Reviews tagging 'Suicide attempt'

The Taking of Jake Livingston by Ryan Douglass

116 reviews

pickpoppies's review

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? It's complicated

4.0

Jake Livingston is not like the other kids at St. Clair, he’s black and he sees dead people. Seeing ghost has become easier for him but one day a ghost stands out from the rest, it has bad intentions.

It was kind of funny because I picked this book a little on a whim. I wanted to do Blackoween despite half of the month being over, had seen this book mentioned and then I saw it by accident at the library so I grabbed it and liked it!

I haven’t read YA in a long time, might have to change that. It came across a lot more mature than plenty of fantasy I have started and DNF and plenty of cozy mystery.

It’s a pretty dark book and brings up suicide and school shootings. For me the spooky elements were not very spooky but the dark world view was in a way. 

There were areas that could have been better, the magic was a little unclear and even the writing at times were a tad confusing but I just thought, “F it” and went with it.

SPOILER:

How did he get away with murder/arson tho? After that fire wouldn’t the cashier mention the kid that came in? The kid that later cashed his car  possibly not that far from the fire… and there was kerosene all over the place? No? Also wished there had been an resolution between Grady and Jake.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Sexual assault, Violence, and Mass/school shootings

Bugs (couldn't find a tag for that)

beatle426's review against another edition

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Racism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Mass/school shootings, Suicide attempt, and Murder

niyareadstoomuch's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

4.0

quick read, I enjoyed the duo point of views between Sawyer and Jake. Sometimes the atmosphere and the way things were explained was confusing which I didn’t like,  but it did a good job and keeping the story eerie and engaging, I think this would be an amazing film adaptation. The story, discusses, micro aggressions, racism, abuse, sexual assault, school shootings, so definitely check the trigger warnings before reading it, but it was an amazing read. Would definitely recommend

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Homophobia, and Mass/school shootings

Moderate: Racism, Sexual assault, and Suicide attempt

eddieboy's review against another edition

I started reading this on a day where I was rather stressed and sleep deprived, I have a history of mental health problems and I'm queer, probably wasn't the best thing to read in a state where I was more at risk of those kinds of thoughts. It's a good book and it discusses things a lot of books leave out. But I have it as a library book and I'm not sure if I'm ready to face it again really. At least not yet.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Mass/school shootings, Stalking, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Moderate: Gun violence

Minor: Sexual content

herelieshenry's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful mysterious reflective 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

3.75

This is a tough, but well-written, book. I’m a firm believer in the idea that if a child is old enough to experience something, they’re old enough to learn about it in an age-appropriate manner; that extends to the very difficult topics being dealt with here that, unfortunately, children experience every day, from mass violence to familial abuse to bullying and discrimination. On top of that, I think Douglass is genuinely very talented at writing Young Adult Horror, and these combine into a piece of art that I think is both accessible and very well-done.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Incest, Sexual assault, Violence, and Mass/school shootings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Racism, Suicide, and Murder

Minor: Animal cruelty, Gore, Physical abuse, and Suicide attempt

elysianbud's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

The entire second half of the book was just the author ripping my heart out of my chest while I sobbed violently. I've literally just finished it and I think I have a headache from dehydration...

Great characters and good plot. Love to see assholes get their due. Author sets atmosphere brilliantly. 

(Also the cover for this is gorgeous!)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Mass/school shootings, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

lazydazey's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Mass/school shootings, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Racism

almost_me_again's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Mass/school shootings, and Suicide attempt

lyricluciferin's review against another edition

3.5

I'm typically pretty picky about first person writing but this was fine. The story was decent, but the pacing was really messy that took me out of it some.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death

Moderate: Rape and Suicide attempt

asinglebird's review

challenging dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Mass/school shootings, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail