Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

The Taking of Jake Livingston by Ryan Douglass

44 reviews

rtaire's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

5.0

Wow, this book is phenomenal. I feel like I truly understand the appeal of a teenage protagonist. Jake's youth and his grappling with his identity both black and gay make sense. Maybe these types of identity issues are more relatable to me as a queer person, than the love triangles and typical, entitled rebelling of your average YA protagonists. Jack lacks adult maturity, but he's not annoyingly immature. I really loved him so much and truly appreciated his growth and struggles.

Ghosts are a great way for me to be sucked into deeper conversations and metaphors. I might not have picked up a memoir about the same identity struggles as were explored in this book, but I found myself deeply captivated by the themes of this book.

Sawyer was a fantastically complex villain. The book shows his pain and his past wounds in a sympathetic light, but his actions are never condoned. He is the villain. Sawyer being a school shooter feels very topical and relevant. This is a horror story that plays upon the fears of a modern teen. Really well done. I feel it gives me a lot of insight into the psyche of the younger generations since I was just barely too early for school shooter drills to be a living nightmare. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Mass/school shootings, Death, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Gun violence, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Sexual assault, Animal cruelty, Car accident, Incest, Rape, Religious bigotry, Violence, Blood, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Minor: Classism

sofiasali's review against another edition

challenging dark sad medium-paced

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

4.25

i liked this book but i probably wouldn’t read it again, it needs more background information especially in the beginning

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Murder, Homophobia, Mass/school shootings, Body horror, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Pedophilia, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Blood, Bullying, Hate crime, Sexual assault, and Violence

Minor: Incest, Racism, Car accident, and Classism

bbellabeee's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Bullying, Child abuse, Classism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Violence

theasbookworld's review

dark

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Bullying, Mass/school shootings, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, and Suicide attempt

tey_lynn's review

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Car accident, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Pedophilia, Suicide, Violence, Vomit, Bullying, Child death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, and Sexual assault

marabdelmageed's review

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I listened to the whole audiobook in one sitting. This book was gripping from start to finish, and elicited a wide range of emotions. Such a magnificent piece of work. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, Suicide attempt, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Car accident, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Rape

zeddlonglastname's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

cheerful_bursts's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

Odd Thomas for YA. Left me wanting a lot more in a good way. Audiobook was excellent. A lot of triggers to be wary of:

suicide, child abuse, rape, murder, school shooting, death, loss of a loved one, animal abuse (insects), torture, violence, cheating

. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Racism, Racial slurs, Self harm, Sexual assault, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, and Violence

emzhay's review

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-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

3.5

The horror scenes are really creepy and unsettling. And I appreciated that while Jake deals with racism in his life, racism itself isn’t the horror of the novel. I do wish there was more world building. There were things happing towards the end with the spirit world that weren’t as fleshed out and confused me. I like the pace of the book but wish it was a bit longer. There were some experiences Jake had that I wanted him to sit with just a little longer. Overall I really enjoyed this book and was glad that it was the last in my readings for the Halloween season.  
 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Gore, Homophobia, Racism, Sexual assault, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, Animal death, and Animal cruelty

Trigger warning for insect horror

akoala's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

I really wanted to like this book more than I actually did. It got off on a rocky foot to me. This might just be because it's a YA but I felt a bit like the book was overexplaining itself to me. I also found the character discriptions a little clunky as the author introduced new characters but once it got going I really enjoyed this book! I liked how while you understood that the main villain had had a hard life didn't give them an excuse for the awful things they had done. Overall I would recommend this book but just be aware that it takes a little while to get going. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mass/school shootings, Homophobia, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Emotional abuse, and Domestic abuse