Reviews tagging 'Car accident'

The Taking of Jake Livingston by Ryan Douglass

44 reviews

wrensreadingroom's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

whatchareadingheather's review

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-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

This is a sparkling debut that is equal parts fun and anxiety inducing. The YA aspect of the book is VERY YA and might be a little off-putting for readers picking this up for the horror aspect, but I WILL say that Douglass's descriptive writing does an impeccable job with making you feel like you're in Jake's shoes as a teenage Medium that it's easy to read past the YA-ness of it. Hoping that Blumhouse gets their hands on this one for a future adaptation! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Death, Suicide, and Mass/school shootings

Minor: Child abuse, Homophobia, Incest, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Murder

brookey8888's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

3.0

This was fine. There was a lot I liked about it but a lot fell flat for me. I liked the discussion about racism, bullying, sexual assault, coming out, and family trauma/heritage. I liked how slowly Jake started to accept himself and the friendships and relationships that formed as well as the strengthening of the family. I just felt the the plot and the horror aspect was boring and it didn’t keep my attention sadly. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Violence, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

helliepad's review

emotional reflective 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? No

5.0

This is such a speedy read and I'm sad that I got to the ending that quick, but there's no point in extending a story when it's already told what it wants to be told. I love Jake's point of view, how he manages to just roll with life despite the horrors (I mean, kinda. He obviously does not roll with it as easily as others in the story might've done but considering the fact that he managed to survive and just... do stuff despite the horrors makes him really strong actually.

I love that he's gay I love that everybody has a story I love that no page goes to waste. Amazing read and thank God I'm busy with work or else I'll  be very sad if I finished this in one day.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Homophobia, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Racism, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Abandonment

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

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

loki_sdaughter's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

5 Stars
I thought this book was really good. I'm not always a huge fan of dual POV's but the way that this author did it, I thought was flawless. In the short amount of pages Ryan Douglass had to tell a fully fledged story, I was hooked, and I was invested until the end. I absolutely loved the character depth and development, I just thought everything about this book was perfection.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Violence, Mass/school shootings, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Racism, and Sexual assault

Minor: Domestic abuse and Car accident

mixxroxy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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? It's complicated

2.75

It's tough to rate this book. It's a story about two young high schoolers both in similar situations. One of them goes down a dark path. A path of grief, loneliness and hatred. Those dark feelings build and build and burn this lonely child inside out. And when that doesn't work they turn those feelings outward using mass violence at school. His story is paralleled with another boy in a similar situation. Another boy who is lonely, confused, and ostracized. The story hinges on if this second boy will follow in the path of the first or will he make his own way in the world. The writing is dark and brutal and somewhat poetic. But it is a tough read. 

I'm rating it as low as I did because it just wasn't really a book for me. The hopelessness in it isn't exactly overwhelming but it's heavy. Also, there are some choices that are made, some odd things that feel a bit out of place in the book near the end and left me feeling a little off kilter but I don't think the author intended it that way. 

Despite these feelings, whenever I'm in the right mood, I think I'd like to read another book from Douglass in the future. If you're okay with all the trigger warnings it's an interesting spooky albeit very dark and sad book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Mass/school shootings, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Bullying, Car accident, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

devynvictoria's review

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Mass/school shootings, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

bryelle's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-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

Jake is such a lovable character. He is a medium who is dealing with high school and seeing ghosts. He starts to see the ghost of a teenage boy who is  torturing him. He has to solve some troubles from his past to defeat this ghost and banish him. 

Along the way Jake meets some friends who are in it for the long run. And also falls in love. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Blood, Mass/school shootings, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Slavery and Outing

mals_library's review

dark mysterious tense

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Mass/school shootings, Car accident, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Body horror, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Torture, Medical content, and Alcohol