Long Way Down

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I will just tell you that you will most surely understand when you will read it if you didn't already because I don't want to give any kind of spoilers.

The "an eye for an eye" mentality only serves to perpetuate a cycle of violence in which nothing ever really changes or gets better until someone is brave enough to break the cycle. I'm having a hard time processing all the feels right now so this was a shorter review than I usually do.I don’t tolerate self-absorbed people who go out of their way commenting on my review because they think theirs is the only right opinion. These encounters challenge Will to evaluate his choices and reconsider his actions before he makes a choice he can never change.

I was at my last school for 4 years and we had ********* book fairs every term – and every term, I was disappointed by the narrow range of books. After finding his brother's gun, he explores this dilemma in the long elevator ride down from their eighth-floor apartment. You can find this review and more on my blog, or you can follow me on twitter, bookstagram, or facebook! Scenes of violence are starkly portrayed, including a double-page image of Shawn’s dead body; however, the complex and unjust reality of Will’s position remains front and center, in stark focus. Street violence is common in their neighborhood, and many deaths are a result of "rules" which drive kill or be killed motives.Long Way Down is a 2017 novel by Jason Reynolds that follows main character Will Holloman as he struggles to come to terms with his grief and anger in the aftermath of his brother Shawn’s death due to a gang-related shooting. Shawn introduces Will to the "rules" in their neighborhood and to the concept of loyalty, which is a contributing factor to the amount of violence in their neighborhood. He lives on the 7th floor and the entire book is set in the lift as it travels from his floor to the ground.