Miles Morales Book Review!

Page count: 272 pgs.

Author: Jason Reynolds

Publication date: August 1st, 2017

Publishing Company: Marvel Press, Penguin Random House

Genre: Young Adult, Middle Grade, Fantasy, Fiction, Superheroes 

My Rating: 4.3/5 stars

Goodreads Rating: 4.16/5

Trigger Warnings: Mentions slavery, Indirect & direct racial ostracizing 

Hello loves it’s Lori!🦄✨ I love Spiderman, so let’s get started!

I’ve always wanted to read Miles Morales because he’s the black Spiderman how cool is that?! I LIVE for diverse books. Also, The Marvel universe in general is my favorite fantasy franchises of all time. 

(Sorry DC, I honestly cannot choose I love them both to be honest).
Plot

 

Miles Morales is just your average teenager. Dinner every Sunday with his parents, chilling out playing old-school video games with his best friend, Ganke, crushing on brainy, beautiful poet Alicia. He’s even got a scholarship spot at the prestigious Brooklyn Visions Academy. Oh yeah, and he’s Spider Man. 

But lately, Miles’s spidey-sense has been on the fritz. When a misunderstanding leads to his suspension from school, Miles begins to question his abilities. After all, his dad and uncle were Brooklyn jack-boys with criminal records. Maybe kids like Miles aren’t meant to be superheroes. Maybe Miles should take his dad’s advice and focus on saving himself. 

As Miles tries to get his school life back on track, he can’t shake the vivid nightmares that continue to haunt him. Nor can he avoid the relentless buzz of his spidey-sense every day in history class, amidst his teacher’s lectures on the historical “benefits” of slavery and the importance of the modern-day prison system. But after his scholarship is threatened, Miles uncovers a chilling plot, one that puts his friends, his neighborhood, and himself at risk. 

It’s time for Miles to suit up!

My Thoughts

 

First of all, I really enjoyed the lovable characters that came to life from the pages. Miles’ family and best friend Ganke warmed my heart every time I was reading each page. They never failed to make me laugh, and made me enjoy the book more! I also loved how there were so many diverse people within the story which made my heart SO happy. I wanted to mention that Miles and his classmates truly had an empowering ending scene that gave me CHILLS! 
Standing up to racism and fighting for equality was made me give this book 4 stars instead of 3 like I was going to. The significant message in the book deserved more than 3 stars. It’s amazing to know that Jason added an empowering scene and to teach kids to stand up for what’s right when people aren’t being treated equal. Your voice matters no matter what race, ethnicity, religion, gender or sex you are. 
The beautiful artwork on the cover and a black Spiderman already caught my attention, but when reading it, it was different than I expected. Honestly before reading Miles Morales I expected to be introduced to both lives of Miles Morales and Spiderman equally. 
The majority of the book is Miles’ school life which is good, but I wanted content of both and Spiderman as well. Don’t get me wrong I enjoyed Miles and being introduced to his personal life. Maybe I just had high expectations for a more action packed and adventurous scenes. To also experience the excitement I wanted to feel when Miles was in his suit and protecting his city as Spiderman. Personally, I think this book is missing something and I can’t properly figure out what it is. 
Overall, I did enjoy this heartwarming read and felt like I needed a Sequel ah! If you want to read about friendship, family, fighting racism and equality then this is for you! 

Hopefully Jason Reynolds will write a sequel because there are things left untold!
Have you read about Miles Morales yet? 

Lori’s QOTD: If you could be any superhero who would you be and why? 

Comment below! I’d like to know!☺️