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

challenging dark mysterious 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

2.75

This is a weird one for me. Let’s start with the stuff I loved. 

I loved the characters, even the ones we didn’t see much. Fiona and Allisyer, even from the brief descriptions, you could absolutely tell who they were.
The development of Jakes character from bad to worse to good was really endearing, so felt genuine. worry for him, the scene on the merry-go-round had my
heart crying out for him.
 

I loved the premise and  how some really difficult issues were approached The portrayal of every day racism was shown through the micro-aggressions of Jakes peers and others was so realistic and the descent of sawyer. 

Now, my issue is that I feel like I haven’t read a full story, this easily could’ve had 100/150 more pages even jsut to flesh out the story more and explain a few things. 

I felt in instances, I was thrown form scene to scene with no real idea of what was happening, like Jake finding River. Or the final battle. 

I still have lots of questions about things that just weren’t explained, or were half explained. Really, I just want more! 
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