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

dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

Jake Livingston is one of a very small number of black students at St Clair Prep. He's not a swot, but neither does he fight against the rules like his brother, instead he tries to fly under the radar, however, he has an unusual problem. Jake sees ghosts, ghouls, & ectoplasm everywhere he goes & now he's being haunted by the ghost of a white school shooter, Sawyer Doon. Most ghosts are little more than replays of their death over & over, but Sawyer is different. He isn't tethered to one place, & he can communicate with Jake, & also commit murder. Jake doesn't know why Sawyer has chosen to haunt him but as things become more & more dangerous, he realises that if he doesn't banish Sawyer to the afterlife, he might be joining him sooner than he'd like.

Many of the characters in this aren't very nice, even Jake's older brother Benji bullies Jake & mistreats his on/off girlfriend. The best things are the friendship that grows between Jake & Fiona, another student at SCP, & his tentative friendship/possible relationship with new boy, Allister. The issue I had was that there was no explanation of when/how Jake is able to see ghosts etc & how long this has been happening, you're just thrown into the story. I also didn't find it credible that Jake would allow Sawyer to take over his body, yeah it's because he wants to try & find Sawyer's weaknesses to use against him, but he commits a crime using Jake's body. What about DNA evidence that could put him in the vicinity? Or if someone had seen him near there? Overall, it deals with some difficult subjects & I didn't really enjoy reading it.
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