Reviews with content warning for Gore - The Taking of Jake Livingston

Reviews tagging 'Gore'

The Taking of Jake Livingston by Ryan Douglass

58 reviews

kryskross's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

4.0

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henrygravesprince's review

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challenging dark hopeful mysterious reflective 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

3.75

This is a tough, but well-written, book. I’m a firm believer in the idea that if a child is old enough to experience something, they’re old enough to learn about it in an age-appropriate manner; that extends to the very difficult topics being dealt with here that, unfortunately, children experience every day, from mass violence to familial abuse to bullying and discrimination. On top of that, I think Douglass is genuinely very talented at writing Young Adult Horror, and these combine into a piece of art that I think is both accessible and very well-done.

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evelynyle_88's review

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dark mysterious 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

4.0

I love that I decided to change my edition of this book to audiobook. From dnf list, to finished. The Taking of Jake Livingston took my breath away. I love every second of it. This book was triggering for me but it is indeed a good book. I can't imagine if myself is Jake; being a medium. I love how creepy every chapter were. Thank you for the story, Ryan! You are brilliant!

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nemeiadarkwalker's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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asinglebird's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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tashasbooks's review against another edition

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dark

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

3.25

The Taking of Jake Livingston tackles hard themes in a horror and high school setting, but I'm not entirely sure this was for me.

Jake has felt like a loner for a long time, due to the fact he can see ghosts. It's not a fun power, and he often sees people dying over and over and ghouls leeching off people's sadness. When a next door neighbor is murdered, he realizes an angry ghost beyond the veil is terrorizing his town and Jake's life, with the intention of possessing him.

I have mixed feelings, I felt like the character development was well done. You can't help but root for Jake, due to the discrimination he faces and the society he lives in. Sawyer (the murderous ghost) is doing everything he can to destabilize Jake's life and it works. Overall though, I found that I liked his character and his overall motivations and decisions made sense. Jake grows into himself and gains confidence, as well as finally learning to make friends and rely on them.

I think I struggled most with the plot. For some reason, it took me a while to feel invested in this book. The plot was pretty jumpy from point to point, and it never felt fully realized and very rushed, especially the end! I also wish we had more development from other side characters, with the majority of this book focusing on Jake and Sawyer's perspectives. I think the ending didn't really make sense? Like as a whole, a LOT of things weren't wrapped up and there were consequences that were never really explained. Overall, this book tackles heavy themes and I would recommend that anyone reading this checks CWs.

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sarah_shelf's review

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adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

Another book with some complicated feelings. To start off with, there were two things that threw me. It’s been awhile since I’ve read a book in a high school. Quite a few have had high school age characters, but the actual day-to-day school aspect was not incorporated. Now that I ma no longer that age, going back into that just feels kind of weird. I haven’t swung back around to being nostalgic or reminiscing on high school. I’m not removed enough to want to jump back into it. That is just my own personal preference and is in no way a criticism of the book. I just didn’t realize that shift in how I view high school stories had happened. (Really not surprising given I’m not the target audience.)

I also found Sawyer’s chapters so incredibly uncomfortable. That’s on purpose. He’s the antagonist of the story and no matter what happened in his life, he’s still a mass shooter. I struggle with storylines connected to these kind of strategies to begin with, but being in his head and listening to him (since I borrowed the audiobook) was very distressing. I know the backstory is giving the character nuance and explaining how he became what he is — even acknowledging that the people in his life were terrible people. But I could’ve done without it.

Both of those things made it hard for me to enjoy this book more. But my thoughts weren’t all negative. I did really enjoy listening to Jake’s journey as he learns to accept who he is, stand up for himself, and be confident in his abilities. The exploration of dead world and the ghost fights were super cool! I loved how Jake and River were able to help each other conquer their (metaphorical and literal) demons. And Jake’s happy ending with Allister at the end was very sweet.

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discarded_dust_jacket's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

This was super creepy; definitely recommend for fans of paranormal thrillers.

One thing I think the author did really well, was depict the parallel between Jake’s helplessness as he’s being stalked and harassed by a paranormal entity; and his helplessness as he endures the racism of his fellow classmates/teachers in his all-white school. In both cases he’s being worn down over time, knowing there’s no one who hears him or would believe him.

I struggled a little in the second half as the action became more focused within the astral plane and the fighting is done between spirits wielding ectoplasmic smoke, etc., just because the language gets sort-of nebulous and I had trouble tracking what was going on. But I don’t think that’s a weakness of the writing so much as a limitation of my imagination.

This is a great spooky season read, but definitely check trigger warnings as this story heavily features depictions and discussions of gun violence and school shootings.

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fullbelliedsnake's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious 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

4.0

the horror elements were really well done! i felt like the character relationships could’ve been better executed but it was still a solid read B)

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allisonsmith120's review against another edition

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dark medium-paced

1.5

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