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A review by valereads
The Taking of Jake Livingston by Ryan Douglass
Did not finish book. Stopped at 33%.
Did not finish - 33%
I was really looking forward to this book so I was disappointed to find I did not like it at all. I struggled through as long as I could but at the end of the day I don't want to waste my time on a book I don't like.
I was really uncomfortable with the ableist portrayal of a mentally ill character in this book and I hated the way it associated mental illness with violent people. It also contained the harmful stereotype that mass shootings are committed by bullied, mentally ill people from broken homes.
In addition to this the main character felt really underdeveloped. Despite spending 1/3 of a book in his head I couldn't tell you much about him other than the fact that he is the only Black boy in his class, he doesn't like most people and he sees ghosts. Oh, and he's gay but that isn't even brought up before 32%. We know more about the shooter/ghost that Jake - we even know he's gay before we know Jake is.
On the plus side it had some very chilling and scary moments but they did not make up for everything else.
Content Warnings: suicide, mass/school shootings, graphic violence, bullying, homophobic violence, references to animal abuse
I was really looking forward to this book so I was disappointed to find I did not like it at all. I struggled through as long as I could but at the end of the day I don't want to waste my time on a book I don't like.
I was really uncomfortable with the ableist portrayal of a mentally ill character in this book and I hated the way it associated mental illness with violent people. It also contained the harmful stereotype that mass shootings are committed by bullied, mentally ill people from broken homes.
In addition to this the main character felt really underdeveloped. Despite spending 1/3 of a book in his head I couldn't tell you much about him other than the fact that he is the only Black boy in his class, he doesn't like most people and he sees ghosts. Oh, and he's gay but that isn't even brought up before 32%. We know more about the shooter/ghost that Jake - we even know he's gay before we know Jake is.
On the plus side it had some very chilling and scary moments but they did not make up for everything else.
Content Warnings: suicide, mass/school shootings, graphic violence, bullying, homophobic violence, references to animal abuse
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Homophobia, Violence, Mass/school shootings, Suicide attempt, and Murder
Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Mass/school shootings, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Alcohol