The Taking of Jake Livingston has all the makings of a great horror novel, but it also falls flat in some regards. The imagery is spectacularly spooky, and Ryan Douglass does a great job of building up tension by alternating perspectives between the protagonist--a gay BIPOC student who is haunted by the dead--and the villain--a disturbed teen who killed sixteen of his classmates before committing suicide. The novel feels very topical and I think Douglass handles the sensitive subject of school shootings and abuse well. However, many parts of the story seem both rushed and underdeveloped. I would have liked to see the author dedicate more time to exploring Jake's self-identity and family dynamics. I'm also usually not a fan of detailed exposition, but, in this case, I think it would have helped the reader to better understand the relationship between the 'ghost world' and the 'real world.' Overall, I found The Taking of Jake Livingston to be a promising debut novel that could use a bit more fleshing out (terrible pun intended).