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!
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!