The Takedown

I got very wrapped up in this story of a popular girl suffering under a not to distant future of social media that connects everything about our lives. I liked the unapologetic assertiveness of the main character, I thought the discussion of sex positive feminism in relation to the second wave type of feminism held by the protagonist an interesting aspect of the sex scandal issue. I stayed up late to get to the end, since the mystery was compelling and drawn out perfectly.

OH MY GOSH.
Look, if you told me that eventually everything on the internet would be connected to everything, and that the government would actually sanction the use of facial recognition systems when the prior happened, I would probably agree with you, and then personally make sure that I scrubbed myself from the internet before tech went any further than what it is now (hello, creepy facebook tagging algorithm, that is a RENNAISANCE PAINTING not actual baby Jesus, thanks!).

This book is what happens in an era of "virtual police state started by a monolithic corporation", a few years into the future, where nobody has the choice to not be tagged, only untagged, and assuming you keep up with your settings.
Good Lord.

A terrifying look at show more what that situation could bring, actually, because...well, teenagers are always going to be teenagers, and that means, of course, embarrassing photos, but also potentially career-ending videos.

I'll let you read the rest, but....it is a lesson on cybersecurity as much as it is about why it is a bad idea to be a part of the clique.
10/10 show less

ALL THE STARS!!!! This is a “me” book!! I loved the mystery mixed in with allllll the drama. I loved the future world and technology— and even the made-up lingo that the characters speak. Love, love, love this book.

You know how every now and again you start reading a book, and right from the start you can tell it is a "you" book?? Those reading moments are so special, and if you're anything like me, they only come along once in a while. This book was a breath of fresh air for me. Sure, I've read books recently that I've really loved, but none of them were completely perfect for me. This one was!!

THE TAKEDOWN was a cross of BEFORE I FALL with THE THOUSANDTH FLOOR. It was high school dynamics/drama and a mystery set in a future show more world-- and I think the futuristic part of this book was my favorite part. I loved reading about the technology and the way New York changed. I even loved the slang that the future teens used (I usually hate made up slang, but I thought it worked here).

Kyla is just a typical straight A, popular girl until a sex video of her and a teacher is put on her school's website!! Except IT ISN'T HER!! It looks like her, exactly like her, but she swears it isn't her. Proving it will also force Kyla to find out exactly WHO hates her enough to make such a sophisticated fake. Is it a friend? A known enemy? Someone lurking in the shadows? And how can she make anyone believe her while the video views climb higher and higher?

It was page-turning going on the journey with Kyla. Her friends are all suspects, her enemies are many, and the futuristic technology made everything so invasive and creepy!! I just loved the hell out of this story.

Kyla Cheng was the perfect main character to carry a book like this. She's a little naive, a little bit innocent, but also completely responsible for some bad behavior and unlikable in her own ways. I am nothing like Kyla as a person, she's very type A and not a risk taker, but I totally found myself relating to her and wanting her to persevere. I know that's good writing because type A goody-goodies are usually not my jam.

My fave parts: The family and friend dynamics. I really liked how close Kyla's family was, but that she was still feeling a disconnect from her mom and how that was effecting her despite everything she had going on. Kyla's friends were horrible but also not?? Thats where I was getting the BEFORE I FALL vibes. And the love interest was cute, but also a little too good to be true in my opinion.

OVERALL: YES!! 1 million times YES!!! I could read a book like this every day of the year and never get bored. It's hard to even think of who to recommend this to because it was such a ME book, but I think all YA fans should like this.

My Blog:
Pink Polka Dot Books
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Technology is a beast, friends. A beast that's nearly impossible to tame, and as much as we try to make it work for us, what happens when our tech turns against us? Digital footprints are already so, so hard to erase, so this story set in the near-future where even more of what we do and share is public... well, let's just say this story hits awfully close to home, and in a way that's suspenseful, compelling, scary, and ultimately entertaining. I don't want to say too much, lest I accidentally spoil anything -- there's a strong element of suspense/thrill here, and the story will keep you on your toes trying to guess "whodunnit?"

There are enough twists and turns in the story to keep you up reading long past the time you should have show more fallen asleep, and ultimately, the ending is both satisfying and bittersweet. I loved the portrayal of friendships in the book and their complicated dynamics, and I also appreciated the slightly different approach to the main character: her brutal honesty with readers right up front, and how she starts from a place of overconfidence & has to work backwards (until most YA main characters).

Worth it! show less

Kyla is one of the most popular girls in her school, picked to join a clique that has ensured her the high school existence she was sure she wanted-until someone comes along to tear it all down. A sex tape of Kyla and one of her teachers is released, but Kyla knows she hasn't slept with anyone. As she fights to discover who is trying to destroy her life, she's forced to examine just how great a life it is that she's been leading

The world Wang creates is also extremely unique. The book is set in the far future, when our obsession with new technology and social media have been taken to extremes. Screens are everywhere, and no one takes a single step without their Doc, a tablet that contains their whole life. Thanks to social media, show more everywhere you go, someone is always watching, and your every move is documented virally for the world to see.

This book takes topics that have been covered before-popularity, mean girls, the effects of social media, and society's views on women-and looks at them through a really creative and unique lens. Wang tackles all this while also making her book a twisty mystery that kept me guessing the whole time. I honestly never saw the denouncement coming.

I would definitely recommend this book. It's a unique and gripping addition to the young adult suspense genre. show less

"The moments in my life that have mattered the most aren't the ones that everyone "sees", but the ones that they don't." A lesson that seems so simple, yet in a technologically driven world, is often the hardest one to learn.
Senior year and a life destroyed in the drop of a video. The Takedown is a modern cyber and RL Bullying Story- WWYD if someone posted a video of you, that wasn't really you, but everyone believed it, saw it, and it destroyed your life as you know it?? Not cool, yet totally possible.
Fraught with scary tech; Big Brother to the max, identity stealing, never recover from mistakes or your past type of tech stuff... which is probably all in the works or up and running now, are pondered throughout The Takedown.
As show more snarky as she can be, I admired Kyla's gumption and wit, she has an inspiring 'voice'. Love President Malin (where are you, we certainly need you now!?) and the various characters that aided and abetted Kyla's senior year debacle. Excellent book, it kept me riveted down to the last word.
*I received an arc from NetGalley for an honest review show less

Super readable and beautifully done futuristic social media that was very believable. It reads a bit like a thriller, with the bonus of amazing characters. I really loved the girls in this book. They felt so relatable and protective of one another while still having fights and imperfections. I've seen a few comparisons to Mean Girls, but I feel like it's closer to the Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants as far as the friendships go.

My only real issue was the main character's excessive use of the word "slut." There were some definite story elements that challenged the way she threw slut and skank around at other girls over and over and over, but I would have liked a more specific deconstruction of just why her repeatedly falling back on show more "slut" to describe any girl she deemed more sexual than herself was problematic. I think this is also a fairly solid read alike for [book:Endangered|18713041].

I received an eARC copy from NetGalley and the publisher for review. show less