A review by bbrown0526
The Taking of Jake Livingston by Ryan Douglass

3.0

This book had potential to do something really cool and unique, but really fell short. I’m fine with going along for a ride but I needed at least some details of Jake’s abilities in order to understand what the hell was happening. With as short as it was, there was definitely room to expand that. The only character I really got a feel for was Benji, everyone else felt super 2 dimensional and like an after thought.

I also don’t know how I felt about reading from Sawyer’s perspective. I didn’t love how he was painted in a sympathetic and “lost boy” light. It was weird that we got more of Sawyer’s history, a white school shooter, than Jake - who is the black queer main character.

Overall I liked what the book was trying to do, but definitely think it could have been improved on.