"If you're into smart, funny, and relatable teen sleuths, Margo Mertz Takes It Down by Carrie McCrossen is a must-read. Margo Mertz is a high school junior with a unique side hustle: she helps her classmates clean up their digital footprints. From embarrassing photos to cringe-worthy videos, Margo’s got the skills to make them disappear.

When a scandalous website targeting students pops up, Margo finds herself in the middle of a bigger mystery than she ever expected. She has to use all her tech-savvy and detective skills to take it down before things get out of control. The story is packed with humor, witty dialogue, and a bit of romance, making it a fun and engaging read.

Margo is a fantastic protagonist—sharp, resourceful, and just the right amount of sassy. Her journey is not only about solving a cyber mystery but also about navigating the ups and downs of high school life. The book touches on important themes like online privacy and cyberbullying in a way that's accessible and relevant.

Overall, Margo Mertz Takes It Down is an entertaining and timely read that combines humor, mystery, and a strong, relatable heroine. Perfect for teens looking for a fresh and exciting story!"

Was unfortunately not a huge fan of this book. The characters were rather unlikable and the story suffered from messy execution. Margot often came across as not like other girls which is just not fun to read about. Add in an uncomfortable out side of school relationship with a teacher and I was just frustrated.

Thank you Viking and Penguin Teen for my eARC.
Veronica Mars meets Moxie is the perfect comp for this. Part feminist rant, part one woman quest, overall a good time. Margot embodies 'not like other girls' and I didn't hate it? 3 stars.

I loved the idea of this book, but it was just not for me. It was highly predictable, dragged in too many places, and was a struggle.

This was a great read. The writing was great and I really enjoyed the story. I didn't love the twist with Sammi. I was hoping he would be better than that. I really like Avery and I hope Margot makes friends. I love her relationship with her parents. This was an important read.

I did not manage to review this title in a timely manner. I am deeply sorry for overlooking it. Please accept my most sincere apologies.

I wanted to like this. I really really did. The pitch of Moxie meets Veronica Mars was all I needed to request this title. But my god was this book not at all what I thought it would be. The entire plot line bothered me. Trying to fit a romance into a story dealing with a revenge-porn site and the abuse of young girls was off-putting, to say the least. I could tell that this book had multiple hands/authors in it because it read that way. Margot was borderline unlikeable and I left the book feeling angry.

This YA contemporary novel following Margot Mertz, a girl who runs an internet cleanup business and embarks on a quest to take down a revenge-porn site targeting the girls in her school.

This story touches upon an important topic that many young people are experiencing today. I recommend checking TW as the book touches on heavy topics.

I did not find the book as enjoyable as I thought I would. I won’t be able to give this a full review as it was not for me. Thank you

I can not wait for the sequel! Margot is perfection! The character development, relatability, and honesty from Margot was just the cherry on top of the feminist bad ass book.

I really enjoyed aspects of this one and didn't vibe with others. A little Not lIke Other Girls-y but also a really promising concept!

This book sounded like a lot of fun and was excited to read. But I couldn’t get into the book at all. I almost DNF’d a few times and really struggled. The pacing was off and the book was very predictable to the point of boredom. The plot being set in high school as opposed to college really didn’t work well either in my opinion.

Margot is who we all want to be.
She’s a sluth for the truth and won’t let anyone tear her down!
I think this is such a great read for all people alike, but especially those who want a role model that shows you how to never back down for a fight!
The book focuses on subjects that are real and raw, and handles the situations so beautifully

In order to save money for college, high schooler Margot Mertz started her own business, as a fixer. Think Olivia Pope, but for high school. If you need a picture removed from social media, Margot is your girl. When a revenge porn site pops up and features many of her classmates, Margot is determined to take it down and won’t stop until she finds those responsible.

Huge trigger warning for revenge porn/sexual harassment here in case you didn’t gather that from the synopsis. Much of this book focuses on a website featuring nude photos of high school girls.

I didn’t love Margot as a narrator - she was very snarky, almost too snarky at times, went on a lot of unrelated tangents, and reaaallllyyyy just needed to grow as a person (good news there was growth by the end). But I loved how these teenage girls banded together and the girl power vibes there were at the end. This one was a quick and very engaging read!

Thanks to Penguin Teen for the advanced copy!

Margot Mertz Takes It Down reminded me so much of Veronica Mars. Margot, the narrator, has a sarcastic tone and hides behind her “fixer” position. I liked that it features a female hacker, but I didn’t like that she left anything technically challenging to her guy friend. The pacing was excellent. It was such a quick read. It handles challenging topics of sexual assault, revenge porn, and harassment and does it well.

This was such a fun read. Margot’s personality really shined through the pages of the book. Some of her decisions annoyed me, but overall she was a stellar lead character. There were parts that made me laugh and parts that made me really feel for the characters. Margot is just trying to survive the cutthroat environment of high school. The story made me think back to my own experiences/struggles in high school, which allowed me to empathize with her. Margot Mertz Takes It Down is a quick, witty contemporary novel with a secret-sleuth main character.

I really could not get into this book as much as i wanted to like it based on the premise. I love a feminist takedown, but this book fell short so many times I couldn't enjoy it.

Margo Mertz Takes it Down by Carrie McCrossen & Ian McWethy
Overall rating: 4/5
Characters: 4.5/5
Writing: 4/5
Plot: 4/5
Pacing: 5/5

Margo Mertz Takes it Down was one of those books that really takes you by surprise. When I first read the premise, I immediately thought I was going to love it. I mean, a story about a badass high schooler who takes on a revenge porn website? Sign. Me. Up.

I’m going to be completely honest here; I almost DNFed this book. I got about 15 pages in my first try and put it down. At first read, I didn’t really like the writing, I didn’t immediately love Margot right off the bat, and some of the descriptions were rubbing me the wrong way. One part in particular that stood out to me was when Margot was walking through the hallways of her high school and describing her classmates. I was put off by the way she was commenting on all the crying girls everywhere (it just seemed super exaggerated and judgy) and it seemed as if she had this “holier than thou” attitude.

I decided to pick it up about a month and a half later (I really hate DNFing things), and I am so glad I decided to finish this story. As soon as I got a good way in, about to Chapter 8 or so, things really started picking up. I really judged Margo way too quickly — she’s one of the funniest characters I’ve ever read. Her attitude is full of straightforward, dry sarcasm, and her narration truly made the book as good as it was. Also that description about crying girls I was upset about? It was actually foreshadowing a major part of the plot and made so much more sense in the following chapters with some added context.

The footnotes were my absolute favorite aspect of this book — I’ve never seen an author utilize that before and the way McCrossen and McWethy integrated them into the story was just genius (but seriously, do not skip over the footnotes they’re HILARIOUS).

I won’t say any spoilers, but I really enjoyed reading Margo’s chase to find the owner of RB and the twist at the end. It was one of those plot twists that you genuinely did not see coming AT ALL, and when I was reading that part in classes (it was during a very boring lecture don’t worry) I actually gasped out loud and my teacher looked at me funny. I mean, do you know how good a plot twist has to be in order for someone to physically gasp out loud? In a classroom with 25 other people? It has to be really really good.

I didn’t LOVE the ending, but I think that’s just because I was really hoping the guys behind RB would receive a harsher punishment than they did (although, I guess that’s actually how it ends up happening in real life).

Overall: Margo is a FANTASTIC protagonist, and if you love a main character that’s sarcastic, funny, and unafraid you’ll love Margo Mertz (also I love that name). Definitely more of a slow buildup and it takes a little while to get invested, but once you give it a chance you won’t be able to put it down.

Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Teen for an arc of this book.

Margot is trying to make money to go to Stanford, so she opens her own small business: Margot Cleans Your Filth. The job? Getting rid of people's mistakes online so there isn't a trace. But when she's hired to take down a website putting up nonconsensual pictures of girls at the high school, Margot realizes she might be in over her head.

I really liked this one! It's super empowering and there are a lot of great lessons in it. Margot was an interesting character and grew a lot throughout the book! I also liked the relationship, even though there were parts where the miscommunication/misunderstandings were driving me nuts!

Good writing and good story! Definitely worth the read.

CW: revenge porn, harassment, sexual assault, bullying

DNF at 25%.

Wanted to love this one, but it sort of fell flat for me with each turn. It wanted to do so much, and the heart is in the right place. But overall not something I could really get into super easily.

Will pick up more from these authors in hopes of finding something that clicks!