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A review by bookish_brooklyn
Taking Down Evelyn Tait by Poppy Nwosu
5.0
If you’re looking for a wonderful Young Adult Contemporary novel with a brilliantly distinctive fresh voice then you do not want to miss Taking Down Evelyn Tait! I absolutely adored this book right from the start and constantly felt engaged with Lottie as a narrator and definitely just found myself procrastinating finishing reading Taking Down Evelyn Tait because I just wanted to stay wrapped up in Lottie’s life! I just adore her character so much, Poppy Nwosu just breathes such life into her creations and I felt like everyone had such a refreshing voice and personality throughout this book! Her character development was completely fabulous, too!
Taking Down Evelyn Tait has definitely been one of my absolute favourite Contemporary novels that I’ve read this year! I just found there was so much to love about this wonderful book, at the helm being the wonderfully unique Lottie herself! I haven’t read a character similar to her before and I just love how unique she is! She’s a total trouble maker, she likes causing a raucous at school and often finds herself frequenting the Principal’s office, where she chats to the head of the School, him about her concerns for her as to why she acts out and gets herself into so much trouble and Lottie’s seemingly indifferent attitude as to why she acts out as she does – to her, she just seems to do what she likes because she feels like it, but honestly that should not sway your opinion on her as a character! Whilst she might cause trouble at school and be destructive, I can completely understand her hurt and confusion that she feels at the start of the book, when her very best friend says that she’s utterly in love with Lottie’s own mortal enemy, the titular Evelyn Tait!
I love how as I was reading Taking Down Evelyn Tait, I initially didn’t actually know as to whether or not Evelyn actually really loved Grace or was just seeking her affections to get to Lottie? From the very beginning right through to the final page, I was definitely siding with Lottie throughout this book and definitely found myself discovering everything about these other wonderful characters just as Lottie did! The family dynamic was an utter joy to read about and with that it bought a whole added twist to the story! One that I didn’t see coming and completely enjoyed how it played out as the story went along!
Also, I have to mention how much I love a local setting! Whilst it wasn’t completely mentioned where this book was set, Poppy mentioned that it’s actually set in the same world as her fantastic debut Making Friends With Alice Dyson, which of course was set in Adelaide, South Australia! I’ve rarely read books set in my hometown so I always get super excited when I do! Even though I’m not hugely familiar with the area itself where Taking Down Evelyn Tait was set, it was just fabulous reading about it!
There’s so many fun and completely memorable scenes throughout this book, from the Principal visits that Lottie frequents, to her stealthily climbing onto her oldest friend Jude’s balcony (seriously I adored Jude!) to Lottie discovering her eternal crush on heartthrob Sebastian may not be what she imagined, to Lottie and Grace’s utterlly divine best friend banter and excitement about Grace sharing a new word of the day for Lottie to ponder over the meaning, just everything about this brilliantly vivid YA novel should be celebrated! I definitely think everyone should be adding this fabulous book to their TBRs, it’s just such a perfect read for these trying times where things feel slightly scary and uncertain!
I loved the character development throughout this book, from Lottie initially wanting to beat Evelyn at her own game and be the perfect daughter and model student, remedying her troublesome ways whilst annoying her least favourite person, with the wonderful Jude helping her in her education to be more good – however, as I continued on Lottie’s journey, she, and I, learnt there was definitely more complexities than met the eye to not only satisfyingly getting revenge, but in terms of Evelyn’s character herself and Jude too! Not to give too much away but I just adored his character! I always enjoy close friendships from early years and seeing feelings bloom and come to light is always so exciting! Whilst Lottie was always so enamoured with crush Sebastian and her heart skips a beat as they get to know each other more, I loved how Lottie couldn’t quite ignore how she was really starting to feel about Sebastian! I mean, he’s a friendly character and I enjoyed his page time with her but honestly it was all Jude for me! I especially loved it when he was teaching Lottie how to be more mindful and careful of people and her behaviour and he’d impart wise quotes from movies such as The Lion King – it was just too precious! I love that he’s so careful and studious, definitely the opposite to Lottie, it was just so adorable, especially how he’d listen so intently to her talk about her favourite music that inspires her! Whilst Evelyn excels at the flute, Lottie’s passion for guitar is just something else and I love how that was embedded throughout the book! Which is definitely why I think this book is definitely a must for music lovers too, I think we can all relate to how Lottie gets herself lost in her favourite music!
Friendships, wonderful character development and cute romances aside, I think what my favourite aspect about Taking Down Evelyn Tait is the family dynamic! Initially, Lottie really isn’t a fan of her step mother and stepsister, but as the story progresses and characters open up, banter and arguments turn into beautifully poignant and tender scenes, with characters who would argue constantly actually leaning on one another and actually developing touching bonds! I definitely will be thinking about Lottie and her family (and of course Jude and ) for time to come, smiling all the while!
Taking Down Evelyn Tait has definitely been one of my absolute favourite Contemporary novels that I’ve read this year! I just found there was so much to love about this wonderful book, at the helm being the wonderfully unique Lottie herself! I haven’t read a character similar to her before and I just love how unique she is! She’s a total trouble maker, she likes causing a raucous at school and often finds herself frequenting the Principal’s office, where she chats to the head of the School, him about her concerns for her as to why she acts out and gets herself into so much trouble and Lottie’s seemingly indifferent attitude as to why she acts out as she does – to her, she just seems to do what she likes because she feels like it, but honestly that should not sway your opinion on her as a character! Whilst she might cause trouble at school and be destructive, I can completely understand her hurt and confusion that she feels at the start of the book, when her very best friend says that she’s utterly in love with Lottie’s own mortal enemy, the titular Evelyn Tait!
I love how as I was reading Taking Down Evelyn Tait, I initially didn’t actually know as to whether or not Evelyn actually really loved Grace or was just seeking her affections to get to Lottie? From the very beginning right through to the final page, I was definitely siding with Lottie throughout this book and definitely found myself discovering everything about these other wonderful characters just as Lottie did! The family dynamic was an utter joy to read about and with that it bought a whole added twist to the story! One that I didn’t see coming and completely enjoyed how it played out as the story went along!
Also, I have to mention how much I love a local setting! Whilst it wasn’t completely mentioned where this book was set, Poppy mentioned that it’s actually set in the same world as her fantastic debut Making Friends With Alice Dyson, which of course was set in Adelaide, South Australia! I’ve rarely read books set in my hometown so I always get super excited when I do! Even though I’m not hugely familiar with the area itself where Taking Down Evelyn Tait was set, it was just fabulous reading about it!
There’s so many fun and completely memorable scenes throughout this book, from the Principal visits that Lottie frequents, to her stealthily climbing onto her oldest friend Jude’s balcony (seriously I adored Jude!) to Lottie discovering her eternal crush on heartthrob Sebastian may not be what she imagined, to Lottie and Grace’s utterlly divine best friend banter and excitement about Grace sharing a new word of the day for Lottie to ponder over the meaning, just everything about this brilliantly vivid YA novel should be celebrated! I definitely think everyone should be adding this fabulous book to their TBRs, it’s just such a perfect read for these trying times where things feel slightly scary and uncertain!
I loved the character development throughout this book, from Lottie initially wanting to beat Evelyn at her own game and be the perfect daughter and model student, remedying her troublesome ways whilst annoying her least favourite person, with the wonderful Jude helping her in her education to be more good – however, as I continued on Lottie’s journey, she, and I, learnt there was definitely more complexities than met the eye to not only satisfyingly getting revenge, but in terms of Evelyn’s character herself and Jude too! Not to give too much away but I just adored his character! I always enjoy close friendships from early years and seeing feelings bloom and come to light is always so exciting! Whilst Lottie was always so enamoured with crush Sebastian and her heart skips a beat as they get to know each other more, I loved how Lottie couldn’t quite ignore how she was really starting to feel about Sebastian! I mean, he’s a friendly character and I enjoyed his page time with her but honestly it was all Jude for me! I especially loved it when he was teaching Lottie how to be more mindful and careful of people and her behaviour and he’d impart wise quotes from movies such as The Lion King – it was just too precious! I love that he’s so careful and studious, definitely the opposite to Lottie, it was just so adorable, especially how he’d listen so intently to her talk about her favourite music that inspires her! Whilst Evelyn excels at the flute, Lottie’s passion for guitar is just something else and I love how that was embedded throughout the book! Which is definitely why I think this book is definitely a must for music lovers too, I think we can all relate to how Lottie gets herself lost in her favourite music!
Friendships, wonderful character development and cute romances aside, I think what my favourite aspect about Taking Down Evelyn Tait is the family dynamic! Initially, Lottie really isn’t a fan of her step mother and stepsister, but as the story progresses and characters open up, banter and arguments turn into beautifully poignant and tender scenes, with characters who would argue constantly actually leaning on one another and actually developing touching bonds! I definitely will be thinking about Lottie and her family (and of course Jude and ) for time to come, smiling all the while!