Carly Biels is a senior in high school. She is set on going to Princeton and has the perfect boyfriend, but when she gets her SAT scores back, everything changes. She has done terribly. Then something strange happens. Carly gets a text message: “I can help you. The Taker.” Could this be true? Sure, everybody at her high school has heard rumors about The Taker, but not many believed what they heard. The Taker is a secret person who supposedly takes your SATs for you and gets you a score close to 2400. So how can Carly pass up this last chance at Princeton?

But The Taker comes with consequences and Carly doesn’t know what to do. When she is faced with a decision that could make or break her future, will she choose to use The Taker? Plus, dealing with The Taker isn’t the only thing Carly has to think about. She has to worry about whether her boyfriend is trustworthy. Luckily, when things go down the drain for Carly, she has her best friends to help her. The mysterious Taker challenges Carly throughout the novel in unexpected ways.

The Taker is a great book that kept me guessing until the very end. This realistic novel about high school life taught me that I need to be there for my friends, no matter what they are going through. It also showed me the importance of doing the right thing, and even if I make the wrong decision, I can pick up the pieces. I give The Taker nine out of 10 for suspense and for Steele’s amazing writing, which never let me take my eyes off the book