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!
Margot Mertz Takes It Down is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like our local bookstore, as of November 2nd 2021.
Will you be picking up Margot Mertz Takes It Down? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis | Goodreads
Veronica Mars meets Moxie in this hilarious and biting 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.
Margot Mertz is a secret sleuth–okay, not really, but she does run an internet cleanup business helping students and teachers alike clear their internet presence of anything they don’t want anyone else to see. From secret embarrassing DM’s to viral videos and more, Margot cleans it all. After her parents foolishly lost her college fund, this is the only way she can make it to Stanford.
But when a fellow student comes to her asking her to take down a website that’s gathering nude pics of fellow Roosevelt High girls, things get personal. Margot must delve into the depths of her school to take down the culprit. The seedy underbelly of Roosevelt High is not unfamiliar to Margot–but somehow this case is stumping her at every turn–until she figures out that the only way to reach her suspects is to get close to perfect boy Avery Green. His access to every club, volunteer opportunity, sports team, and popular party is the key to solving her case.
When the case takes a shocking turn, Margot’s ready to burn the whole world down. No one targets the Roosevelt High girls on Margot’s watch. Mertz Clean Your Filth is on the case.
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. The novel 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/ post on the internet; inappropriate or embarrassing pictures/ videos/ information posted on the internet can be extremely damaging and very challenging (or seemingly impossible) to get rid of.
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. I found it shocking that so many people at Margot’s high school had taken naked/ scandalous photos and sent them to their (then) boyfriends. I also found it absolutely disgusting that all these nude photos were then posted on a revenge porn site! Similarly, I was so frustrated with how long it took Margot to permanently delete the site; I really think that if underage pornography is posted online (and it is flagged as inappropriate by one of the viewers), the web domain or security agency should remove it immediately and not allow the website/ content to be reuploaded. 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.
For me, a major downside was the footnotes (written in Margot’s voice) included throughout Margot Mertz Takes It Down because I found that these disrupted my reading experience and didn’t add any significant information/ 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. In my opinion, Margot Mertz Takes It Down is ideally suited for teens who love mystery and feminist books. If you enjoyed Margot Mertz Takes It Down, the next book in the series is already listed on Goodreads (Margot Mertz for the Win is expected in 2022)!
Margot Mertz Takes It Down is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like our local bookstore, as of November 2nd 2021.
Will you be picking up Margot Mertz Takes It Down? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis | Goodreads
Veronica Mars meets Moxie in this hilarious and biting 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.
Margot Mertz is a secret sleuth–okay, not really, but she does run an internet cleanup business helping students and teachers alike clear their internet presence of anything they don’t want anyone else to see. From secret embarrassing DM’s to viral videos and more, Margot cleans it all. After her parents foolishly lost her college fund, this is the only way she can make it to Stanford.
But when a fellow student comes to her asking her to take down a website that’s gathering nude pics of fellow Roosevelt High girls, things get personal. Margot must delve into the depths of her school to take down the culprit. The seedy underbelly of Roosevelt High is not unfamiliar to Margot–but somehow this case is stumping her at every turn–until she figures out that the only way to reach her suspects is to get close to perfect boy Avery Green. His access to every club, volunteer opportunity, sports team, and popular party is the key to solving her case.
When the case takes a shocking turn, Margot’s ready to burn the whole world down. No one targets the Roosevelt High girls on Margot’s watch. Mertz Clean Your Filth is on the case.
