on
3.5/5
Non-Fiction
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Rating: 2.5/5
Started: 12 September
Finished: 14 September
Summary:
Jake Livingston is a medium: sees the dead, as they loop through their gory and horrible deaths, again and again, until they fade into nothing. This is one reason why he struggles to pay attention and make friends in school. Three others are that he is the only Black kid in his grade, he doesn't know a single other Gay kid, and, unlike his older brother, he just wants to be left quietly alone and make it through the rest of his time at his fancy private school in peace.
Then truly weird things start to happen: things written in blood on his walls, visions coming to him without his consent, a spirit who is definitely not stuck in his death loop haunting his steps. Jake quickly realizes that it's the spirit of Sawyer Doon, a school shooter who killed himself after shooting up his school. And so Jake must figure out what to do — and how to get rid of Sawyer before he tries to take Jake's body, and his life.
In chapters alternating between Sawyer's diary and Jake's present day, The Taking of Jake Livingston is an eerie examination of death, condemnation, and vengeance.
Thoughts:
I really like the idea of this book, but it felt so blurry and mushy and undefined. Maybe I just wasn't in the right mood. I don't know. But the action scenes felt so weird: way too fever dream-ish. It was super frustrating. The book casually tackled a lot of hard issues, like homophobia, racism, and school shootings, respectfully, while also being paranormal, which was cool. I also liked how the book explained the motives and personality of the school shooter without romanticizing him, making him sympathetic, or saving him. He was human, and readers felt bad for his trauma, but also understood that he was a horrible person who deserved no second chances.
Some quotes I liked:
- "A chaos of katydids." I really like that. Like a murder of crows. Fitting.
- "Ican'tfuckingbreathe." Feels very IGYTS
- "'It's okay,' I whisper. No it isn't. I want to curl up and die."
I am torn between loving the idea of the book, and hating the actuality. Ugh. I guess despite the nice tackling of issues, the action was too weird, so I would not recommend.
Words
Cathartic (adj) providing psychological relief through the open expression of strong emotions; causing catharsis
Glockenspiel (n) a percussion instrument composed of a set of tuned keys arranged in the fashion of a keyboard of a piano