Spoilers ahead:


The Taking of Jake Livingston is a wild ride of a book. The horror elements are legitimately scary, even to this adult reader. The development of Jake's identity is expertly done, especially his coming out process.

Some of the violent content makes this book one I cannot add to my middle school shelves, but this will be a great pick in a high school library for more mature readers.

I found the humanizing of a school shooter to be very difficult to read but I think that is the point. The reader has to confront the common idea of a violent teen. Librarians and teachers should be aware of the triggers in this book re: blood, violence, rape, etc.

This book was nothing short of disappointing. I could barely read the first chapter because the writing style was intolerable. I was really disappointed because I was excited to read this book.

The Taking of Jake Livingston was honestly everything I was looking forward too, it had horror, ghosts, and really well developed characters. Jake, the main character, is a queer black teen who goes to an all-white school. He is already having to deal with being the outcast and dealing with racism every day, but add on the fact that he can see ghosts takes it to a whole other level. He starts to feel like a certain ghost is haunting him and makes him miserable and scared all the time. He has to figure out what this ghost wants and to end his haunting.

I loved the aspect of the ghosts and how well thought out it was, I really felt like I could imagine what Jake was seeing. Sawyer Doon is the perfect villain because even though what he did was incredibly wrong and horrific, getting his side of the story you felt a little empathy for him. He was just too evil and far gone to get on his side, but I did understand his pain and anger. I loved how Jake was just trying to live a normal life and the new kid who also happens to be black, Allister, might like Jake. First, Jake has to fight off some crazy ghosts before he can maybe go on a date with Allister. While this is a horror novel it dealt with so much more than just Jake dealing with the dead. This book dealt with some heavy topics and the author did it perfectly.

While this was a short and fast paced book, I wish it was longer. In my opinion it went by so fast that some of the topics and part of the storyline felt rushed. I wish we could have gotten more of Allister and Jakes friendship and Fiona as well. I would have loved to delve deeper into the otherworld that Jake can see. Other than me just wanting a longer book because I loved these characters so much, this was a fabulous book. It would definitely be the perfect book for Halloween season!

Jake is a mediator. When he’s not avoiding ghosts and ghouls, he’s ignoring the snobs at his all white prep school. The synopsis gave me The Mediator (Meg Cabot vibes) so I had to try it!

So here is the problem with judging a book by its cover: I was expecting a quirky teen movie type scary story. What I got was actual horror horror with lots of trigger warnings: bullying, suicide, school shootings, racism, homophobia, and I’m sure I’m forgetting more. (e.g. Not the best read for a pregnant woman with insomnia.)

Even though this was not the perfect read for, I think people will love this unique story with its vivid writing.

Jake Livingston is not your typical high school student. He is one of the handful of black kids at his private school, he is gay, and he is a medium. A typical day for Jake includes racist jokes from his classmates, suppressing his true feelings, and seeing ghouls and ghosts around him at all times.

After the unexpected death of a neighbor, Jake's life is thrown into chaos that seems to be surrounded by the ghost of a local boy who was the lone gunman at a mass murder shooting at the local school. Jake not only has to deal with normal teenage boy problems, he now has to figure out with this ghost is trying to kill him.

Though the plot of the story had a lot of promise, I found that the writing was slightly confusing and it was hard to envision the action as it was unfolding. I felt like the book could have benefitted from being a little longer in order to flesh out some of the plot, since the story felt kind of rushed at the end.

I feel like Ryan Douglass has a lot of potential as an author, and I really love that the main character of a horror novel is a black, queer teen boy--I can't think of another book in which that's the case. For me, there was something just too choppy about the writing and I don't know that I love the idea of getting in a school shooter's head--and the fact that there was a school shooting seems so not a plot factor at all.

I'll read something else Douglass writes for sure.

I don't typically rate books I've DNF'd, but in this case I'm only providing one here because it's required to submit the review. I decided to stop reading at 50%. My gripes include a few things:

For one, the writing style was too choppy and disorienting for me to get invested. I didn't feel like I understood the main character or his ghost-seeing abilities at all. And every event or development felt abrupt to me, especially the romance.

But the big issue was the portrayal of school shootings. The villain is a mass murderer, and I'm sure this can be handled well and sensitively in stories, but I didn't feel like it was given nearly enough weight to feel comfortable with using it as a plot device (at least in the half of the book I read). Given that this is being published in the YA US market, I'm not sure how that will sit with teens, the target demographic, who already have to deal with the fear of becoming a victim. As a mother who, of course, is terrified for my kid, the flippant treatment of school shootings in the book didn't sit well with me at all.

Examples? The book feels like a slasher movie. It's over the top, with dramatic scenes, and yet there's no real acknowledgement of the consequences / aftermath of a shooting like this, or mood of the town or emotions of anyone other than the main character (sorta).

And the cincher is that the MC's POV is interspersed with diary entries that seem intended to get the reader to sympathize with a school shooter. The diary entries (the ones I read) reinforce narratives about mental health issues (when this is a much larger issue of gun control, media narratives like this that villainize those suffering mental health problems, and our unwillingness to acknowledge that this is a systemic issue -- otherwise it wouldn't be happening over and over in the US) and other stereotypes. I can't get on board with this in any way.

Please do note that I can only, of course, write my thoughts based on the first half of the book. I thought about reading the rest, in case the book's treatment of school shootings became more nuanced and less game-like. I read quite a few reviews to see if others mentioned a change in the second half (as far as I can tell, no one has). In the end, I decided there was no reason to keep reading a book that was making me feel ill.

AHHH how can I put my thoughts into words.

I have so many mixed feelings about this. I loved and (in my opinion) disliked some things. I loved the writing. The way the ghosts and the creepy atmosphere was being written was so compelling. There were moments where I definitely started getting scared. I really liked Jake and his story, and I definitely cared for him which is a plus!

The things I didn't like and I think this was more in my personal opinion, was the plot. I think for me personally at this moment I would rather not read anything related to school shootings. While this isn't the central plot of the story, it is still a significant factor in one our secondary character's story.

Again, everything else worked for me and as a horror novel this definitely did what it said it was going to do! I was creeped out, I was rooting for Jake, and I loved the slasher-elements (like Jake's nightmares-so creepy). I will 100% be recommending this to horror aficionados.

I enjoyed this book even though I don't usually like horror or thriller. The premise is super interesting and very well executed. I loved the main character, Jake, and his point of view is really easy to follow.

★★★☆☆ 3/5

DNF

i’m going to rate this book purely on the interactions between jake, allister and fiona that i have enjoyed thus far.

that being said, as a person who has lived through two threats and lockdowns, i cannot continue reading a book in which we are made to sympathize with a school shooter.

4/5 stars!

thank you so much penguin teen for providing this ARC! where do i begin? ryan douglass you sweet beautiful human!

jake livingston is just a black queer teen trying to fit in the walls of a predominantly white school, and i personally can relate to that on levels beyond measure! it was refreshing to see jake develop the way that he did, although some of it may have been against his free will, i enjoyed it regardless. sawyer was a perfect villain, someone you could almost sympathize with but the evil that consumed him stopped you in your tracks. the real villain in the story was chad, and i’m so happy that jake handled the situation the way he did i wouldn’t have wanted it any other way! i’ve never read a queer story before, so with this being my first, i am very happy that this is what gets me into the genre! allister and jake are everythinggggg!! i will admit, i was originally going to give this book a 3.5 stars based on how hard it was for me to grasp the eco-mist portion of the book. it was very confusing, even after i reread it a couple times I was still pretty stuck. but i would say the last 15% of this book really was it saving grace for me.

I will start off rating this 4.5/5 stars. I really did love this book! I finished it within a few days since it is a bit shorter in length. I found it to be such an interesting thriller and the concept as a whole was really good. I thought all the characters were very well developed along with the plot as well. The representation was also super important in this book and I cannot wait for this to be released and getting to see the own voices reviews by those who feel represented by these characters! This was such a well done thriller with such an interesting concept

Hm. I'm leaving this unrated for now (for good?) because my thoughts are kind of all over the place.

I think, when you're neck deep in the spooky thrilling creepiness of this story, you're in it. You're having a good scary time. The problem is when you pause, put the book down, and start wondering.. why. Why are these things happening, what is this world, what is the history.. and, the biggest most perplexing thing, why did the author choose to go in this direction with the villain.

I honestly think this would make a great movie because the atmosphere and the ambience, though hella confusing, still did a great job at creeping me out. Some of the visuals were, again, sometimes confusing but somehow still managed to be translated into my brain. But so much of this needs more. Yes, the story is short, so I guess a lot of this surface level non-explanation could be blamed on that but.. why was it short? Why wasn't this longer, more fleshed out, given context? So much could've been improved, including the romance.

If you want a short spooky dose of a novel that brushes up against topics of racism and homophobia, without making them the central theme, and that will likely keep you on the edge of your seat, you could probably do worse. I just wish it could've done.. not better, maybe, but more.

I requested this one because it might be a 2021 title I would like to review on my Youtube Channel. However, after reading the first several chapters I have determined that this book is not my tastes. So I decided to DNF this one rather than push myself to finish it only to give it a poor review.
I loved the diversity in this book, but I just couldn't get into the story itself.

I don't think this was a bad book, but I quickly realized it wasn't my cup of tea, so I didn't finish it. This was mostly due to the writing style, which felt choppy and incohesive and didn't pull me in.

this book was short but very good with the pacing, i enjoyed how it dealt with black queer trauma and microaggressions when it comes to going to predominantly white schools. can’t wait to see what the author writes next.