Reviews

Miles Morales: Spider-Man by Jason Reynolds

kidlitlove's review

4.0

Good book. I think it is really more of a middle school read, than a middle grades read. I wanted more information/interaction with the bad guy. I do hope there will be sequels!

misslexilouwho's review

3.0

I've been on a huge Spider-Man kick lately, and after having seen Into the Spider-Verse for the third time last night, I felt like this was a great way to get a little extra fix in. I love Miles Morales, and while this book has a clearly different version of Miles than the animated film or the video game (differences in his origin of getting his powers, his age, etc.) it was a version of Miles I enjoyed. I labeled this as a contemporary because it felt more like a contemporary than sci-fi: Miles is struggling with his feelings for a classmate, he's being harassed by a teacher, and his parents are dealing with financial issues while he attends Brooklyn Vision Academy. He even tries to hang up the Spidey-suit for a while, thinking that his Spider-Sense is on the fritz and he shouldn't be Spider-Man any more.

As my first read of the new year, I'm a little disappointed. The villain is only in the novel for about 40 or so pages, and he beats this guy pretty quickly. This is definitely geared at younger readers, because while I managed to breeze through it in under a day, I wasn't in love with this story. There were aspects I enjoyed, like Jeff knowing his son is SM, and the friendship between Miles and Ganke (who had basically no part in the new movie because Disney essentially turned Ned into a Ganke rip off, which is a whole other can of worms), but I felt like this was a pretty weak story unfortunately.

rachelbaack's review

adventurous fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Summary:  Miles Morales is a sixteen-year-old student at a prestigious high school who is trying his best to overcome a family history that is far from spotless. Not to mention, he happens to be a super hero. Miles decides that he wants to keep his head down and focus on his school work, but something is not quite right at his school, and he realizes that he’s going to have to figure out what’s going on. 

robertmorvay's review

2.0

This book finally gives viewers a black perspective on Miles Morales that surprisingly hadn’t seen light until this book’s release, and it expands upon Miles’ mythos in ways the comics have never even attempted to. This novel is at its best when it is on the city streets, discussing how Miles interacts with the world around him as a minority with superpowers and is at its worst when Miles is at school complaining for chapters upon chapters about the same few things over and over again. This book tries to say a lot, but ends up saying very little, it tries to be a pointed message about racism but that ends up not making sense, it tries to be a story about Miles and his dad but that doesn’t go anywhere, it tries to be a classroom drama but that ends up being melodramatic, it tries to be a story about Miles in conflict with being Spider-Man and a student but Spider-Man literally only appears twice in the book outside of dream sequences, it tries to have it be a story about Miles founding out more about his uncle’s life but that subplot just disappears right when its getting interesting. This book is a train-wreck, albeit a decently written one. I would not recommend this except to hardcore fans of the character and even then I think you’ll end up being disappointed by it.

missrmaxwell's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

nhi_nguyen's review

3.0

The plot kind of dragged until the very end. I would think the climax of the book would be in the middle of the book but it kind of kept me waiting until the end. Anyway, it was a wonderful book though, very enjoyable. I'm not a fan of Marvel but it was fun to read about one.

alysses's review

4.0

Quite an interesting premise. I'm sure it's going to fly over people's heads. I like what was done here. I also love how the Puerto Rican culture was highlighted and not erased. Knowing that mom is a decedent of warriors, kings and queens and of a resilient people... imagine the greatness that could be tapped into and the level of super hero that can catapult Miles. If only.

ghosttkatt's review

adventurous hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I personally wish that there was a better balance between Miles time and Spider-Man time. I loved seeing Miles, especially since my favorite thing about him is how rich and influential his culture and community are. However, I just feel like there could’ve been a tad more Spider-Man moments in this. With that being said, I loved the ending and how the author kept it realistic and inspiring 

erine's review

3.0

The pacing for this wasn't as smooth as I'd like, and it took me awhile to get all the way through, but I did enjoy it. Typical teen problems mixed with typical superhero troubles made for a novel that reminded me of Ms. Marvel.

katherineclimber's review

4.0

I am a big fan of all things spider-man so obviously I loved this book. I liked how it's not like most super hero movies where the super hero fights the villain and then that's the whole movie. In this book you really get to see what Miles Morales's life is like even when he's not being spider-man and I really loved that aspect. The only thing I didn't like about this book is that I felt like the whole book was building up to some big fight and then I felt like they just shoved the whole climax into the last 20 pages, but overall I really loved this book. I would totally recommend it to any spider-man fans who aren't in the mood for a graphic novel, as that is what most spider-man books are.