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A review by jennireadz
Take Her Down by Lauren Emily Whalen
3.0
3 Stars
This book was described as a YA queer retelling of Julius Caesar, and honestly, it does a really good job with that premise. I loved the nods to the original, including taking place at Augustus High. The characters were aptly named and really portrayed their parts. Looking back at some cliff notes to remember all the important details of the original play, this really did line up as a YA queer modern day retelling of Julius Caesar.
The book is written as sort of a literary project by one of the bystanders of the actual events that occurred, Calpurnia. She speaks with Bronwyn (Brutus), Cass (Cassius), and Porter (Portia) the most in the beginning, expanding to other main characters as the acts progress. We get the story of Jude Cuthbert (Julius Caesar), who went from queen of Augustus High, an out and proud lesbian reclaiming the term, running for student body president, and just an overall person of power, to nothing. The book follows all the events that happened, sometimes a bit out of order, but usually it makes sense. Through interviews we get to see the inner workings of all the characters from the moment, and their reflections 3 years after the events transpired.
Jude and Bronwyn have been best friends for basically ever. Then Bronwyn’s life completely changes. Her pop goes to jail for white collar crime, her dad leaves to go find himself among the Appalachian trail, and she has to go live in a converted garage at her estranged aunt’s house. During this time, Bronwyn, an out and proud lesbian, catches the eye of Porter, and she starts developing feelings. Porter, being a straight cis man and all, is not welcomed by the super accepting queer community at Augustus High, and when Bronwyn starts dating him, Jude ousts her from all queer circles. Bronwyn takes this personally and starts to run against Jude in the school presidential election.
I truly loved the bits and pieces that led back to Julius Caesar - it really kept me captivated. While I know the play well, it was exciting to see what the modern day twists were. One thing that turned me off was the structure of the novel. Since it was a collection of interviews, it was very informal, and a lot of times made me disinterested. I loved the content that was being provided, but the way it was written was not something that necessarily appealed to me. I also felt so underwhelmed at the ending.
One thing that truly made me close to DNF-ing is the rampant biphobia in this book that did not stop. It was so strong. Biphobia is something that plagues the queer community, and for so much energy to be put into it, it was hard to read and see that constantly come up. While the author does dedicate the book to “the B’s in LGBTQ+,” it can be super harmful to read all of that hate. It is hard to see biphobia from one character, but to see everyone side with that one character, it feels so overwhelming.
Another thing - this book mentions the presidential election of 2020 very often. It feels like there were so many parallels trying to be made with that and their student body president election. It felt like I could not escape the politics of the real world while reading, which I didn’t love.
I definitely say to check trigger warnings when it comes to this book, as it can get pretty heavy, but ultimately, it was a good queer YA modern retelling of Julius Caesar.
This book was described as a YA queer retelling of Julius Caesar, and honestly, it does a really good job with that premise. I loved the nods to the original, including taking place at Augustus High. The characters were aptly named and really portrayed their parts. Looking back at some cliff notes to remember all the important details of the original play, this really did line up as a YA queer modern day retelling of Julius Caesar.
The book is written as sort of a literary project by one of the bystanders of the actual events that occurred, Calpurnia. She speaks with Bronwyn (Brutus), Cass (Cassius), and Porter (Portia) the most in the beginning, expanding to other main characters as the acts progress. We get the story of Jude Cuthbert (Julius Caesar), who went from queen of Augustus High, an out and proud lesbian reclaiming the term, running for student body president, and just an overall person of power, to nothing. The book follows all the events that happened, sometimes a bit out of order, but usually it makes sense. Through interviews we get to see the inner workings of all the characters from the moment, and their reflections 3 years after the events transpired.
Jude and Bronwyn have been best friends for basically ever. Then Bronwyn’s life completely changes. Her pop goes to jail for white collar crime, her dad leaves to go find himself among the Appalachian trail, and she has to go live in a converted garage at her estranged aunt’s house. During this time, Bronwyn, an out and proud lesbian, catches the eye of Porter, and she starts developing feelings. Porter, being a straight cis man and all, is not welcomed by the super accepting queer community at Augustus High, and when Bronwyn starts dating him, Jude ousts her from all queer circles. Bronwyn takes this personally and starts to run against Jude in the school presidential election.
I truly loved the bits and pieces that led back to Julius Caesar - it really kept me captivated. While I know the play well, it was exciting to see what the modern day twists were. One thing that turned me off was the structure of the novel. Since it was a collection of interviews, it was very informal, and a lot of times made me disinterested. I loved the content that was being provided, but the way it was written was not something that necessarily appealed to me. I also felt so underwhelmed at the ending.
One thing that truly made me close to DNF-ing is the rampant biphobia in this book that did not stop. It was so strong. Biphobia is something that plagues the queer community, and for so much energy to be put into it, it was hard to read and see that constantly come up. While the author does dedicate the book to “the B’s in LGBTQ+,” it can be super harmful to read all of that hate. It is hard to see biphobia from one character, but to see everyone side with that one character, it feels so overwhelming.
Another thing - this book mentions the presidential election of 2020 very often. It feels like there were so many parallels trying to be made with that and their student body president election. It felt like I could not escape the politics of the real world while reading, which I didn’t love.
I definitely say to check trigger warnings when it comes to this book, as it can get pretty heavy, but ultimately, it was a good queer YA modern retelling of Julius Caesar.