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A review by apolloapproved
The Taking of Jake Livingston by Ryan Douglass
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
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? Yes
3.0
My Book Blog — Apollo Approved
Review
I need a moment to talk about the cover because damn, I love this cover SO much? Like, enough that I'd probably buy the book to have on my shelf even though the book wasn't all that great and I'm too broke to afford more…
Anyway, The Taking of Jake Livingston is a horror book (we don't address the fact that my about page literally says "I never read horror"). To be completely honest though, it didn't really feel much like horror—at least, not what I classify is too much horror that I won't actually read it. I think the possession aspect of it was just not my favorite thing, and while the book started off great, I did find myself zoning out quite a bit after a while (the end was great, though).
The racism and microaggression were obviously very highlighted in the book and obviously very clearly faced by Jake. It was written and shown really well, and actually shows almost a real-world insight into how discrimination against both how people of color and queer people could/can feel, even though the book is fantasy.
The characters. I'm not really going to explain much here but know. Sawyer—absolutely, amazingly written and like almost unbelievably multifaceted? Jake—slightly flat for an MC, but overall, relatable enough, especially with the issues that were being emphasized with the portrayal of him. Allister—did we really need him? Nah. But, he and Jake were cute and even though it felt insta-love as hell, I suppose I'll let it slide.
Okay, back to the world-building (I'm so all over the place with this review ah). This book definitely falls under the Baby Books™ category and it's really nice because the pacing is super fast in a good way, but also it did feel slightly underdeveloped and more than a little confusing. After a while the "ecto-mist" made sense, but that was about the extent of the medium aspect that I actually understood. The whole ancestral plane thing? Like what was even going on there and where did it come from? It kind of reminded me of those scenes in Black Panther, but then didn't coincide with the rest of the book and just baffled me more. As much as we dislike info-dumps (sometimes), it would've been so helpful in this book and I found myself wishing for one more and more as I read on.
Review
I need a moment to talk about the cover because damn, I love this cover SO much? Like, enough that I'd probably buy the book to have on my shelf even though the book wasn't all that great and I'm too broke to afford more…
Anyway, The Taking of Jake Livingston is a horror book (we don't address the fact that my about page literally says "I never read horror"). To be completely honest though, it didn't really feel much like horror—at least, not what I classify is too much horror that I won't actually read it. I think the possession aspect of it was just not my favorite thing, and while the book started off great, I did find myself zoning out quite a bit after a while (the end was great, though).
The racism and microaggression were obviously very highlighted in the book and obviously very clearly faced by Jake. It was written and shown really well, and actually shows almost a real-world insight into how discrimination against both how people of color and queer people could/can feel, even though the book is fantasy.
The characters. I'm not really going to explain much here but know. Sawyer—absolutely, amazingly written and like almost unbelievably multifaceted? Jake—slightly flat for an MC, but overall, relatable enough, especially with the issues that were being emphasized with the portrayal of him. Allister—did we really need him? Nah. But, he and Jake were cute and even though it felt insta-love as hell, I suppose I'll let it slide.
Okay, back to the world-building (I'm so all over the place with this review ah). This book definitely falls under the Baby Books™ category and it's really nice because the pacing is super fast in a good way, but also it did feel slightly underdeveloped and more than a little confusing. After a while the "ecto-mist" made sense, but that was about the extent of the medium aspect that I actually understood. The whole ancestral plane thing? Like what was even going on there and where did it come from? It kind of reminded me of those scenes in Black Panther, but then didn't coincide with the rest of the book and just baffled me more. As much as we dislike info-dumps (sometimes), it would've been so helpful in this book and I found myself wishing for one more and more as I read on.
❝ Black people are always the punch line of a joke—it's maybe why none of the books we read have Black people in them unless they're slaves. ❞
Other than that spew of confusion up there, The Taking of Jake Livingston is a pretty decent book, and while it had a few flaws, it wasn't bad by any means. Some things were just less than I expected, and though it wasn't unimpressive, it wasn't exactly impressive.
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