My Never Ending List

I loved Long Way Down, also written by this author, so when I saw this graphic novel, I knew I had to read it. Long Way Down touched me on so many different levels as the story played out. Jason used space and time to tell this story, the words arranged just right, letting my emotions take over. I love this about free verse; the reader can put a piece of themself into the story.

In Long Way Down: The Graphic Novel, I felt that my attention was centered more on the elevator ride than on the emotions in the story. I was concerned about the individuals on the ride: trying to figure out who Will would encounter each time the elevator door opened on each of the floors and what that individual would mean to him. This book’s focus was totally different than what I had with Long Way Down. I enjoyed learning more about how these individuals mattered and why they were important to Will which I don’t remember focusing on when I read Long Way Down. Whereas Long Way Down was more emotional for me, this graphic novel explained more of Will’s story to me. To me, they complimented one another.

There is a lot of information in this book, this isn’t a graphic novel that you can speed read through. This story is emotional but I think the feelings were angrier and heavier than what I had felt with the other book, when they felt hurtful and heartbreaking. I thought the book was easy to follow and I enjoyed the illustrations. I liked how the illustrations show just enough information not to take away from the text. 4.5 stars.