Long Way Down

by Jason Reynolds

[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.