This is a big no for me, I wanted to enjoy this but for my mental sake, I didn't. Trigger WarningL Sexual Harassment and Revenge Porn, like no thanks!! I ended up DNFing this.

Margot runs an internet cleanup business helping students and teachers alike clear their internet presence of anything they don't want anyone else to see.

And THEN: a student comes to her asking her to take down a website that's gathering nude pics of fellow Roosevelt High girls, so Margot goes after the culprit.

I truly found myself laughing out loud throughout this entire book. The concept of a teen hacker is ICONIC & I love how equally mature & naive Margot is.

This book tackles real issues that so many other YA books don't ever talk about: the permanence of the internet, teens being taken advantage of online.

The real reason I kept reading ➡️ being in the head of Margot. She felt authentic, and so different from many of the others YA protagonists I've spent time with this year. She's witty, unafraid to stand up for herself, and a true, strong female protag!!

Thank you @penguinteen for my free copy!

YOUNG ADULT

Margot Mertz Takes It Down by Carrie McCrossen and Ian McWethy, Philomel Books, 368 pages ($17.99) Ages 14 and up.

...

High school senior Margot Mertz's caustic narration propels this suspenseful, often hilarious debut novel by married writing team Carrie McCrossen and Ian McWethy.

Since her parents lost her college fund through her uncle's disastrous operation of the family dry cleaning business, Margot has known she will have to pay her own way at Stanford and has stumbled onto a lucrative way to do it. For a price, she will scrub embarrassing photos off the Internet by any means necessary, with the help of her computer hacker classmate Sammi Santos. Sammi is her only friend, since her best friend Beth had a mental breakdown and moved away.

A sample of Margot's voice, as she deals with a teacher-client on a compromising photo she wants scrubbed from Instagram: "Normally, Mrs. Blye was pretty attractive. For a teacher...If you passed her on the street you wouldn't be like "Daammn." But if you had to stare at her for 41 minutes while she described oxidation-reduction reactions, you might find yourself thinking, 'Huh, she's kinda pretty.' But right now? She looked like wet garbage."

When a classmate asks for Margot's help getting nude photos removed from a notorious secret revenge porn site featuring girls from Roosevelt High, Margot becomes obsessed with taking down the site and exposing the guy (or guys) responsible for creating it. And she decides to start dating nice, handsome, rich classmate Avery Green, who gets along with everyone in school and thus appears to be the perfect way to get access to all her likely suspects.

The suspenseful narrative races along as Margot researches and eliminates suspects – and falls for Avery. While money was her initial motivation, her burning obsession with getting justice for her female classmates, and the wild risks she takes to do it, make her a heroic figure. Of course, there's a climactic scene at the senior prom.

This book was SO GOOD. I do think some of the language was a little strong for a YA book, but the message was so great. Margot is such a likable character. She's so smart and witty and resourceful. But, as often happens to people in the same situation, she gets a bit tunnel visioned on her task and doesn't see some of the things that are right in front of her. I was surprised by a lot of the twists and turns of the story, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I laughed out loud a number of times at some of the footnotes and Margot's internal dialogue. This makes me really want to seek out more books by this author!

I just love Margot Mertz! I'd like to be her when I grow up. She knows what her priorities are, has a strong moral code and believes in setting things right. When Margot discovers that the boys in her high school have built a revenge porn site using pictures female classmates sent to their boyfriends, she knows that nothing will stop her from bringing it all crashing down. Margot is a woman for our times.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this digital arc.

This book started really rocky for me. I found the writing to be too forced in the teenage narrative. The MC was way too unlikable for me even after I realized that this was part of her ARC. I found her way too snobby, self-absorbed, acts like she was better than everybody else. It did have a few moments where I laughed out loud and the forced YA narrative did tone down a bit. But the ending was too abrupt. I wanted to see more of the repercussions for those responsible for the site and how the victims were after. The book had potential but it was overall lackluster.

To make money to add to her Stanford College fund, high schooler Margot Mertz runs an internet cleanup business in her small town; for a price, Margot can eliminate any compromising or unseemly photo, video, or post from the internet. When a fellow student hires Margot to take down a website where people post nude and compromising pictures of girls at Roosevelt High School, it turns out to be way more challenging, time consuming, and frustrating than Margot expects. Margot discovers that the perfect way to get access to all her suspects’ computers is by getting close to nice guy Avery Green (who seems to be friends with everyone and be a member of every club at Roosevelt High). When the case takes a shocking turn during the prom, Margot starts to question everything and takes drastic measures to make sure that the culprits are rightfully punished.

Margot Mertz Takes It Down is the first book in the Margot Mertz series and it would be perfect for fans of mystery and/or feminist novels such as Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu, Nancy Drew by Carolyn Keene, One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus, and Enola Holmes by Nancy Springer. Margot Mertz would also be perfect for fans of detective shows such as Magnum PI and Only Murders in the Building. This book deals with themes and topics such as appearance versus reality, identity and growing up, friendship, love and heartbreak, family, power and corruption, technology, fear of failure, greed, mental health, feminism, as well as harassment and revenge porn.

This book also reinforces that fact that we need to be very careful about what we share and post on the internet, such as controversial or embarrassing pictures, videos, and information posted on the internet can be extremely damaging and very challenging (or seemingly impossible) to get rid of.

Over the course of the book, Margot learns that it’s okay to ask for help when it’s needed (especially when it comes to really taxing jobs and tasks), that she needs to start treating her friends with more respect, and that she needs to question the morality of her internet cleanup business.

First off, I felt that it was very unrealistic that so many people in Margot’s small town (including teachers and adults) had compromising content that they needed Margot to remove from the internet. It was incredibly sad to see that all these nude photos taken and sent to their partners or former partners were then posted on a revenge porn site! Additionally, I would have liked it if Margot’s case had a more satisfying and complete resolution and I felt like there should have been way more consequences for everyone who ended up doing something illegal or morally wrong in this book, but then again, so many get away with it in reality unfortunately.

For me, a major downside were the footnotes (written in Margot’s voice) included throughout because I found that these disrupted my reading experience and didn’t add any significant information or insights to the plot. This book was also hard for me to get into and was slow to start; the first half of the book consists of Margot being hired to take down the revenge porn website and following false leads, but the book got a lot more engaging towards the end of the book when Margot gets a big break in the case! I also loved how this book focused on feminism and had a female heroine.

Overall, I thought that this book was unique and interesting to read and if you enjoyed Margot Mertz Takes It Down, the next book in the series is already listed on Goodreads with Margot Mertz for the Win expected to be released in 2022!

As a Veronica Mars and Nancy Drew fan, I knew that I had to read Margot Mertz Takes It Down.

CW: mentioned sexual assault, slut-shaming, suicide attempt (mentioned), revenge porn (CP), cheating

I loved the premise and the way that the story was done. It was full of female empowerment. I do wish that the authorities had been involved sooner since we were dealing with photos of underage girls. The footnotes were a little distracting to me, and they didn't offer needed insight in my opinion.

This book is perfect for YA fans that love intrigue, hacking, and revenge.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Teen for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was given an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. TW/CWs: Sexual assault, revenge porn, anxiety, burnout, etc. As always, I highly implore you to check StoryGraph and/or booktriggerwarnings.com for more in-depth warnings before your reading experience.


Going into MARGOT MERTZ TAKES IT DOWN, I was ecstatic to read about a strong teenage girl getting revenge on the creators of a revenge porn site. This book sounded like everything I needed from a Young Adult novel. I ended up giving MARGOT MERTZ three out of five stars. Overall, I enjoyed this well enough. There are so many good things, which I will go into. However, I had the same amount of cons as I did pros.


CONS:

Terminology: A lot of the problems I have with this book come down to terminology. I fully understand McCrossen and McWethy wanted this book to be inclusive and empowering, however, they missed the mark on their use of language. For starters, the survivors of sexual assault are never once referred to as anything but ‘victims’. I was hoping there would be a discussion later on in the book where the girls affected by the revenge porn site explain to Margot not to refer to them as victims but as survivors of this injustice, but this conversation never happened. I mention it here because I don’t want SA survivors to go into this book and be blindsided by the terminology used to talk about them. More terminology in this book that I had issues with were the girls affected by the site, and several other girls in the book, are called ‘females’ which completely leaves out and invalidates trans people from the sexual assault conversation- even though we are statistically more likely to experience sexual assault than cis people- this also leaves out cis men survivors as well. In fact, the conversation that men and non-women can be victims of sexual assault is NOT ONCE mentioned in this entire novel. I understand this book was about empowering women, but you can be a feminist who empowers women without being transphobic and/or excluding other survivors/their experiences.

Faux-activism: Margot prides herself on being a good ally by being anti-racist and not homophobic. Which is great! But white people see the world through a white lens. They may not see that what they are doing can have TERRIBLE consequences for POC, but we notice. Margot gets a kid of color in trouble so she can escape school undetected, which may not seem like a big deal to a white reader, but I assure you us POC cannot get away with the ‘smallest things’ as you lot can and we can be lead into very dangerous encounters due to white people and their thought processes. Onto the homophobia! Congrats Margot, you called out FRIENDS for being a homophobic sitcom… and then immediately proceeded to buy and consume Chipotle products even though they donate money directly to conversion therapy. You can not say you are a queer ally and then actively support a company that harms queer people.

Margot’s relationship with women: Margot is supposed to be this feminist icon, defender of women’s rights. Let’s abolish toxic masculinity, I’m all here for it! But she talks down about women constantly throughout this book. Calling women bimbos if she thinks they aren’t as smart as her, talking badly about girls who enjoy wearing crop tops and makeup, etc. There is a line later in the novel where Margot tries doing her own makeup and realizes that because it isn’t as easy as it seems, she should give other women who enjoy makeup credit for their work. ….Why not just let women enjoy the things they want to enjoy in the first place? And just because certain women aren’t into computer science doesn’t make them any less intelligent than you. Some people just have different skill sets. I really wish these biases were dissected and corrected as part of a character arc, but they never were. 

Fatphobia/Ableism: There are a few casually fatphobic lines throughout the book. There’s a bit where Margot hears a girl pride herself on weight loss after apologizing to people she’s wronged so Margot makes a comment about wanting those same pound losing results. Here is a direct quote from another fatphobic passage: “doesn’t a fit bod just mean he’s taking care of himself?” I just want readers to know stuff like this exists in this book in case they are triggered by it. Ableism. So much ableist language, take a shot every time you read “crazy” and you would die of alcohol poisoning before the halfway mark. Margot states at the start of the book that her best friend Sammi (whom I headcanon as Autistic because I’m Autistic and he has so many ‘quirks’ that read as our Aspie traits) really hates the word crazy because it has been used against him his entire life just because his brain works differently to other people. Which is such an aspie mood. I assumed this was going to lead to Margot correcting her ableist language and apologizing to Sammi (about not once attempting to stop using such language around him/being a bad friend for not taking his feelings into consideration) but this was never addressed either.


PROS:

Writing: With all of that said, there was still so much I loved about this book! MARGOT MERTZ TAKES IT DOWN is such a fun, engaging read. I know it has the potential to be very impactful and empowering to SA survivors, especially young ones. Also, I completely forgot about the fact this book is written by two authors. Both voices flow eloquently into one, which is a hard thing to successfully pull off! There were lots of good discussions. Yes, these conversations needed language tweaks to be perfect, but they were not badly discussed and that is a win in my book.

Margot’s arc: I stated that there are some things Margot never improves on. However, there is quite a lot she does work on and correct. I won't go into much because it's interesting to read. I absolutely adored seeing Margot burn herself out because in YA books our young protagonists take on the entire world with no repercussions to their wellbeing. The facts are, being an activist is hard and exhausting for ANYONE! Let alone a literal child. Seeing this shown was so refreshing and I am overjoyed future teens get to realize that these feelings are normal and okay to have. After realizing she may be the problem, Margot works to right her wrongs. This is something even grown adults struggle to do. I think it was stunningly executed in this novel! 

Sammi and Avery: I adored the addition of these boys!! Sammi was very relatable. Even though I was aware of where this story was taking his arc, I’m glad it was handled the way it was. Avery was an absolute sweetheart. The second he was introduced I immediately was rooting for him and wanting Margot to treat him better. Seeing Margot acknowledge her treatment of them was unfair was *chefs kiss*.

Beth: It made me increasingly uncomfortable that Margot was infodumping on her best friend whom she hasn't seen in years. Especially considering Margot just drops the bomb that she was nearly assaulted by the same man who assaulted Beth. Margot doesn't take a second to consider any of what she is dumping onto Beth could be extremely triggering. So, having Beth finally ring Margot explain that Margot dumpling all of her issues on her was triggering and unfair was so refreshing. A lot of people think friends are supposed to handle their problems for them with no regard to their friends' well-being/triggers. It was so refreshing to see this handled in MARGOT MERTZ!!

The survivors: These are strong women who will not be silenced any longer. I was nervous the story would be Margot saving the day and having a huge happy ending, which is not realistic and very saviorist thinking. However, the survivors go through lots of growth through the book. One may argue they even save themselves! The ending seemed quite realistic for where we are as a society and I am not disappointed by it in the least.

The references: from ABBA to Bond, I was here for all of them!! I usually am not a fan of pop culture references in books but this book uses them very lightly, seamlessly integrating them into the story.


Overall, I think there is so much good in this novel. I could not ignore my faults with it, thus the three star rating, but this is an important piece of literature that is surely going to be a conversation starter as well as a helpful resource. If MARGOT MERTZ was on your TBR, feel free to give it a read!!

This book was very feminist and it was ok I thoroughly enjoyed Margot’s attitude as well she was a cool character

Thank you Penguin Teen and NetGalley for sending me an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Margot Mertz is a character that you will love but I think the execution of her storyline could've been improved.

The plot was a bit predictable and at times, it felt dragging to continue.

Anyway, I'm optimistic that the next books in this series will follow through.

RATING: 3stars

What would you do if someone could make all of your internet shame disappear? In Margot Mertz Takes It Down by Carrie McCrossen and Ian McWethy (Pub Day: November 9th), the titular character is know for cleaning up people’s dirty business, but in this YA novel, she tries to dismantle an entire revenge porn website while also struggling to figure out her own path in life.

This book was really engaging and I loved Margot as a narrator. She was snarky, blunt, sarcastic, and sooo funny! Not only that, but I liked the way the story progressed and how eager I was to turn the page to see who is behind the site and how Margot will help dismantle it.

I kind of appreciated the realistic arc of the plot and how Margot kind of grows as a character. She realizes the loner existence she claims to like is actually not conducive to her needs and wants and how sometimes it’s harder to put yourself out there and be nice than to stand out and keep everyone at arm's length.

If you want to read about a badass character who doesn’t take BS from anyone, but is also kind of quirky, then you will love Margot Mertz!

*I received an ARC from Penguin Teen in exchange for my honest review.

Margot Mertz Takes It Down Book Review

When I first started this book, I was intrigued. I mean a teenager who has her own business geared towards taking down any embarrassing photos on the internet for a sizable fee. Awesome…women power! In the book, Margot’s client list ranges from her high school peers to even her own teachers. However, she faces her toughest challenge…a revenge porn website which features many intimate selfies posted by disgusting guys without the consent of the girls they had dated briefly. Now it is up to Margot to find who is responsible for the creation of the website as well as dealing with a growing attraction to a good looking nice guy, Avery. Can she do it?

Even though the story and concept seemed promising in the beginning, it fell short for me towards the second half of the book. I did not agree with a majority of Margot’s methods to get what she wanted, but I appreciate how she realized her faults towards the end of the book. Also, I was not a fan of the romance in this book…it seemed unnecessary and I feel it took away from the overall story. The author should have focused the story on the internet cleanup side of the business: hacking and technology elements of the story. All in all, this was not my favorite teen detective book, but the author shows promise (especially with her tech explanation: I work in IT), so I will definitely be on the lookout for any of her future books.

Margot Mertz Takes It Down was the perfect YA contemporary fiction that meshes Veronica Mars and Moxie together. It follows Margot, who is out to take down the patriarchy with her internet cleanup business. When she discovers a secret revenge site targeting the girls of Roosevelt High, Margot is on a mission to find the mastermind behind the site and bring them down.

I enjoyed Margot's character. She was sassy and frank. With a strong moral compass, I admired her tenacity in always doing what's right. I loved her stream of conscious thoughts and the way the book was broken down was clever and fresh.

I finished this book in under 12 hours. I knew just from the cover that this book was going to be fantastic and I was right. This book is touches on some really dark and sadly real topics, but finds a way to make it fun. Its probably just Margot herself tbh with you there. Margot has got to be one of my favorite MCs I've come across in a long long time. She's so strong and sure of herself (most of the time) and so go get em, it really drives the whole story. She's smart, witty, and sometimes unintentionally funny. She's also blinded by her own desires and her own sense of 'right.' She's not perfect by any means, and that is refreshing. There is a great deal of growth in Margot through the entire book, and at the end... well I just love to see the way her character progressed. I won't lie, I was a little let down by the ending... but it was also very realistic, and sometimes you need that kick of reality.

I love the fact that this book was written by a husband and wife, because some of the topics touched here... I could see how they could cause a fight or two. I love how they were able to come together and write this book. #CoupleGoals

5/5. I've already recommended it to my aunt lol

In this Young Adult read, we see high schooler Margot Mertz take on the biggest case of her career. And yes, I did say career--Margot has an actual business (that she files taxes on!) getting stuff erased from the internet. Starting out as a favor to stop someone from crying and to pay for college, Margot has grown her business into a small empire in her town, aiding not just other students, but teachers and even the local weatherman. But when one student approaches Margot about taking down a revenge porn site dedicated to pictures and video of the underage girls of her high school, Margot knows this is big. To crack the case, she starts a fake relationship with one of the most popular guys in school, to get her into the circles of her suspects. But soon, Margot is wondering if this may be the case that breaks her, and is too big for her to handle alone.

I really, really enjoyed this novel. It's definitely all about Margot and her quest to take down the mysterious RB website, but there's a little romance with Mr. Popular, Avery. I actually kind of wish this book had *more* romance, I might have even given it a 9/10. Ultimately, I loved this book, and the only thing keeping me from upping its rating. Perhaps more realistic than most, but it felt too unfinished for a novel. Without spoilers, I would have appreciated more of a conclusion romantically and for the investigation.

I could totally see this book getting made into a teen movie. It reminds me in some ways of another YA novel I love--Perfect on Paper--which also has great movie vibes. Fingers crossed it makes it onto the big screen (or, more likely, a streaming service).

Thanks to Penguin Teen for my eARC and finished copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

5 stars - 8/10

*2.7* Thank you Penguin Teen for sending me an e-arc of this book! (spoiler-free review)

Margot Mertz Cleans Your Filth! is the self made company of high schooler Margot Mertz. Have something on the internet that you want wiped? Margot Mertz is your girl. Sure, Margot doesn't have the same high school experience as everyone else, but why would she need it? She can take care of herself. But when Margot learns of a revenge porn site that hosts incriminatory photos of girls at her high school, she is enraged. So she takes on the job to clear up that filth, once and for all. By doing so, she makes an unexpected ally; Avery, the golden boy of Roosevelt high. As she spends more and more time with Avery trying to crack the case, she questions how much of her relationship with him is for the job, and how much of it is real. But Margot is running out of time. She needs to get rid of this site -- and fast.

Overall, this book was okay. I think that this is a clear example of an author trying to incorporate many Gen Z references into a book, and failing miserably. Almost everything in this book felt over the top, and very unlike anything a high schooler would say.

Margot is an amazing protagonist, and not because she's a good person. She's actually a pretty bad person, but that was the entire point. This entire book is about forgiveness and learning who you are. It's about CONCLUSION. Ang Margot making the journey towards finding her own conclusion was so well written. I don't like Margot, but I really do appreciate her.

The plot was good, if not dragged out. The pacing was very very weird. It was only towards the end where the pacing finally caught up and felt natural.

Margot Mertz Takes It Down is a tragic example of great plot, good characters, and bad execution. However, I will not go so far as to say that it is a bad book. It was good, but it was unfortunately forgettable.

Margot runs a cleanup business for anyone who has something on the internet they want wiped from existence. The girls at her school hire her to take down a revenge-porn site that has been targeting them.

Margot Mertz Takes It Down is what happens when girls want boys to be held accountable. The behavior of most of the boys in the book was disgusting so you're rooting for the girls the whole time. I think at times Margot lost me. When she fixated in on her cases she keeps herself pretty unemotional but I wish she had felt more than rage. I wanted her to interact more with the girls, before the end, to make them feel seen. Her job took a little bit too much suspension of disbelief, since I feel like she would have gotten in trouble before now. The betrayal factor was a little obvious but I did like that she realized her files on everyone where biased. All in all, it was a decent revenge plot, though like in the real world, the actions of the boys was left mostly unpunished. For me, this was a 3/5.

If you like hackers, want to be in a girl chat with furious girls, or think a little punishment is in order for wrongdoings, this is the one for you.

I received a digital copy of this book free from Penguin Young Readers Group and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This book was honestly addicting to read. The concept of a teenage hacker girl going after a revenge porn site is incredible. I think it did a really good job of showing the flaws of the characters while also showing the real, raw sides to people. Margot was a (very) imperfect main character but I think that made her relatable and more likeable. She could be selfish, self centered, and honestly rude but also had her heart in the right place and, in the end, learned a lot from her mistakes which I appreciated. I also liked that the ending wasn’t like a perfect happily ever after kind of thing. Things were still messy. It felt real which is very fitting for this book. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend it!

Margot Mertz was not my favorite person when I started this book. Despite her dislike for everyone with any sort of confidence or possible sense of entitlement she has a massive chip of her shoulder. But the story was compulsively readable and it wasn't too long before Margot started to grow on me and by the end I was fully committed to rooting for her. Her arc was well executed and extremely satisfying. It was great to see what started out as a wild revenge fantasy end with the character choosing to do the right thing even though it was the harder path.
I still think Margot is incredibly judgemental, but then again, aren't we all sometimes?