Is Long Way Down Worth Reading?
Ada’s Score
Jason Reynolds's 2017 novel-in-verse follows fifteen-year-old Will, who steps into an elevator with a loaded gun, intent on avenging his brother's murder — and in sixty seconds, encounters a series of ghosts who challenge everything he believes about justice and revenge. Written entirely as free verse poetry, the novel is startling in its formal audacity and emotional precision, compressing a world of grief, loyalty, and moral reckoning into a single elevator ride. Reynolds captures the language and logic of street violence without sensationalizing it, making the case that cycles of retribution are learned, not inevitable. A National Book Award finalist, it is one of the most innovative and urgent young adult novels of the decade.
Spotlight“Reynolds breaks every rule of the novel and creates something electric — verse that hits harder than prose ever could.”
Sixty Seconds That Will Stay With You Forever
Jason Reynolds wrote this entire novel in verse — and it moves like a held breath, floor by floor, ghost by ghost. It's technically a young adult book, but I'd hand it to anyone who has ever wondered how cycles of violence actually take root in a life. Short enough to read in an hour, heavy enough to last a lifetime.
Ada Brief
AI reading intelligence“Reynolds breaks every rule of the novel and creates something electric — verse that hits harder than prose ever could.”
Sixty Seconds That Will Stay With You Forever
Jason Reynolds wrote this entire novel in verse — and it moves like a held breath, floor by floor, ghost by ghost. It's technically a young adult book, but I'd hand it to anyone who has ever wondered how cycles of violence actually take root in a life. Short enough to read in an hour, heavy enough to last a lifetime.
Book Details
- Publisher
- Simon & Schuster Audio
- Published
- January 1, 2017
- Pages
- 208
- Language
- English
Get This Book
Affiliate linksISBN: 9781534444959
Disclosure: ReadAda earns a commission on purchases made through these links, at no extra cost to you.
Ada’s Score
4.6
Ada’s editorial score — not an aggregate of reader reviews.
Common Questions About Long Way Down
- Is Long Way Down worth reading?
- Reynolds breaks every rule of the novel and creates something electric — verse that hits harder than prose ever could. Ada rates it 4.6 out of 5.
- How many pages is Long Way Down?
- Long Way Down is 208 pages long — around 4–5 hours at an average reading pace.
Ada also recommends
More from Young Adult
Release Me
Tahereh Mafi
Ada’s Score
Behind Five Willows
June Hur
Ada’s Score
The Escape Game
Marissa Meyer and Tamara Moss
Ada’s Score
Us Dark Few
Alexis Patton
Ada’s Score
Fake Skating
Lynn Painter
Ada’s Score