyone should read at least once in their life.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Death, and Grief
louiepotterbook's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death, Murder, Grief, and Gun violence
mamaofperfectpayton's review
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Death, Child death, Death of parent, Grief, and Gun violence
hazeleyeddreamer's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Racism, Murder, Grief, Blood, Child death, Classism, and Death