Now | 2024 | Previous | Articles | Road Essays | Road Reviews | Author | Black Authors | Title | Source | Age | Genre | Series | Format | Inclusivity | LGBTA+ | Artwork | WIP |
|
Miles Morales Suspended: 03/15/24
Miles Morales Suspended by Jason Reynolds (2023) is a follow up to Miles Morales (2017). It takes place over the course of day at school with some flashbacks to events that led to Miles and classmates being on detention. In the middle of all of that, there is a Spider-Man worthy event that needs stopping, if Miles can get away from the teachers long enough to be a hero. It sounds good and I was expecting to enjoy the book. I loved the first book and what Reynolds did with Miles Morales and the other characters. But this time, the author decided to tell Miles's story this time in poetry divided by short sections of prose. I'm not against novels in verse. I'm not against Spider-Man in verse should someone else want to give it a go. Here, though, the poetry and the prose don't mesh at all. That was my first reaction. After slogging through the book, I realized what bothered me about it. This Miles Morales novel is a very awkward homage to Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi. The stakes aren't high enough to have the same impact as the original. It just ends up feeling disingenuous and derivative. Two stars Comments (0) |