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A review by isabellarobinson7
Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds
4.0
Second read: 14/06/22 - 16/06/22
Rating: (still) 4 stars
Hehe. I reread. This was on the top of a stack of books (one of many stacks, I might add) in the spare room and I saw it and went, "hey, I haven't read this book in awhile. Plus it's short. And good. Yeah, I wanna read it" so I did. The end.
First read: 16/05/19 - 16/05/19
Rating: 4 stars
Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds is a little novel tackling a huge topic, and I am happy to say that it met all my expectations. Gun violence, especially towards black people in America, is an extremely difficult topic to write about and do it well, and I feel that Long Way Down does exactly that. Not only is the book told from the point of view of a normal guy who is far from a teacher's-pet-do-gooder type of person, but it is also written by one. Jason Reynolds feels just like a regular guy, not the well educated author type, just someone who finished his first book at 17 and then decided to write a book of his own. I just love this quote he included in the authors note at the end of Long Way Down:
It is so true that many young people hate reading (me excluded) and find books boring. One of these people is my younger brother who had read almost nothing recreationally, bar Wonder by R.J. Palacio. As soon as I finished Long Way Down, I immediately gave to my brother to read and he is currently loving it.
In this way, Jason Reynolds feels like the male version of Angie Thomas, author of The Hate U Give. Both authors are physically a part of the world they write about, not some white guy from the suburbs whose only experience was this one time he drove through the lower end neighbourhoods in his car worth more that the houses he passed (and I can say that because I'm white). It makes their books feel that much more realistic and enjoyable to read.
Rating: (still) 4 stars
Hehe. I reread. This was on the top of a stack of books (one of many stacks, I might add) in the spare room and I saw it and went, "hey, I haven't read this book in awhile. Plus it's short. And good. Yeah, I wanna read it" so I did. The end.
First read: 16/05/19 - 16/05/19
Rating: 4 stars
Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds is a little novel tackling a huge topic, and I am happy to say that it met all my expectations. Gun violence, especially towards black people in America, is an extremely difficult topic to write about and do it well, and I feel that Long Way Down does exactly that. Not only is the book told from the point of view of a normal guy who is far from a teacher's-pet-do-gooder type of person, but it is also written by one. Jason Reynolds feels just like a regular guy, not the well educated author type, just someone who finished his first book at 17 and then decided to write a book of his own. I just love this quote he included in the authors note at the end of Long Way Down:
"Here's what I know: I know there are a lot — A LOT — of young people who hate reading. I know that many of these book haters are boys. I know that many of these book-hating boys, don't actually hate books, they hate boredom. Here's what I plan to do: NOT WRITE BORING BOOKS."
It is so true that many young people hate reading (me excluded) and find books boring. One of these people is my younger brother who had read almost nothing recreationally, bar Wonder by R.J. Palacio. As soon as I finished Long Way Down, I immediately gave to my brother to read and he is currently loving it.
In this way, Jason Reynolds feels like the male version of Angie Thomas, author of The Hate U Give. Both authors are physically a part of the world they write about, not some white guy from the suburbs whose only experience was this one time he drove through the lower end neighbourhoods in his car worth more that the houses he passed (and I can say that because I'm white). It makes their books feel that much more realistic and enjoyable to read.