Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

The Taking of Jake Livingston by Ryan Douglass

18 reviews

alesbookishcorner's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

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

3.5

I went into this thinking this would be an easy 5 star read. It is a good horror book in general, but there definitely was a bit too much going on and I was wondering if the author maybe didn't want to fit in a bit too much into this book. Especially considering the length of the book. The author's writing style didn't fully work for me personally. I am considering rereading this in a year or so to see if I'm still feeling the same way about it or if I simply picked it up at the wrong time.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Gun violence, Homophobia, Racism, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Minor: Slavery

allyah's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

2.75

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, and Mental illness

Minor: Abandonment, Alcoholism, Blood, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Sexual assault, Violence, Transphobia, Toxic friendship, Slavery, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, Incest, and Pedophilia

miaaa_lenaaa's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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

5.0

<SPOILERS>

Bro this was so good

You did low key scare me that jake and allister werent gonna get together

Like i think maybe there were a couple things i think could have been a little better? Like fiona doing a complete u turn on all her friends in like a day, fiona and allister helping jake get the diary but then not being in it till the end basically? but it wasnt enough of an annoyance for it to be 4 stars

It did scare me, but also it almost made me cry and was v v cute

Also im a big fan of the general concept

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Blood, Bullying, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Grief, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicide attempt, Transphobia, Violence, and Vomit

mjwilliamson's review against another edition

challenging dark sad 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? It's complicated

2.75

I liked the book. It wasn’t a bad book to read. I found the content and themes it touched on very compelling and they told a very interesting story. However, I found Jake to be a bit of a Mary Sue. Everything that he did wrong, or went wrong, could somehow be attributed to his circumstances/the ghosts and ghouls surrounding him. There was no ownership for his actions and there weren’t any major consequences for his actions. I would have liked him to have dealt to a modicum of his damage before it was immediately accepted by his family/friends. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Violence

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Car accident, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gore, Incest, Outing, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Stalking, and Transphobia

Minor: Vomit, Stalking, Slavery, Rape, and Homophobia

nothingrhymeswithrachel's review against another edition

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Biphobia, Bullying, Child death, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, Murder, Outing, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, Violence, and Vomit

lowell's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Suicide, Rape, Racism, Mass/school shootings, Homophobia, Gun violence, Death, and Child abuse

Moderate: Slavery

kayladaila's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

This was way scarier than I was prepared for! The writing was good and I loved the characters! 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Outing, Racism, Rape, and Sexual assault

Minor: Religious bigotry and Slavery

books_and_ghosts's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? It's complicated

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Mass/school shootings, Racism, Stalking, Suicide, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Ableism and Incest

Minor: Domestic abuse, Slavery, Animal cruelty, and Animal death