The Taking of Jake Livingston

By: Ryan Douglass

Narrated by: Kevin R. Free, Michael Crouch

An Instant New York Times Bestseller!

Get Out meets Holly Jackson in this YA social thriller where survival is not a guarantee.

Sixteen-year-old Jake Livingston sees dead people everywhere. But he can't decide what's worse: being a medium forced to watch the dead play out their last moments on a loop or being at the mercy of racist teachers as one of the few Black students at St. Clair Prep. Both are a living nightmare he wishes he could wake up from. But things at St. Clair start looking up with the arrival of another Black student—the handsome Allister—and for the first time, romance is on the horizon for Jake.

Unfortunately, life as a medium is getting worse. Though most ghosts are harmless and Jake is always happy to help them move on to the next place, Sawyer Doon wants much more from Jake. In life, Sawyer was a troubled teen who shot and killed six kids at a local high school before taking his own life. Now he's a powerful, vengeful ghost and he has plans for Jake. Suddenly, everything Jake knows about dead world goes out the window as Sawyer begins to haunt him. High school soon becomes a different kind of survival game—one Jake is not sure he can win.

Fell short of my expectations :(

I thought I would like this book more than I did. It’s not a bad book, but the vibe isn’t what I enjoy reading. It was darker than I expected; I thought it would be a bit more like Love at Second Sight by FT Lukens. That book still had a murder mystery and heavy themes, but the aura was different. The Taking of Jake Livingston gave me the ick for a good chunk of it, mainly because of the POV of Sawyer, a vengeful ghost. Sawyer unalived himself as well as several others at his school. I’m not sure how we are supposed to feel about Sawyer; are we supposed to condemn him because he took lives, or are we supposed to pity him because we see how he was abused and neglected? I don’t know what was the author’s intent but I kinda didn’t like how Sawyer was portrayed? Also I kinda didn’t like how Jake’s mom was let off the hook for letting abuse happen to Jake.
I guess it’s supposed to be like Sawyer and Jake have parallel experiences, and showing how they respond to the cards their life was dealt? Which I also have a problem with😅 I don’t think Jake was necessarily the better person, but I feel like that’s what the book is trying to say?
I like the general concept of the book; I love ghosts, and it’s queer, and the MC is a person of color. I enjoyed the beginning and the ending lol. The conflict of the story wasn’t my cup of tea tho🥲

getting into the spooky vibes in spring 😄☠️🎃👻💀

Great representation, coming of age, terrifying descriptions (trigger warnings by the way).
Had moments that was slow and were confusing, I still would recommend it!

A solid 3 for story, narrators not my fave.

I honestly thought the concept of the story was so cool. New, original, and different, but I think the narration may have thrown me off. The performance was a bit lackluster at times and the “screams” throughout felt like a grown man whining. 🤦🏻‍♀️

Definitely read trigger warnings but if you like diverse books I would actually suggest it. Author is a POC, the MC is as well and is also LGBTQ+

WOW WHAT A GREAT BOOK

Douglass does a great job of utilizing imagery to set the scene and create character development. I finished this book so quickly! He did a really great job filling in any gaps or questions, so no sequel is needed but I’d honestly read the whole series. Overall this book was great right out the gate and finished just as well! An addictive read!

great

the book is good a little slow at parts but good all around yes