Reviews tagging 'Stalking'

The Taking of Jake Livingston by Ryan Douglass

21 reviews

gellyreads's review

dark sad tense medium-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

4.0

Sawyer as a character is conflicting, but I liked the way this book set up the characters, powers, and world. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Stalking, Self harm, Religious bigotry, Pedophilia, Panic attacks/disorders, Mass/school shootings, Fire/Fire injury, and Bullying

torla's review

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Murder, Mass/school shootings, Stalking, and Gun violence

Moderate: Classism, Slavery, Child abuse, Ableism, Sexual assault, Bullying, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Racism, and Suicidal thoughts

jackiie's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Bullying, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Death, Domestic abuse, Murder, Racism, Stalking, Car accident, Child abuse, Outing, Violence, Suicide, Alcohol, Physical abuse, Blood, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, and Drug use

sallie_ees's review against another edition

dark emotional fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mass/school shootings, Murder, Stalking, Racism, and Pedophilia

saurahsaurus's review

adventurous dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.0

I really enjoyed this book, but didn’t expect it to be so violent. I loved its lore and strangeness, the themes of identity and being othered. And I just want to protect main character 🥹💜

I understand the role that the violence played in the book, and it fit. Just wasn’t prepared for it going in.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Child death, Racism, Death, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Religious bigotry, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Alcohol, Gaslighting, Fire/Fire injury, Incest, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Sexual violence, Mental illness, Outing, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Car accident, Cursing, Gore, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Transphobia

Minor: Animal death, Abandonment, Infidelity, and Police brutality

wrensreadingroom's review

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Mass/school shootings, Suicidal thoughts, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Body shaming, Bullying, Incest, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Cursing, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Classism, Medical content, Car accident, and Child death

aformeracceleratedreader's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.5

There are def some difficult topics in this book so check out content/trigger warnings before reading!
Overall, thought the book was solid. I enjoyed the paranormal aspects of it and how it also spoke on trauma. I would've liked to see more of Jake learning/accepting his power thought. I enjoyed reading about his interpersonal relationships growing and how his intrapersonal relationship grew as well.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Child death, Homophobia, Infidelity, Racism, Suicide, Blood, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Outing, Pedophilia, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Grief, Vomit, Cursing, Forced institutionalization, and Rape

rae_bookmarkchronicles's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-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? N/A

4.0

This book was absolutely a good read but I think a lot of people gloss over the content warnings so proceed with caution

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Suicide attempt, Stalking, and Bullying

sglance9's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• 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

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Stalking, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Violence, and Death

Moderate: Homophobia, Child abuse, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, and Racism

the_wistful_word_witch's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

5.0

I loved this book, and it was a great spooky season read. This was an amazing, haunting, sad story that comes with a lot of trigger warnings. It's dark, complex, and reflective of a lot of the trauma that I think a lot of Black queer folk can relate to, apart from the ghost story. Luckily, there's just enough of a budding romance and new friendships to temper all the harsher emotions, so that the reader doesn't feel swamped by them.

Poor Jake is a bit beaten down by life in so many ways and just wants to be different from who he is: one of two Black boys in his school, gay, and never quite fitting in. Plus, the ability to see ghosts, spectres stuck in the moments leading up to their deaths, doesn't help, especially when a very violent ghost decides that Jake is the thing he wants most.

As a parent, I found this book so hard to read because it shows just how hard being a teenager can be, especially when things like racial and sexual identity, mental health, abuse, and bullying are thrown into the mix. I wanted to reach out to both Jake and Sawyer and give the hurting little boys inside them big hugs.

I really liked the way that Ryan Douglass resolves the story, though. It's a bright spark of renewed hope and life after all that darkness.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Violence, Body horror, Murder, Physical abuse, Blood, Bullying, Car accident, Child abuse, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mass/school shootings, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Racism, Stalking, and Suicide

Moderate: Sexual assault and Animal cruelty

Minor: Drug use