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DG
Reviewed in Italy on April 6, 2024
Ottimo
Darlene Jones
Reviewed in Canada on June 22, 2023
With words chosen wisely and sentences deliberately sparse. Jason Reynolds creates a profound masterpiece in “Long Way Down.”I had no idea a novel written in free verse could be so compelling and intense. The two word ending took my breath away. I’ve read the book twice now and will likely read it several more times.
Esta
Reviewed in Australia on February 5, 2023
Poignant and heart wrenching story written in verse that takes place over 60 seconds in an elevator, exploring the senseless cycle of gun violence, through the eyes of main character Will, whose brother Shawn had just been shot. Extremely powerful, emotional and moving, despite being a fast-paced read.I think everyone should read this book.
jm1632
Reviewed in Canada on April 24, 2023
Good
Cheerioh
Reviewed in France on August 3, 2021
J'ai du mal avec la poésie sans rythme. Ici la forme soutient parfois la pensée mais c'est très artificiel. Par exemple si je prenais mon commentaire et que je le détachais en vers, ça donnerait pareil et ça n'a pas toujours grand intérêt.L'histoire par contre est plus intéressante. On suit notre protagoniste, dans sa tête, qui souhaite venger la mort de son frère, tué par balle dans contexte de règlement de compte entre gangs de rue. Il suit les Règles comme son frère, comme son père. Il prend l'ascenseur et à chaque étage, quelqu'un rentre.L'occasion est ici donnée d'explorer ces règles de la rue, la transmission, la vengeance...Apparemment l'histoire n'avait pas été conçue sous forme poétique. Pourquoi pas. En tout cas on le sent bien. Parfois ça fonctionne et d'autres fois pas. Pas à voix haute en tout cas. C'est un peu le défaut du récit.J'ai quand même bien aimé globalement, le personnage est sympathique et on espère qu'il fera le bon choix.
Richard Garneau
Reviewed in Canada on July 3, 2021
travaille de classe
Alan Higuera
Reviewed in Mexico on May 10, 2020
El libro llegó en perfecto estado. Hablando concretamente de la historia: increíble. Muy original con un narrador muy complejo a la vez que inocente. Gran libro
Rick
Reviewed in Canada on March 24, 2020
In the last 5 days during this Covid-19 lockdown I’ve read this, Dear Martin, Stamped, and Night by Ellie Wiesel. There have been chapters from a few other leadership, self-development related books but these four...How do you know the darkness of stereotyping - racism and loss in the occasional extremely small setbacks of a pretty peaceful life lived in what you can only guess must be an alternate universe? Not sure I can, but this is part of why it’s important to read, and try.
Sihan Ma
Reviewed in Canada on November 28, 2020
It’s written in the form of a poem. Very concise but powerful language. It has many metaphors and need to read over and over to fully understand the meaning. Like the book!
Sumaiya Khatoon
Reviewed in India on July 9, 2019
Book was delivered on time and in good condition.. This book is written in verse which is a first for me .. and I ended up loving this style of storytelling.. also, the illustrations were beautiful..The story follows a guy who is out to get revenge on his brother's killer. Armed with a gun, he gets into the elevator of the building to fulfill his mission. But at each floor, the elevator stops and he encounters (dead) people from his past who play a significant role in potentially changing his perspective.Since it is written in verse, it was a quick and easy read. The writing was beautiful and the story was haunting and intriguing.The ending which is open for interpretation was the best part of the book.
KB
Reviewed in Canada on July 21, 2019
I am not a person who typically reads poetry, but this poetic novel captured my attention and my heart. A beautiful story that captures the heart breaking complexity of gun violence in America.
Analise
Reviewed in Canada on June 29, 2018
I originally ordered this book when it was recommended based on my search history, and the description sounded like it might interest my ninth-grade students.Wow. This was the first time I've read a novel written in poetry, and this novel is the reason I've started seeking out others, like Kwame Alexander's The Crossover (which I also highly recommend). I read the book in one sitting, but the questions it sparked are still kicking around in my head. The cover art and background art on the pages establish a gritty tone that doesn't let go through the whole book. I highly recommend it to any student who's interested, and I loved reading it as an adult as well.
Mel Ladner
Reviewed in Canada on January 1, 2018
This is not a traditional story or novel. It's more of a poetic prose that explores the thoughts of a fifteen year old boy and his struggle to follow the 'rules' of his ghetto life. The difficulty being that he has morales yet believes that gun violence is 'required' (because of the rules) and thus a circle of killing is destined to continue in his family and community.It's brilliantly set-up as an elevator ride from floor 7 down to the lobby. At each floor someone he knows or knows of is added to the elevator to comment (very poetically) on the situation that is influencing the teen to perpetuate the gun violence.I don't want to give much away because the real impact here is not knowing how it will end or who gets on the elevator.Without a doubt Long Way Down has the potential to become a required reading in schools; because of the style of writing, the topic of gun violence, and the commentary it makes on society and how/what we teach our children.I give this four stars if only because I have a very hard time with gun violence stories or commentaries. I live in Canada and so gun violence (while it happens here) is not as common as stabbing incidents. And so I struggle a lot with this idea that people teach children to shoot others and take retribution. The only thing to be gained from this is more death and violence. I'm slightly concerned that Long Way Down could be misinterpreted as condoning this violence and so I can't give it 5 stars.I actually hope that more adults read this than kids or teens. It clearly explains how teens are interpreting what they are told. That they take things literally and as parents and/or influential adults that are around children we have a responsibility to stop the violence.I believe we all (especially parents and influential adults to children) need to take some responsibility for our of the acceptance of gun violence. Long Away Down illustrates this in a distinct, quick to read and obvious way.If nothing else I hope at least one or two kids or teens realize that shooting one another is not a solution and that violence only begets violence.Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.
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