The Taking of Jake Livingston pulls you in from the very first sentence and very quickly establishes Jake's special abilities without taking up too much time. I love the imagery in this book. It's a little gory, especially since Jake can see all the gruesome ways that people have died, but I absolutely love it. I get grossed out by gore in movies, but this was really good. You know how when some authors write teenagers, the dialogue seems a little too forced? Like they don't actually know how teenagers talk and they're just throwing a bunch of slang in one sentence and hoping it sticks? The dialogue in this book actually does sound like typical high schoolers. At the same time, it doesn't feel like the teenagers are dumbed down either.
Do you ever read a book and think to yourself, "I wish I could write like this"? Because that's what Ryan Douglass has done with The Taking of Jake Livingston.
Do you ever read a book and think to yourself, "I wish I could write like this"? Because that's what Ryan Douglass has done with The Taking of Jake Livingston.