Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds: A Book Review
Warning: Pieces of information that may be considered spoilers are ahead.
Long Way down by Jason Reynolds is a fantastic book that revolves around Will Holloman, who is a 15 year old boy. Will lives in a neighborhood that is drowned in poverty, and it is made known to the reader that gang violence is a common problem. People living in this neighborhood follow a fairly simple set of rules. They are called The Rules. They state that there should be no crying, snitching, or revenge. Will has a brother, Shawn, and a mother with a skin condition. While going to pick up a special soap, Shawn gets shot by a member of a rival gang. Will is furious and decides to take revenge after finding a gun in Shawn’s drawer. The plan is to kill Riggs, who is Will’s primary suspect. Will sneaks out at night and gets in the elevator. Inside the elevator, Will meets a set of ghosts who appear and try to change his mind.
The first ghost he meets is named Buck. Buck was a mentor to Shawn, and he tells Will that Riggs is too tough to be killed. The next ghost who appears in Dani, who died by a drive-by shooting in front of Will 7 years before. Dani asks Will what would happen if his shot doesn’t land. After that, Uncle Mark enters and tries to make Will understand the consequences of killing another man. Suddenly, Will’s father enters and puts a gun to Will’s head. At the end, Shawn enters the elevator. Shawn does not talk to Will, but he starts crying. He broke The Rules. I tied this to Will’s willingness to exact revenge because both the brothers are breaking The Rules. After the elevator stops, Shawn exits. The book does not continue to show the end, but it leaves the reader as Will is debating whether to follow The Rules or to kill Riggs.
This was a very moving book that talks about social issues that are prevalent in our society. Gang violence has harmed so many people these last few years, and this book does a great job of describing what goes through a teenager’s mind after his brother is taken from him. I really found pleasure in this book and would recommend it to anyone. I picked this book up by accident at the library, but I think that it is my favorite book I have read this year.
- Rishabh
Thank you for reminding me of one of my favorite books I had read, you just reminded me of it! The style of verse this book was written in was really interesting, and it was a lot of fun to read this book. I thought that the verse made it confusing to follow the book, as the plot was also slightly complicated, but it was still a very interesting and engaging book to read. Great review!
ReplyDeleteGreat book review. This sounds like an interesting book Rishabh. I think that gang violence is a big issue, especially in environments like the one in the book. I think that you did a great job summarizing this book, I now have a better idea as to what is going on now because of this book review. I think I might check this book out later.
ReplyDeleteGreat review! I think that it's important to talk about these prevalent social issues, and you also summarized the book very well. I would definitely want to read this myself. Good job!
ReplyDeleteThis book sounds very interesting. It talks about a number of social issues while still providing an interesting plot. I think that books like these are hard to find; I might need to check it out another time.
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