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

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

I loved this book, and it was a great spooky season read. This was an amazing, haunting, sad story that comes with a lot of trigger warnings. It's dark, complex, and reflective of a lot of the trauma that I think a lot of Black queer folk can relate to, apart from the ghost story. Luckily, there's just enough of a budding romance and new friendships to temper all the harsher emotions, so that the reader doesn't feel swamped by them.

Poor Jake is a bit beaten down by life in so many ways and just wants to be different from who he is: one of two Black boys in his school, gay, and never quite fitting in. Plus, the ability to see ghosts, spectres stuck in the moments leading up to their deaths, doesn't help, especially when a very violent ghost decides that Jake is the thing he wants most.

As a parent, I found this book so hard to read because it shows just how hard being a teenager can be, especially when things like racial and sexual identity, mental health, abuse, and bullying are thrown into the mix. I wanted to reach out to both Jake and Sawyer and give the hurting little boys inside them big hugs.

I really liked the way that Ryan Douglass resolves the story, though. It's a bright spark of renewed hope and life after all that darkness.
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