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

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

Another book with some complicated feelings. To start off with, there were two things that threw me. It’s been awhile since I’ve read a book in a high school. Quite a few have had high school age characters, but the actual day-to-day school aspect was not incorporated. Now that I ma no longer that age, going back into that just feels kind of weird. I haven’t swung back around to being nostalgic or reminiscing on high school. I’m not removed enough to want to jump back into it. That is just my own personal preference and is in no way a criticism of the book. I just didn’t realize that shift in how I view high school stories had happened. (Really not surprising given I’m not the target audience.)

I also found Sawyer’s chapters so incredibly uncomfortable. That’s on purpose. He’s the antagonist of the story and no matter what happened in his life, he’s still a mass shooter. I struggle with storylines connected to these kind of strategies to begin with, but being in his head and listening to him (since I borrowed the audiobook) was very distressing. I know the backstory is giving the character nuance and explaining how he became what he is — even acknowledging that the people in his life were terrible people. But I could’ve done without it.

Both of those things made it hard for me to enjoy this book more. But my thoughts weren’t all negative. I did really enjoy listening to Jake’s journey as he learns to accept who he is, stand up for himself, and be confident in his abilities. The exploration of dead world and the ghost fights were super cool! I loved how Jake and River were able to help each other conquer their (metaphorical and literal) demons. And Jake’s happy ending with Allister at the end was very sweet.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings