coolfoolmoon 's review for:

The Taking of Jake Livingston by Ryan Douglass

4.25

dark emotional medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

---

At first I was like boo I’m not gonna have sympathy for the school shooter but then the writing is good enough that I did except I like that the school shooter had the awareness to know he was wrong. Love when characters are aware of their delusions. Love the parallels of the characters. Or maybe I’m thinking of the term foils. Anyway, I loved it so much. I’ll be reading whatever Douglass does next.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Blood, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Drug use, Homophobia, Incest, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Vomit, Alcohol

Minor: Misogyny, Abandonment