Thank you to NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for the arc in exchange for an honest review!

CW: sexual assault, homophobia (and prevalent biphobia), underage drinking, underage drug use, graphic self-harm

This book drew me in from the cover, then the interesting premise: tarot and a queer Shakespeare retelling? As a teacher trying to dig up good new releases for a queer high school book club, this was something I had to read as soon as possible.

I'm glad I did. Lauren Emily Whalen has masterfully juggled a story of a high school class election against two separate backdrops, one referenced overtly and one cheekily alluded to throughout the book: the 2016 presidential election, and Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. This way of storytelling creates such a fascinating dichotomy in the book itself, making the school election feel like both so much more than what it truly is (teenagers reclaiming their voices during a tumultuous time in their country!) and so wildly unimportant in the grand scheme of life (how many of us truly remember who our class president even was?) for these characters.

And, to be clear, very few of these characters are "good," which is something anyone familiar with the original Shakespeare material might already be expecting. Everyone has their darkness, where the morality gets grey and you're not quite sure whether you're cheering for them to succeed or get knocked down. That's part of the magic of this story being set in a high school; everything feels so high stakes to them when one wrong move - intentional or not - could find a teenager ousted from their social group.

Add to this a great discussion of sexuality, from the importance of identity in times of turbulence to its fluidity, and mental illness (one character is open about their bipolar disorder), and you have a beautiful book that I found difficult to put down. I look forward to adding this one to my classroom shelves.

I DNF’d this book unfortunately. I could not get past the villain being a power hungry, evil mean biphobic lesbian who hates the MC because she’s bi and has a boyfriend for the first time. Its just incredibly lesbophobic and bad writing to rely on stereotypes and tropes that hurt the lesbian community. I’ve seen this trope so many times and I cannot stress enough how much I hate it. Plus the writing style was just not for me. I found the sentence structure to be strange and confusing at times. I was so excited for this book, as it had a lot of things going for it: dark academia, tarot on the cover, LGBTQA rep, Shakespeare retelling. However, the lesbophobia absolutely ruined it for me.

I love a modern Shakespeare retelling, and what a breath of fresh air for Lauren Emily Whelan to select Julius Caesar as her vehicle for this young adult election drama. 'Take Her Down' takes place at Augustus High, a Magnet School for overachieving and ambitious youngsters. Being LGBTQ+ here is the norm, sexuality intrinsically linked to power and status. Instead of Julius and Brutus, we have Jude and Bronwyn, former best friends who are at war for the position of student body president. The Roman lust for power and the desire for vengeance still come through strongly in the story, gripping the reader from start to finish.

Whalen explores a whole host of issues within the story, brining Shakespeare's story into a contemporary setting with real gusto. Bi-phobia, mental health issues, and sexual trauma are just some of the themes laced within the story of this gritty rivalry, We see the story from a variety of viewpoints throughout, this serving to bring us into the story from the perspective of a range of characters. To the tail end of the story, this gets a bit too disjointed as we see some plot points repeatedly from multiple perspectives. However, it is in the moment in the middle of the book where the conspiracy comes to a head that the split narrative works the most effectively - we hear from all the witnesses, but it is not until Jude tells her side of the story later that we realise the true significance of that dramatic narrative climax.

Overall, this is a fast paced rollercoaster of emotions. Shakespeare is brought right up to date - the references and shaping of the story were a particular joy for this Shakespeare nerd. I also feel that many young adults will feel seen within the narrative which is a bonus of the retelling. 4 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher who provided an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a good read, I had no idea that I needed a queer retelling of Julius Caeser until now, but I loved it. It was so well written with a good narrative, well developed characters and a well executed storyline. I read this in one sitting, it was so gripping and was engaging all the way throuygh with relatable if somewhat unlikeable characters. This book is definitely worth reading especially, if like me you love retellings.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bold Strokes Inc. for the ARC of Take Her Down!

LGBTQIA+ main characters? I'm down.
Mystery? I'm down.
Angst? If it's done right, I'm down.
I was hook, line and sinker just from the synopsis of this book.
Every character in this book has their demons. Nobody's hands are clean. I mean, it's high school. What do you expect? Whalen gave just enough detail chapter by chapter to keep me interested until the very end.

I wanted to give this book five stars so bad! Lately, it's been difficult to keep my attention on one thing and Whalen somehow managed it which is an impressive feat. Here's the thing though: I couldn't wrap my head around why legal action wasn't taken against certain people. Was it misplaced shame? Was it neglect? They had the money to for lawyers so I just can't rationalize why something wasn't done.

Messy bisexual books? Yes, please! Grabby hands! Take Her Down is a coming of age story. It's supposed to be a queer retelling of Julius Cesar but I don't know enough about that to tell you. I do know it gives Mean Girl vibes and that has also been compared to Cesar so do what you will with that... All it makes me picture in my mind is Gretchen Weiners having a full on meltdown about stabbing Cesar.
There's a lot of information thrown at you at once in the beginning, about the characters. It was a bit much. And I'm not big on the writing style where it feels like the narrator is talking to you. But with my personal issues aside, I think Take Her Down is a different kind of queer book. And you should check it out.

Thank you for the opportunity to review Take Her Down.

I’m way outside the book’s target audience, but it still spoke to me. I came out in 1992 (Freshman year) and went through a world of sh!t because of it. This rattled me, and I kept looking for a way to be different. I even dated a couple of guys after I’d come out, but it never stuck because I’m a lesbian.

The fierceness of high school never changes, although what’s considered to be taboo does. When I was in school, it was taboo to be gay. Now, it’s much more taboo for a student to have an issue with it, at least in the more progressive areas.

Today’s kids have the ability to be whoever they are, whether that’s gay, bisexual, asexual, etc. And still, they struggle. I remember when Trump became president how much it got to me. I remember it causing another lesbian to start questioning everything and even to try guys one more time. Therefore, I’m sure it was also really confusing for high schoolers, particularly those who weren’t in the majority.

All of this helps explain the way the teens acted in this book. Add into it their own struggles with their parents, etc. and it becomes even clearer. Ultimately, though, people like who they like. Whether that means a person who has always been a lesbian meets one guy she likes or someone who was always straight falls in love with someone of their same gender. Sexuality has a tendency to be fluid, and it’s good to see that YA books are now picking up this thread and running with it.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC. This review contains my honest, unbiased opinion.

I really enjoyed this book, I love when highschool, like literal 16 year olds, have intense drama that has way too high stakes. This book had flawed and messy characters (as any Shakespeare retelling should) and adored that. I think that this book had some important conversations about biphobia and bisexualty, however I didn't like that the lesbian characters were always the ones who were biphobic, and sometimes it felt like Whalen had never interacted with a lesbian based on how she wrote her lesbian characters. Aside form the mild lesbiphobia, the book was enjoyable.