Long Way Down

by Jason Reynolds

AND THEN THERE WERE SHOTS
Everybody
ran,
ducked,
hid, tucked
themselves tight.

Pressed our lips to the
pavement and prayed
the boom, followed by
the buzz of a bullet,
didn't meet us.

After Will's brother is shot in a gang crime, he knows the next steps. Don't cry. Don't snitch. Get revenge. So he gets in the lift with Shawn's gun, determined to follow The Rules. Only when the lift door opens, Buck walks in, Will's friend who died years ago. And Dani, who was shot years before that. As more people from his past arrive, Will has to ask himself if he really knows what he's doing.

This haunting, lyrical, powerful verse novel will blow you away.

• ISBN10: 1481438255
• ISBN13: 9781481438254
• Publish Date: 24 October 2017
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Atheneum Books
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 320
• Language: English

Reviews

[nannah]

Wow. This is an incredibly impactful book. I won’t be able to stop thinking about that ending for a long while.

Content warnings:
- gun violence

Representation:
- all characters are Black

Told in verse, Long Way Down takes place in just sixty seconds -- the time it takes for 16-year-old Will to ride the elevator from the seventh floor of his apartment down to the lobby and decide whether or not he’s going to kill the man who murdered his brother.

I honestly don’t have much to say here. This is so well done, well written, and evocative. A great example of “less is more”, it feels like every word is carefully chosen. And even though there aren’t that many words in total, each character feels well developed with their own distinct personalities -- and most importantly (and most difficult to do with such a small amount of words), not built on stereotypes or one single trait.

The only thing I could say is that I wish more women had parts (there was one female character with a speaking role). Besides her, women were mentioned screaming or crying. I understand this novel’s focus is very much on Black men, though, so it’s not so much a big deal as it would be in other stories.

This book (especially that ending!) and Jason Reynolds's beautiful attitude shown in his acknowledgments and author bio have instantly made me a fan of him. I look forward to reading more of his work.

[writehollydavis]

Amazingly written. Poignant. Thought provoking. Powerful. So much can happen in 60 seconds.

[leahrosereads]

Fuck, this was heartbreaking. I teared up multiple times following Will's story and the pain he was going through with losing his brother. It being written in verse added another layer to the whole story and the formatting on each page really enhanced the words on them.

[inlibrisveritas]

Long Way Down is a poignant verse novel that is both raw and powerful in its emotion. I will say this is review will be somewhat small because the text itself is rather short and because much of this novel relays on the reveal.

The story takes place during a long elevator ride where the rider, Will, is on his way to seek revenge for the murder of his brother. Each section represents a floor past, and with each section more is revealed about Will and more about those in his neighborhood/life. The verse is fluid and laid in a way that the words hold power and tension, and really pushes that emotion even farther. By the end of the novel I had a knot in my throat and even now, weeks after I read it, the story has stuck with me. There is so much to examine in such a small book, things like the cycle of violence and the impact it has no just on individuals by entire communities.

I read the text version because that just so happened to be what I had on hand, but I did listen to portions of the audiobook and I must say it is excellent as well! It is read by the author and I think this story really shines as a spoken word text, and wholeheartedly recommend that audio.

Go forth, and grab a copy of this if you can! It's powerful and important story great not just for the teens it's written for, but for adults and people of all backgrounds.

[layawaydragon]

A-MAZ-ING!!!!!

😭😭😭😭💔💔💔💔💔✊✊👏👏🙌🙌

I'm totally going to buy a print copy to look at on the page and keep because every line is PERFECTION.


Notes While Listening:
>>Read by author
>>Dedicated to teens in detention centers
>>Shawn, older brother shot and killed day before yesterday
>>"If your blood is inside someone else, you never want to see it outside them"
>>He's 15
>>SOOOOO many good lines!!! I can't get them while listening. Too quick, too many. Going to buy a print copy to keep.
>>Missing one...
>>😭😭😭😭💔💔💔💔💔
>>Buck - 7; Danny - 6; Uncle Mark - 5;
>>"How do you tell water drowning isn't funny"
>>"How you hug what's haunting you"
>>Dad Mickey - 4;
>>That sucks. Super embarrassing. Poor kid.
>>"Buck struck a match and the elevator stopped"
>>3 - Killed Buck. Frank. Frick. Doesn't know Riggs.
>>Killed by Shawn. Tony there.
>>2 - Shawn.
>>"You coming?"

Interview Portion:
>>Boys in the Hood Meets A Christmas Story
>>Go poetry!
>>Good reasoning on narrating it. I was curious why a younger sounding or teen wasn't used. But it makes sense now and he did an amazing job.
>>Gang beef started in the 1960s over stolen pair of shoes in jail = Nortenos Vs. Surenos.
>>"Every decision was me thinking I was doing the right thing"
>>Extend more empathy.

[Sam@WLABB]

Rating: 4.5 stars

It's amazing how so few words could deliver so much emotion and meaning. I found tears in my eyes quite a few times as I rode that elevator with Will. The elevator stopped on each floor, picking up a passenger, who reminded me of Will's lost innocence, lost childhood, lost faith in the system. I found tears in my eyes, because I know that there are many kids like Will.

A very powerful story about inner city culture, pain, loss, and choice.

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[Chelsea]

My heart hurts.
Beautifully written and I highly recommend it.

[Stephanie]

A quick, riveting read. I swore out loud on the last page.