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A review by lawbooks600
Long Way Down: The Graphic Novel by Jason Reynolds
dark
emotional
medium-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
4.0
Representation: Black characters
Score: Seven points out of ten.
This version of Long Way Down circled my recommendations for a while and when I saw this in a library I visited, I immediately wanted to pick it up. Soon enough, I did and then I read the Long Way Down adaptation, but not before glancing the blurb. Despite being heavy, this story was enjoyable, leaving me wondering what the original text is like.
It starts with the first character I see, Will, whose last name remains undisclosed with his brother Shawn, when someone shot him, and no one reported on it. That is all according to the rules: don't cry, don't snitch and, most prominently, get revenge. Thus begins Will's quest to get Shawn's gun and shoot the shooter but he gets on an elevator and has to wait until it reaches the ground floor. In the elevator, Will meets other people who have died in a shooting, all due to the third rule. Once someone shoots another person and they get revenge, the cycle neverendingly continues. Sometimes the poetry is part of the art, which I enjoyed observing. The pictured helped me visualise the story more, but the poetry wasn't that impressive. It was one of many examples where someone pressed the Enter key many times and called it 'poetry.' The conclusion is open, as it's unclear whether Will will get revenge or break the third rule. I hope he chooses the latter.
Score: Seven points out of ten.
This version of Long Way Down circled my recommendations for a while and when I saw this in a library I visited, I immediately wanted to pick it up. Soon enough, I did and then I read the Long Way Down adaptation, but not before glancing the blurb. Despite being heavy, this story was enjoyable, leaving me wondering what the original text is like.
It starts with the first character I see, Will, whose last name remains undisclosed with his brother Shawn, when someone shot him, and no one reported on it. That is all according to the rules: don't cry, don't snitch and, most prominently, get revenge. Thus begins Will's quest to get Shawn's gun and shoot the shooter but he gets on an elevator and has to wait until it reaches the ground floor. In the elevator, Will meets other people who have died in a shooting, all due to the third rule. Once someone shoots another person and they get revenge, the cycle neverendingly continues. Sometimes the poetry is part of the art, which I enjoyed observing. The pictured helped me visualise the story more, but the poetry wasn't that impressive. It was one of many examples where someone pressed the Enter key many times and called it 'poetry.' The conclusion is open, as it's unclear whether Will will get revenge or break the third rule. I hope he chooses the latter.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Gun violence, Death, Blood, and Death of parent
Full trigger warnings: Gun violence, death of a father in the past and a brother, blood, grief and loss depiction