Book 1), All Fall Down (Embassy Row

I listened to this book vice reading this story which might have skewed my review. I listened to 4 hours of character development before the author started into the plot of trying to figure out who committed the murder. The narrator’s voice was fine, but the fact that Grace was always having fits, breakdowns and silent trances felt like the story was in a loop replaying the drama over an over.

The main character Grace has an attitude that I would not have put up for anything, no matter what trauma they had been through. The book is for grades 7 to 12 ages 12 to 18 years, so it’s considered a young adult book. In the real world, most kids would not have put up with Grace’s attitude and just shunned her, but in this story they all try to get closer to her and of course help her solve the murder.

There are no major twists to the story and the characters are kind of average. Most of the scenes are about Grace having fits and speaking harshly to adults or other children. Not the type of book I want my teenager reading. The whole plot seemed interesting to me; however, the author left me disappointed.

The author writes really well, not sure what happened on this story and for it to be a series for me is really hard to comprehend. I hope with book two she changes the dynamics of the main character.

Overall, I found it to be a combination of mildly intriguing and tremendously frustrating, and I seem to be struggling to rate it (I apologize to those of you who have been watching me change the rating back and forth between two and three stars for the past hour). I’ve finally settled on two stars and am trying to restrain myself from making any further changes.

Grace is an army brat, never settling in one area for an extended period of time. She’s also the granddaughter of a U.S. ambassador, spending each summer at Embassy Row alongside other children her age. This summer, however, Embassy Row isn’t characterized by the usual fun, carefree attitude. Instead, it serves as a vivid reminder for Grace of her mother’s death. Having witnessed the traumatic incident, Grace is convinced that her mother was murdered at the hands of a frightening man with a jagged scar across his face. Afterward, however, Grace is told that her mother’s death was accidental due to smoke inhalation. Refusing to discredit her memories of the event, Grace remains adamant that her mother’s death was no accident.
“Yes, it was dark,” I snap back. “Yes, I was young, and it was traumatic. Yes, I have never been the most reliable girl in the world, but I know what I saw. And I’m telling you, I saw a man with a scar on his left cheek shoot my mother. I heard the bomb that burned her shop to the ground.”
She undergoes years of psychiatric treatment but is unable to forget the incident. When she returns to Embassy Row for the summer, she realizes that there may be more going on than what initially meets the eye. Deciding to dig a little deeper into a series of mysterious occurrences, Grace realizes that she must choose her friends carefully.

I wasn’t immediately hooked when I began reading - the first 150 pages were very slow and a bit heavy on the political interactions between countries. Having minimal knowledge about international relations, I found these sections to be particularly boring, and I ended up skimming most of them. Midway through the book, however, the action picked up significantly, but seemed to fade away, only to reappear in fits and starts. The resulting, unpleasant lurching speed of the plot left a little to be desired, but this was made up for by a few plot twists that I certainly did not see coming (I don't want to elaborate any further because it would make this review quite spoiler-heavy).

This was my second foray into Ally Carter’s writing - I read I’d Tell You I Loved You But Then I’d Have to Kill You about a year ago, and that went over like a lead balloon, full rant here. But I allowed someone to convince me to give her books another chance, and I still wasn’t overwhelmingly impressed. Once again, I found that Carter’s writing style was geared more toward a younger audience (although this could simply be me “outgrowing” young adult books). I thought the plot was oversimplified - it could have been much more complex and likely would have better held my attention.

On a similar note, there wasn't much character development throughout the course of the novel. The main characters in particular were extremely static, changing minimally, if at all. Grace, who served as the first person narrator, shed a very immature light on events as they unfolded, failing to consider the consequences of her actions or to view a situation from someone else's perspective. I would generally associate such a trait with a more juvenile character, but seeing as Grace was nearly a legal adult, I found the characteristic to be a bit out of place. She also had a tendency to assume a whiny tone and mental attitude when things didn't go precisely her way. I did not realize that I would be dealing with a tempermental toddler when I began reading.

As the narrative continued, it became increasingly difficult to distinguish between flashbacks and hallucinations. While this was likely intentional, it became a bit confusing to the point that I was forced to reread several chapters simply to decipher when said events were occuring. Consequently, Grace was a fairly unreliable narrator - it was nearly impossible at times to differentiate between reality and Grace's twisted yet not entirely truthful perception of a situation.

The secondary characters shared one thing in common: they all lacked back stories. Perhaps this is something that will be addressed in later books in the series, but they all felt like flat, lifeless pieces of cardboard to me. It would have been nice to learn a bit about the past, particularly since Grace's recollection of it is so jumbled.

The romantic aspect of the novel is where it starts to get a little tricky - while there are two male characters with close relationships to Grace, there is no love triangle (which is a huge relief, at least in my book). Alexei, who lives in the Russian sector of Embassy Row served as Grace's brother's best friend and an older brother figure for Grace, always looking out for her and keeping her best interests in mind. Noah, on the other hand, serves as more of a romantic interest throughout the novel...but nothing happens between Grace and Noah. Whatsoever. Leaving me enraged and extremely disappointed (which is never a good combination).

While I commend Carter for her originality and perseverance in regard to her writing, I found myself unable to move past several components of this book. Between the characters, plot, and pacing, I found this book turned reading into a chore - I was determined to complete the novel in the hopes of some magical, drastic improvement in these respects, but to no avail. I had fairly high hopes for All Fall Down, and while it didn't meet many of my expectations, my nagging curiosity will likely prompt me to continue on with the series. And who knows, I may be pleasantly surprised with the remainder of the series!

THIS BOOK REMINDS ME WHY ALLY CARTER IS MY FAVOURITE AUTHOR! This book was so damn amazing. FYI this review is a little biased because because I love the authors books.

Okay, okay, I admit it was slow at the beginning - a little hard to get into. But it definitely picked up just under half way. I found it difficult to get into because, like all her books, I find the protagonist hard to understand/like. Cammie, Kat and now Grace. I haven't liked any of her protagonists from the beginning, but it's something that comes with character growth.

I adore Grace, as a character, so much. It's not very often that I read a book where the main character has panic attacks over her trauma. Most books shake it off and the protagonist goes on a revengeful manhunt to get justice and you never once see the traumatic side of what they've been through. THANK YOU ALLY for approaching this topic that many push aside.

(I adore Noah so much, where's the heart eyes emoji when you need it???)

I'd really like to congratulate Ally for writing middle aged guys so damn well. I mean, Solomon from GG was my favourite (/occasional bae); the "the Scarred Man"??? That scene with the cat?? That's not how you write a bad guy but it certainly made me like him a lot. And by the end I thought he was rad af. Bless.

There were so many plot twists, I could cry from frustration. Whenever I'm reading a book, I can usually figure out where it's going/what's going to happen next, but All Fall Down certainly kept me on my toes. Just when I thought something was going to happen, something that hadn't even occurred to me did. There's a reason this talented woman writes complex stories about spies and thieves.

I can't wait for the sequel, I need to know more! I need more Dominic. I. Need. To. Know. More.

My Thoughts: I’ve read other books by Ally Carter and I enjoyed them! And I just loved All Fall Down!

We are introduced to Grace who has spent most of her summers roaming Embassy Row! With her mother gone, and her dad away she is forced to spend another summer at Embassy Row with her grandpa.

Grace just wants to be left alone. She’s been having some problems in her past and now they follow her around and are always on her mind. She’s coping with her mother’s death and with the scarred man she believes killed her. Grace sees him again on Embassy Row and is determined to prove his guilt. She also meets a few friends along the way. Oh man, I liked the two girls she gets to know better and the boy. Actually, the two boys. I liked them both. They are both worth mentioning but of course I liked Alexei the most.

Alexei was funny but also witty but also annoying at times. I really liked him from the get go. And the beginning of the book I laughed my butt off.

I kind of figured out how things were going to go down from the beginning. I had a feeling the ending was also going to happen. I kind of guessed the major plot points in this one but I still enjoyed reading it a lot. I laughed a bunch of times and I liked it. I still think I liked the Gallagher series a bit more though.

Overall: I really liked Grace and her cast of friends, or more like a bunch of dorks! They are all a little dorky but also funny and neat! This one is probably a 4 cupcake rating for me. I thought about 5 but I didn’t like it as much as her other series.

Cover: I’d definitely pick it up! Like it!

What I’d Give It: 4/5 Cupcakes
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Taken From Princess Bookie

My daughter has been reading Ally Carter books since she was in middle school and I thought her review most appropriate here.

I have always loved the world of espionage and intrigue, and combined with some badass teenage girls kicking butt I was in love with the Gallagher Girls series. Heist Society was just as good, looking at the less legal side of the intrigue coin, but with the same charm of the Gallagher series that I loved. Cammie Morgan and Kat have been with me since I was a kid, and I was beyond excited when I heard news of Ally's new book All Fall Down. Overall, I was not disappointed by this read. The story takes a more diplomatic approach to drama, set in the political peak of Embassy Row in the land of Adria, where Grace- the granddaughter of the American ambassador- is trying to figure out the truth behind her mother's death years ago. She makes friends with other kids on the row, and together they try to figure out whether or not Grace's belief that her mother was murdered is true or if she really is- like all the doctors say, in the nicest terms- crazy. The plot of this story kept me reading like a fiend. There were moments where I wasn't sure the doctors were wrong about Grace, and others where I was sure she had to be right. Grace's character as a whole had me in tears some moments from her frustration and self-doubt about what she was doing and the fact that nobody seemed to be listening to her. The entire story had a dark undertone, one that reminded me a lot of the second to last Gallagher Girls book (if you read it, you know what I'm talking about) and the truth behind what happened to Grace's mother genuinely surprised me. The characters were fun, and I loved Grace's ragtag team of youths that she got together to help her solve this mystery and catch her mother's killer.

However, I had my fair share of gripes with the story. First, Grace's relationship with the cute Russian boy next door, Alexei. Though Grace recounted knowing him as a kid, and how he was her brother's close friend on the Row, I never really got a sense for how their relationship developed in this book. I was never sold that they had any real interaction when they were kids, though she mentioned it a few times, and when a "relationship" seemed to develop between the two I found it all sort of... Random. Especially considering for half the book she just kept pushing him away. They had a few large interactions, but his presence in the book overall felt scarce. I couldn't understand how such a deep bond had formed by the end, and even though he had helped her keep cal during her attacks and tried to keep an eye on her throughout the book, I just didn't see enough of an interaction there. I'm hoping that in the next book we'll see much more development if that relationship is planned to continue.

The last thing that bothered me was some repetition and a few aspects of Grace's character. A lot of serious phrases in the book just felt overused, and they lost their impact as the story went on. For example, a phrase like "I'd never feel safe again" would be used like five times. A line like that loses impact when used so often, and it wasn't the only one. Grace would say things like this like virtually every chapter, and I understood she's been through hell and back these past few years, but at times it just felt unnecessary to state it over and over again. It didn't detract from her character majorly, though, and I still enjoyed reading from such a dark perspective. I just wish things like that would've been used more sparingly, and I feel it would've made her character more solid.

Overall, I genuinely enjoyed this book- just like all of Ally Carter's work- and I can't wait for Embassy Row Book 2!

Grace is having a VERY hard time getting over the horrific death of her mother and it doesn't help any that no one believes her when she says the death was a murder, not an accident, and she can ID the murderer. The characters are fairly lovable, but the plot, well let me explain the analogy "like a broken record". "A broken record" was a vinyl LP with a scratch that would repeat the same bit over and over to madness. This was the All Fall Down plot line. Grace arrived at Embassy Row (yes, her grandfather has been the ambassador to this semi-mythical country for 45 years. A bit unusual, since ambassadorships are appointed positions. For example, if Trump were to win the presidency, he would get to appoint all new ambassadors to every country in the world. But that's in this reality. All Fall Down borders on parallel universe, just barely.)

Grace was just so darn one note. I got even more tired of her than she did of herself. She made me yearn for the return of Nancy Drew. And saying that this book is the way it is (???) because it is the first in the series is the worst of excuses. The first in a series should be amazing, and this just isn't.

Grace Blakely has spent the last three years of her life trying to come to terms with her mother’s death. But despite what everyone tells her, she’s still convinced that the fire that claimed her mother’s life wasn’t an accident. Returning to Embassy Row in Adria, a hodgepodge of foreign consulates, where Grace spent most of her summers growing up, isn’t easy. Rumors follow her everywhere and even familiar faces look at her differently. But when the man who has haunted her memories for three years makes a sudden appearance, the man she is convinced killed her mother, Grace is determined to find out the truth no matter what.

Ally Carter’s All Fall Down is about a girl struggling to accept her mother’s death and desperate to prove that the memories of that horrific day are not just a figment of her imagination. Grace has spent the last three years of her life being told that the events she recalls from the fire that killed her mother are her mind’s way of avoiding the truth. Treated as a fragile doll by her father and brother, Grace is use to people exchanging silent glances around her. It quickly becomes apparent that Grace does not have it all together, despite her determination to convince people otherwise. Her panic attacks and erratic behavior put everyone on edge and as the story unfolds, as a reader, even you begin to doubt the reliability of the protagonist.

One aspect of this novel that makes it unique is the fictional country of Adria and Embassy Row which houses various foreign embassies. Because of their proximity, one can easy walk from the U.S. to Brazil and stop by Russia on the way back. There are only a handful of foreigners introduces and none is given more consideration than Noah, a dual citizen of Brazil and Israel. This character was such a bright spot in Grace’s grim world, he quickly became my favorite. Funny and open, Noah extends the hand of friendship to Grace when everyone else would like to avoid her. Another prominent character in Grace’s life is Alexei, the son of the Russian ambassador to Adria and best friend to Grace’s absent brother. I wasn’t sure what to make of him because for the most part he would show up very conveniently one minute and disappear the next. I never felt very invested in the evolution of his and Grace’s relationship, nor in him as an individual character.

All Fall Down would have worked better for me if it focused more on the political intrigue and the sensitive way in which individuals would be forced to interact with so many governing bodies occupying the same street. There were also a couple of minor characters like Grace’s old acquaintance Megan that needed to be flushed out more. I needed to see who Megan was as an individual in order to better understand the hot and cold relationship she had with Grace throughout the novel.

Absolutely loved this book when I decided to get past the fact that Grace's mom died three years ago and not one single person thought it was a good idea to oh, I don't know redecorate the room that used to be her mothers and will now be Graces. I just took a deep breath and let it go (okay maybe it still bugs me a little) because the rest of the book is so freaking awesome you don't want to let that one little thing bring you down. Seriously that is my only complaint, haha.

Grace is a girl trying to reconcile her past with her future and struggling to deal with both. She is a strong female lead with a bit of fearlessness and recklessness. After watching her mother die she's struggled to come to terms with her death. Everyone says it was a tragic accident, a fire, but Grace knows differently, she saw it all happen and no one will believe her. A fire didn't kill her mother, a gun shot to her chest did and she knows there was a man, a man with a scar who is to blame for it all.

Three years of being treated like she was crazy, three years of know one believing her and one fateful night places her in the path of the man she knows killed her mother.

See Full Review Here:
http://readsallthebooks.blogspot.com/2015/01/all-fall-down-review.html

Age Recommendation: 13 and up

Grace isn’t sure what’s real and what’s not. She saw her mother get murdered, but the police say it was an accident. She saw the man who did it, but the doctors say he was a figment of her imagination. She knows she’s not crazy, but everyone else knows she is.

After Grace’s brother joins the military, Grace is forced to move back to her childhood home, where painful memories await her. The Embassy Row is a new, yet old place for her. So much has changed, yet the people are the same. Grace is reunited with her old friends, but also makes many new ones.

Grace lives in the United States embassy with her grandfather. The embassy brings back many painful memories, and Grace’s medications are started up again, as she has started reliving her past. When Grace sees the man who murdered her mother,she is scared out of her wits. Grace believes she is next. However, her grandfather and friends do not believe her because it is the fifth time she has accused a man of being the person who murdered her mother.

Grace takes some drastic actions herself to find out who this man is, and what he wants now. But what she finds may destroy her…

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For the full review, and more young adult book reviews, visit [...]

Grace Blakely is a walking disaster. No stranger to broken bones, concussions, and embarrassing situations, Grace knows her grandfather is worried about having her at the Embassy with him. But with no other place to go, Grace returns to the place of her childhood…and the painful memories that accompany it.

At Embassy Row, Grace is haunted by memories of her mother and her violent death, which Grace witnessed. Through the trauma of the event, everyone has written off what Grace saw as a side effect of watching her mother die. But Grace knows that a fire did not kill her mother. Her mother was murdered and now that she is back at Embassy Row there is nothing and no one who can stop her from finding the killer.

Ally Carter has created a new, intriguing novel perfect for young adult readers who love the thrill and excitement of her previous novels. In ALL FALL DOWN, the story centers on Grace Blakely, an “army brat” with a tendency to get into trouble. Grace is very different from other characters Ally Carter has brought to life. She has a constant internal struggle that comes from her traumatizing past. While Grace wallows in self-pity for a small portion of the novel, she gets stronger as the story continues. She is brash and does not think before she acts, but she is loyal and the reader will love her impulsive and amusing personality. Ally Carter also has a strong cast of supporting characters. From Russian boys to hackers to little German girls, everyone is somebody at Embassy Row.

ALL FALL DOWN is full of surprises. As Grace continues her search for the man responsible for her mother’s death, she begins uncovering secrets that could make the Embassy crumble. The end of the novel is not what anyone would expect, least of all Grace. With the promise of more intrigue to come, ALL FALL DOWN, the first novel in the Embassy Row series, is a brilliantly written novel of discovery and adventure.

Reviewed by Kate F.

Sixteen-year-old Grace finds herself back in the country of Adria, where her grandfather is the U.S. ambassador and where she watched her mother die three years earlier. When Grace enters the abandoned Iranian embassy, she overhears a conversation and sees the man she believes murdered her mother, the man with the scar. With new-found friends from other embassies, Grace tries to follow the man with the scar, hoping to bring him to justice. She must rely on her friends because her grandfather and his assistant tell her she is not just mistaken but flat-out wrong when she tells them what she has seen. And they seem to have good reason not to believe her, for it turns out that she has falsely identified several men with scars as her mother's killer in the past. Indeed, Grace seems haunted by her mother's voice, notably her last words.

The first book in a series, "All Fall Down" did not quite work for me for at least reasons. The first is that it's not self-contained. It ends on an entirely open note, one that clearly sets up the next book. Though author Ally Carter does tie up most of the strings in the mystery, there are significant ones that remain open. I'm not a big fan of books that ask big questions and then tell you at the end that the answers are in the next book.

The second reason is that Grace at first is a strong, entirely capable young woman. When a stranger enters her bedroom early in the book, Grace, still half asleep, manages to subdue him completely. Later (but still early on), she encounters another girl who seems to be the queen of the teen social set. Grace deftly skewers the girl using only words. In short, Grace is adept at verbal and physical self-defense. But this ability to take care of herself seems to disappear after the first few chapters, and I really didn't find much of a reason to care about Grace. Perhaps teens who are eager to read about a female protagonist with a slight bent for mischief will find themselves drawn to the book. But even they might find that parts of it drag a bit.

Thank you to Scholastic for providing me with a copy to read and review!
Grace has come back to Embassy Row to stay with her grandfather in the American house. Her mom was killed in front of her a while ago, though everyone claims that it was an accident though Grace is sure that it wasn't. Everyone keeps telling her it was just because of the fire that burned down their house, though Grace swears it was a man with a scarred face who killer her mom. When she gets to Embassy Row, she's positive that the man who killed her mother is there.

This was my first Ally Carter novel and I have to say that I was completely blown away by how amazing the book was. It was very fast-paced and I didn't see the huge plot twist that came at the end which made me question everything. I absolutely loved the friendships in this book. My favorite one would definitely have to be the one between Noah (from the Isreal and Brazilian houses). He showed up in the middle of the night in Grace's room one night and declared that he was her new best friend. It was the best thing ever! They trust each other and not once did I begin to question that there was a romance between them, which was wonderful because it showed that boys and girls can be friends without romantic feelings attached unlike most YA novels today.

Another friend of hers was Alexei who was from the Russian Embassy. He was very close friends with Grace's older brother and the whole time he was watching over her because of her brother's orders. It was really sweet of him. She also becomes close friends with Rosie, who is this twelve-year-old kid genius and she helps Grace out a lot. There's Megan as well, who Grace was friends with when she was younger.

I read this book very fast because I just had to know what happened next! I had to know which scarred man murdered her mom. I also needed to know why nobody but Noah believed her when she was telling people that her mom was murdered and that it wasn't an accident at all. There's not many books that blow my mind at the end because of how unpredictable they are, but this was definitely one that succeeded in blowing mine. I'd highly suggest giving this one a read, because I guarantee this series is going to be very good! I'm definitely going to have to read the rest of Ally Carter's books!

This review has been crossposted from my blog at The Cosy Dragon.com. Please head there for more in-depth reviews by me, which appear on a timely schedule.

Grace has been thrown back into the life of Embassy Row, where countries stand side by side in buildings that could fall at any moment. After she left it, when her mother was murdered, she was put away for her own mental health. Now released into the wild-world again, Grace isn't coping with being back near her remaining family, or the potential killer of her mother.

So I liked the idea of the novel. Embassy Row sounds pretty cool really. The chance to socialise with a whole bunch of different people and speak 7 different languages? Nothing but awesome! Although I think a couple of foreign words could have been thrown in for good measure. Then I could even pretend I was learning something from this novel.

Grace is so certain of these three things: she's not crazy, her mother was murdered, and she wants to hurt the killer., that she can't listen to reason. She's determined to isolate herself. In fact, she's so self-willed that you feel like some of this has got to be her fault, but also that the adults are just being idiots and not helping at all.

Grace seems to be suffering from some kind of post-traumatic stress disorder, which is basically belittled by any adult in her life, and which alienates her from other young people around her. It's the reason she's lost any friends, but doesn't explain why she didn't make any in the first place.

The sequences of events left me feeling disorientated. At the same time that Grace was trying to protect other people, she was caring little for her own life. If she's dead, she can't stop the next person from being killed. If anything, this novel wants you to empathise with Grace, but then throws you up in a very ugly manner near the end. The twists and turns and promises all turn flat.

I hated the ending. Absolute garbage. It was not a satisfying conclusion, and even as it left the ending open, it didn't leave Grace as having grown as a character. I felt like the book didn't actually achieve anything.

This novel is well written, and I can see that if it was part of a series (which it appears to be the first book of), and I had the next book to read right away that was going to give me some satisfaction and character growth, maybe I could score it higher. There are other things to read though, and so I'll give this one 2 and a half stars, with the promise of three if the next book can tie up the loose ends.

Don't let my three star rating necessarily turn you away from this book - it wasn't bad but it also wasn't something that worked well for me personally. I think Carter ends up targeting an inappropriate audience and it may lead to disappointment. Her characters are always mid-to-older teens but her books read closer to middle grade including this one.

I thought the entire idea of Embassy Row was fun. It'll provide endless plot fodder for the series going forward and it's just brilliant to have diverse characters available too. Carter is good at balancing plots that are serious but have silly moments too - while the main story is about the murder of Grace's mom there's a lot of humor. The rest of the book left me feeling a little blah. There's a sort of/sort of not love triangle. I say sort of not because there's not really any romance between Grace, Noah or Alexi. I assume it'll be explored in later books, for now there's just a lot of goo gooing about how cute they are. Also be prepared for a noticeable lack of actual spy action. Grace is no super smart tough girl, magically gathering clues.

This was somewhat predictable with a slightly predictable ending designed to make you pick up the next book. Will I? No, but only because this feels like middle grade. However, I will pass this along to my young niece (12) to see if it's more her speed.

I finished this book in one sitting. I’ll admit, I was expecting a book (and series) similar to her Heist Society series, not in content, but in style. In other words, I expected it to be entertaining, but perhaps not out-of-this-world amazing. But this book was pretty much amazing. I was so engaged in Grace’s emotional/mental turmoil. My heart hurts just thinking about it. Clearly, some major research (or maybe even a close personal experience) went into this novel.
Throughout the story, Grace’s friends and family beg her to give up the endeavor of looking for her mother’s killer. Because, according to them, there is no killer. I felt Grace’s doubts, and I felt her certainty of her memories.
I myself was convinced of an event I was witness to, and many people, including some family, were absolutely convinced that nothing had happened. I’ve been in her shoes, where you are absolutely devoted to what you’ve seen….but the people around you are so good, and everything they say makes sense… I know what it’s like to almost believe it, but to ultimately reject alternate story lines. The Heist society was more of an event focused series, but Embassy Row is clearly a whole ‘nother bird. It’s beautifully balanced. While the plot line is almost completely mentally based, it keeps engaging the reader through Grace’s (and her friend’s) actions.
In one particular scene, there was an exquisite interaction between Grace and Alexei. It was vulnerable and tender, and Grace’s thought process about the event were close to my heart. I felt her emotion, and at one point in my life, I had thought her thoughts.
Grace’s flashbacks were necessary and invaluable, plenty of novels use them, but All Fall Down, made every single flashback efficient and effective. As for the physical aspect, the hunt for her mother’s killer was convincing, and came off as plausible. That’s saying something, considering how many contemporary novels also fail to execute assassin stories without turning on the Dues Ex Machina button.
I absolutely CAN’T wait to get my hands on the sequel, titled “See How They Run.” I’ll definitely have an eye out for it at ALA Midwinter. I would absolutely recommend this novel to everyone. ANYONE can find something to like in this novel, I’m almost certain of it. I’m actually really sad that I read a library copy and now I have to send it back to the library. Ah well, maybe I’ll actually get a chance to buy it one day.

Ally Carter does it again, creating a well-woven mix of edge of you seat tension, laugh out loud wit and even a few moments of utterly wrenching heartbreak story, in her newest book All Fall Down. It’s fast-paced, with a strong and at time reckless female protagonist. Carter mixes an exciting plot, realistic characters and a unique setting to create a world of foreign diplomats and genuine politics.

This is a thriller, mystery and mini-teen-romance set in the world of Embassies, ambassadors and international political relationships. Sixteen-year-old Grace is being sent back to her Grandfather's embassy in a fictitious country, where she grew up, three years after the tragic death of her mother in a fire, and her subsequent breakdown. Rebellious and still grieving heavily, Grace is less than willing to play host and dress up for functions and dignitaries. But she soon makes discoveries that there may be secrets hidden there that answer questions she still has about her mother's death. That may back up her claim that is was no accident, but murder.

Unlike Heist Society and Gallagher Girls, the characters are more complex and at times confusing. Grace our narrator and protagonist is an amazing character with well not normal problems. She is adventurous and unafraid of danger, causing her to seem reckless at times and which usually land her in trouble when caught. She is a unrelenting character always in need to track down her mother’s killer after suffering the great ordeal and trauma that happen three years before the start of All Fall Down. This also leads her to be somewhat mentally unstable. Though many of the antic that she gets herself into are very comical. However, her character is never changing, her lack of the personal growth that reads find inspiring is deficient and a bit discouraging.

All the character are well thought out and have their own personalities, from the mysterious love interest of Alexei, to the optimistic Noah. Even the minor characters of Ms. Chancellor and the Scarred Man are complex and it is almost impossible to guess who they truly are and where their loyalties stand.
The idea of a disturbed girl hunting down her mother’s killer in a foreign embassy is a thrilling plot and the precise, yet intriguing setting of Embassy Row, the street lined with the houses of different embassies for different countries adds an exciting detail to tie in the elegant thriller.

All Fall Down is a well thought out yet unpredictable tale that all well enjoy. The characters are what make this world of politics and foreign diplomats an interesting read. A tale that will have you on the edge of your seat and wanting more.

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Grace Blakely has just moved to the US Embassy in Adria to live with her grandfather. Three years before Grace saw her mother killed and has always maintained that a man with a scar was the murderer. Everyone in Grace's life has told her that her mother's death was an accident. Grace is determined to find the man who killed her mother and prove to her family that she is not crazy.

If you have read Ally Carters other series The Gallagher Girls and The Heist Society you know her writing features strong girl characters. In All Fall Down Grace tries to come across to her new friends as being tough and not needing their friendship or help, but in reality Grace is broken.

I really enjoyed All Fall Down. I thought that Grace's character was pretty plucky at the beginning, but things started unraveling pretty quick for her once she spotted the man with the scar. I really liked several of the other young people that lived on Embassy Row and hopefully they will be in the next book as well. Noah's announcement that he was Grace's new best friend cracked me up as well as her interchange with Lila the self-proclaimed leader of the Embassy Row youth. One problem I have is that the book has a huge cliffhanger and I have no idea when the next book will come out!

One of my favourite themes to read about in books is Spy Stories , especially where the main characters are teen girls and one author that does this amazingly is Ally Carter. She is the author of the Spy School series "Gallagher Girls" and the Criminal family series "Heist Society". So when she had realised a new series called Embassy Row which featured Politics and Diplomatic Immunity, I got excited and then I read some disappointing reviews on the book and after that I was a bit reluctant to read the book. However, I think this helped me with my enjoyment levels as I found myself liking it and in a way a couple of the characters like Megan and Grace in her own way reminded me of the Gallagher Girls. We learn that Grace's Grandad is a US Ambassador in the land of Adria and that she has gone to live with him after the death of her mother. After her mother died , Grace went a little crazy and was convinced her mother was murdered by the scarred man. What happens though when Grace sees the man in Adria and confronts him ? Is Grace really in danger or is it all in her head ?
Find out in Ally Carter's newest series "All Fall Down" - Book #1 in Embassy Row series.

I was thrilled when I saw the announcement about Embassy Row. A new series from Ally Carter? Heck to the yes!!! I loved Ally’s previous two series and I was so excited that we get more from her. And that was before I even read it! Once I got my hands on a copy of All Fall Down I immediately devoured it. My quick review on goodreads was, “Ally Carter is basically amazing. My heart was racing as I finished this one up!” And that is so true!

Grace makes for an incredibly compelling narrator. I felt like the more I learned about her, the less I knew what to think. This kept me on the edge of my seat, so to speak. Plus, seeing her adjust to a new situation was interesting. The fact that it’s embassy row makes it that much cooler! Each character you meet has such a unique background. And the whole mystery with her mom’s death!!

Basically every single aspect of this book drew me in. There were twists and turns and, at times, I didn’t know which way was up… all in the best possible way. All Fall Down is a solid start to Ally Carter’s newest series. Fans of her previous books will be engaged, as well as readers new to Ally’s writing. It’s almost enough to make up for not knowing Hale’s first name! (That’s a Heist Society reference for you!!!)

In this first book of a proposed series, author Ally Carter introduces us to Grace, a 16 year old whose father in the military and usually away from home, and whose mother died in a tragic fire three years ago. Grace lives with her grandfather, ambassador to Italy, so she lives a seemingly enviable life in the embassy house. Except - Grace believes she saw her mother murdered before the fire by a man with an unforgettable facial scar. Grace sufferers from post-traumatic stress disorder and though she's received treatment, continues to be consumed by the belief her mother's death was a murder, not a tragic accident.

This book is setting up the storyline, locations, characters, and as such is not thoroughly engaging as I suspect the second story in the series will be. Grace struggles with her deeply held convictions and everyone else's contrary beliefs. It's a great plot that will hopefully in the next book burst into intrigue and activity.

I think this is well worth reading and will be sure to read book two

This is another page turner from the always exciting Ally Carter. There are some books that when being reviewed can easily be spoiled, this is one of those books. I will try to keep this brief so as not to spoil it for anyone.

Grace is an interesting character. I liked her, I enjoyed being in her mind, and I wanted things to end up good for her. However, as pointed out early in the novel she is not the most reliable of narrators.

One thing I have always appreciated about Carter's books is the romance. This book is sorely lacking in the romance department, but it's fitting because she has way too much going on in her life to try to add a relationship to the mix. However, I would like to throw my support behind Noah for the future books as the boyfriend. He is more awesome in my opinion. Alexei bores me.

Other than Alexei I only have one complaint about this book and it is the reason it's not five stars. The ending is really rushed. I mean it is rushed to the point where it doesn't make sense the first time you read it. I had to read the last couple of chapters again to find out what in the world had transpired. However, that was the only thing I didn't like. All in all another solid book by Ms. Carter.

I love Ally Carter's books. She writes such amazing, smart, strong female characters. If you liked Heist Society series' Kat or the Gallagher Girls' Cammie you will find a new favorite in Grace.

Grace is smart, spunky, and a risk-taker. She is taking the death of her mother really hard and makes some mistakes along the way, but those mistakes just make her more and more relatable.

I am a huge fan of mystery books, so reading about Grace and the other Embassy Row kids try and solve the murder of Grace's mother was really fun. There are twists and turns, as well as some suspenseful moments. But there is also lots of jokes and humor.

I really liked the setting of Embassy Row. It is such a cool idea because it adds more levels of politics and what Grace can and can't do. It also adds variety and diversity to her cast of friends and enemies. Also important people like the President of the United States dropping by is all ways good for more suspense.

Overall I really like this new book of Ally Carter's and I think Grace will be added to the list of strong feisty female characters. I also can't wait for the next book in the series!

A great start to a new series with everything you'd expect in an Ally Carter book: danger, action, friendship, loyalty, the truth, a little romance, and of course intrigue.

I loved Grace - she's not always reliable but I would trust her. I love her determination and her drive. She's not about to let her mother's death go unpunished - not matter how many times people tell her it's an accident or how many times she has a panic attack over the situation. I love that she's strong enough to pull it together and make a stand.

Lots of Great secondary characters that kept me guessing about their true intentions throughout the book. I loved learning about Embassy Row and meeting Noah, Rosie, and Megan. I liked Grace's interactions with Lila - they added humor to the book. I liked the Grace and Alexei moments together. I even warmed to Ms. Chancellor - sort of.

I loved the layout of the city - the row of Embassies, but more importantly the tunnels beneath the city where there was the potential for danger around every corner.

I loved the ending and can't wait to read more about Grace.

Thank you Orchard Books for providing me with an advanced reading copy for review.

Actual rating: 1.5 stars

I can't believe how much Ally Carter's All Fall Down disappointed me. Although I know having high expectations isn't always the best thing to do, yet what should have I done when I read such an awesome and promising synopsis? The combination of that premise and all the hype surrounding it, I knew I eventually would have to give in. So yes, I may be that one reviewer with the negative review, but in my opinion I have all the reasons for doing so.

I have to admit: it was love at first sight with Grace's attitude. I've always had a like for sassy and sarcastic characters, who let their opinion always shine through. To my surprise, this case turned out differently. The love for her character left as quickly as it came. As much as I loved her witty attitude, I grew a bit frustrated with her, especially when it came to her recklessness. There is nothing wrong with being a bit of a daredevil, but the more risks Grace took, the more I grew frustrated with her. After a while, I couldn't help but not be irritated by her character. In the end, all she really did was push everyone away and react sarcastically to everyone around her, even characters who didn't do anything wrong. I didn't care for anything Grace did or how reckless she was, though it still surprised me that no other character in this book could make up for it. It was only Megan who I felt some sympathy for. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to make up for both the main character, and the sudden insta-friendship.

It's a custom in the reading community to have heard of the term 'insta-love', where it's love at first sight and lasts until they die. To my biggest surprise, Carter came up with a whole new term of her own: the insta-friendship. In this book, we see how a male character meet the heroine, and says they'll be best friends. I laughed at that, reassuring myself it's only meant as a joke. Suddenly, they are the best of friends. I felt like the whole development of going from strangers to friends to best friends, had been skipped. It made the rest of their relationship so flat and underdeveloped, it wasn't really enjoyable to read. Even now when I've finished the book, I wonder why. Unfortunately, I don't think I'll ever get an answer.

As I go through my long list of issues with All Fall Down, the setting is something worth to be mentioned. It wasn't all that believable, really. I did first love the world of the embassies, as it's something unusual to use in a young-adult novel and therefore, quite refreshing. What made me dislike it, was how much it turned out too look like an international high school. The so-called original idea was anything but original, and failed to leave an impression. Furthermore, it was a bit confusing at first when Carter chose a fictive country as her setting, but still blended in all the other countries which do exist. Maybe some can appreciate this decision. To me, it was plain weird and very confusing at first. I admit that I even had the urge to look up Adria on the world map, how stupid it may sound.

To write about the plot of the book, there's surprisingly not much to write. The book starts out on an interesting moment when you don't know much, although it was the ultimate reason why I was first so invested. There's also no doubt about Carter being a master in building up tension, and caused my growing interest in what might happen. Nothing happened. Early on in the book, I felt like the plot went off the nowhere, and made that growing interest disappear as quickly as it first popped up.

All in all, All Fall Down isn't anything like I first expected it to be. What could have been a great novel full of action and perfect for readers around the globe, turned into my disappointment of the year.

Full disclosure: Ally Carter is my favorite YA author. I love how she writes teen girls, their friendships, and the way the world views both. I fully expected to love AFD. And I did ... But not for the normal reasons.

Instead of the fun, smart, tense girl spy/con caper I expected, Carter gave us Grace. Grace who is strong and weak and broken and daring anyone to call her so. Grace who is hurt and unstable and trying her hardest not to be. And given what she's been through, it would be an insult to ask her to be anything else. Would it be more fun if she were whole? Yes. Would she be more likable if she weren't reckless or unsure or someone who lashes out? Yes.

But would she be real? No. She would not be real. And I applaud Carter for making me feel all the panic and paranoia and self-doubt that Grace feels.

The reasons I haven't given AFD 5 stars are two-fold: 1) Wow, I am glad we don't end here, because that twist? I need to know how Grace deals now. And HOW do we go on from here? Where is there to go? I feel unsettled by that bombshell, and needed a little more time to come to grips. Maybe? 2) That last page makes me nervous. Given the high emotional stakes, I find myself hoping the rest of the series DOESN'T turn into what I've come to expect from Carter. Grace deserves more than that.

In conclusion, this may not be the book I expected, but it is a stellar character study of Grace Blakeley.

A few years after witnessing the tragic murder of her mother, Grace is sent to live with her grandfather, a US diplomat of a foreign country (whose name just slipped my mind). During her time at Embassy Row, Grace found the scarred man who killed her mother. The problem is that no one believes her. Everyone believes that her mother's death is an accident and that Grace is crazy. However, with some help from her new friends, Grace goes on an adventure to prove that she is not crazy and to bring her mother's killer to justice.

What I really like about this book, or Ally Carter's books in general, are the characters. Grace is an amazing character. She has been through a lot and it's hard not to like her. Then there's Noah and the other kids on Embassy Row who brings the book to life.

I am in love with the world that Ally Carter thrusted us in. It was very original and I love the concept of diplomatic parties from all of the world living on Embassy Row.

Overall, All Fall Down is an entertaining book. It is past paced and kept my attention throughout. I really love the mystery aspect of it and I can't wait to read the next one!

Grace Blakely is absolutely certain of three things:

1. She is not crazy.
2. Her mother was murdered.
3. Someday she is going to find the killer and make him pay.

As certain as Grace is about these facts, nobody else believes her — so there’s no one she can completely trust. Not her grandfather, a powerful ambassador. Not her new friends, who all live on Embassy Row. Not Alexei, the Russian boy next door, who is keeping his eye on Grace for reasons she neither likes nor understands.

Everybody wants Grace to put on a pretty dress and a pretty smile, blocking out all her unpretty thoughts. But they can’t control Grace — no more than Grace can control what she knows or what she needs to do. Her past has come back to hunt her . . . and if she doesn’t stop it, Grace isn’t the only one who will get hurt. Because on Embassy Row, the countries of the world stand like dominoes, and one wrong move can make them all fall down.

Oh my beautiful book!

I have had this book on my TBR list for awhile now. I finally ordered it from the library, in attempts to find something decent to read. Honestly, when it arrived, I didn’t even know what it was about. I just knew it was clean and looked good. I’m so glad I read this.

The writing was impeccable. I love Ally Carter’s writing style. This was the first book I ever read by her and it won’t be the last.

I love the flashbacks of Grace and her mom. I feel like they really help the reader learn more about Grace and tap into her emotions.

Next, the characters.

THE CHARACTERS.

Grace was well-written and believable. She had just enough definition so you can understand her and love her like I did. Most of that definition comes from what other people think of her, or what she thinks everyone thinks about her. It’s a very unique way to describe a character and I love it.

I read a few other reviews of this book upon finishing it and I saw people would think that Grace is whiny and annoying.

Um, did they even read the book?

Grace went through some major emotional trauma. She saw her own mother killed. Everyone thinks she is crazy. If I went through that, I’m sure I would be acting the same way.

But enough of that.

Let’s talk about secondary characters.

Do you ever have that one character that you can’t stand in the beginning, but by the end they are your favorite? That’s Alexei. In the beginning I thought he was a spoiled, annoying teenage boy. By the end I am in love with him. Weird how that works, huh?

In the beginning, I loved Noah. He was funny and cute and quirky. Then him and Grace got into that argument. Now? I don’t like him as much.

Rosie. I’m pretty sure she is like Rue’s (The Hunger Games) twin. So, naturally, I love her like a little sister.

Finally, a (no spoiler) look at the MAJOR plot twist, aka, the last chapter and cliffhanger ending. I never saw it coming. I can’t even explain it. You’ll have to read the book to understand it.

Overall, this is a totally clean book that will get you craving more. I totally recommend it for anyone 13+, due to a small amount of violence.

-Lilian-

Impressive story and good concept. However, I found it hard to connect with the main character, Grace. She has a traumatic history but I couldn't sympathize with her. Also, I hate Alexei! He's so arrogant and controlling. I felt like the romance between them is too forced. Grace's friends are another story, though. I love Megan and Noah and Rosie! They're like the YA version of Spy Kids. Megan's a genius! She's smart and sarcastic. Rosie's so innocent and loyal. And Noah! He's hilarious and really kind. I sure hope he and Megan end up together. ^__^

The world building is also good. The Embassy Row is interesting but I would have liked to know more about Adria.

The mystery is there and it's definitely intriguing. But, I didn't find it as exciting as I would like it to be. In the end, I was underwhelmed and left with a lot of questions. Still, I'll be watching out for the next books in the series.

Grace, 16, spent every summer at the embassy with her grandfather - the Ambassador. Until it happened. And since it happened, she hasn't been back. But after 3 years, she has no place else to turn. So she must return to the only place she's ever known as home - despite all the bittersweet memories it holds and the truths she may find.

The story is so masterfully written that every word, sentence, and paragraph leaves you eager to read the next set of words, sentences and paragraphs. I didn't want to put it down to eat, get dressed, or go to work.

I really thought I selected a book for my daughters to read, but the book held me in its grips after about the 2nd chapter. Prior to that, the suspense had me intrigued, but confused. I"m glad I kept reading. It was non-stop action even when it was reflective.

I LOVED THIS BOOK! It has been quite awhile since I read a book that I could not put down. This one was full of intrigue, spies and mystery. The main character was believable as a teenager and the other characters in the book played well against her and figuring out who was good and who was bad was fun, and not what was expected at all. I did figure out what had really happened before I got to the end of the book -- but not far from the end:)

All ages should love this book, I did as an adult and my 13 year old daughter picked it up once I had finished it (only took 2 days) and got pulled into the story as well!

As a teacher, I think this book would be great to use in a government or US history classroom to talk about international relations and offer this as a fictional representation of embassy life.

WOW! What a great book to introduce Ally Carter's new heroine, Gracie. At 16, Gracie has been through much. She witnessed the death of her mother. That is where the mystery begins.

Murdered?
Gun shot or fire?
Murderer ... a man with a scar on his cheek.

Three years of treatment. People think she is crazy. But... is she? She is finally home... with her grandfather, the U.S. Ambassador to Adria, Italy.

She sees the scared man or does she? Megan, Lily and Noah come to her aid to try and find him.

The ending...... I am still waiting to find out the ending. Ally Carter certainly leaves you hanging. One of the best hanging ending I have seen in a YA book. Now to wait until the next book.

What a roller coaster ride is All Fall Down! A great addition to the school library. My middle school students are going to love it.

Written okay, a little repetitive and formulaic. For teen lit, I would say my rating reflects reality against the median. The story is good though, and if this is to continue in a series, then I would say it's worth reading another installment, just to find out if the author will be able to polish the sequel into something a little more serious.

Stacked up against Hunger Games, or the Divergent series, it's a half-tick down. Against some of the classics or even Harry Potter, it's a full 2-stars down, so be forewarned. Nothing ground-breaking in the writing ... maybe a couple of words a teen might want to look up to expand vocab. Other than that, it's just a read. Can be finished in just a couple hours, and again, the story is engaging. Not sorry I read it, but not blown away either.

There was a simultaneous release of ALL FALL DOWN from multiple publishers across multiple countries and the copy I received was from Hachette UK, hence the different cover. Honestly I like the US cover better because this UK cover alludes to a premise that’s far lighter and akin to Carter’s Gallagher Girls series when this book is very far from it. That surprised me the most.

I was invited to review this from the publisher so I ended up with the copy and I figured why not? I did like the first couple of Gallagher Girls books although it started to get into a territory that’s a bit outside of my reading tastes (very firmly YA, catering to the more girly set, a bit too fanciful and out there for me) so I ended up stopping my reading of the series. I never read any of the Heist Society books and now this one fell in my lap. Okay, I’ll take a stab at it, gearing myself up for a lot of overblown characters and plots and something that wasn’t going to be in line with my reading tastes.
Expectations blown.

It started off a little rough and very typical. New girl on the block befriends boys but butts heads with “popular” girls, only support is “weirdo” girl who’s also shunned by the popular clique but is really too young for the new girl to be hanging out with (16 and 12). That really bothered me and for all the girl power in Carter’s books I really wished she wouldn’t cling to that cliche. Not all girls who are pretty and dress well are bitches. I really wish Grace was met with the normal new friend trepidation but the ultimate kinship of being these displaced kids would win out and they’d end up allies. It kind of worked out like that and Megan, one of the popular girls whom Grace has known since she was little, throws her attitude back in her face, makes her realize the error of her ways, and they get on with it. A bit of redemption there but it’s kind of too little, too late. The boys got too much attention up front and it’s hard for me to get over that.

The whole tomboy getting dressed up for the ball thing hitched me up too. There’s just a lot of very typical YA girl cliches all at once at the beginning of this book and it’s a lot to take in and get over. It set a similar tone to Carter’s other books and makes it look like it’ll be in line with this cover and copy and I was getting disappointed.

And then it took a swan dive off a cliff (kind of literally, actually) and it got all sorts of dark and Grace became an unreliable narrator and it really took on a thriller aspect that I wasn’t expecting in the slightest. I loved it. At first you get the typical set-up where no one believes the kid about what she saw when her mom died, let’s make her think she’s crazy. Except that’s not it at all. Grace is really, genuinely, sick and when that’s made clear everything that came before it is put into question and as you keep reading your heart starts to hurt for this girl who really needs help and it gets almost painful to watch. Her “friends” are enabling her psychosis and you just watch her spiral down into madness because she can’t get over something that just isn’t true.

Or is it?

ALL FALL DOWN is genuinely a roller coaster and the tone that’s set at the beginning of the book is 180 degrees away from the tone at the end of the book. I loved, loved, LOVED the book at the end. Maybe because it was just so unexpected and not at all what I would think Carter would write or just because it was written in a crime thriller way that you really don’t see too much of in YA. I should say not enough of. It’s the reason I like the US cover better. It doesn’t beg to a light, whimsical, girls’ romp through Spy Town. This is not what ALL FALL DOWN is. There’s next to no romance in it (LOVE), it dives head first into psychological disorders, and there really isn’t any lightness in it at all. Grace doesn’t take on the quest to find her mother’s killer while showing down with the local popular girl during the day. Lila, said popular chick, is seen once at the beginning of the book and then only mentioned by name the rest of the time. Not an issue. I. LOVE. THIS.

I can also see how lovers of Carter’s previous work would hate it. My expectations were blown in the absolute best way but people looking to read Carter’s work because it’s just like her other work will be sorely disappointed, I think. Like I said before, I’ve only read two books of the Gallagher Girls series and none of Heist Society but from what I have read ALL FALL DOWN is so incredibly different. I can’t wait for the next book.

4.5

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

One can sometimes lay bare the hidden recesses of their mind with simple strategies. For example, while i wasn't wild about the first half of this book, it certainly wasn't awful, at least not in any way i could identify. However, each time i tried to sit down to read the second half, pressing chores came up that absolutely had to be done first. Emptying the dishwasher, folding laundry, weeding the garden, tracking down all of the marbles that the toddler threw down the basement stairs... basically, any task i could conjure was preferable to actually finishing this book.

I'm not a fastidious housecleaner. Unless things are getting out of hand, i'm far more likely to spend 15 minutes of downtime sneaking a chapter or two of my latest novel than i am to suddenly remember that i'd been meaning to dust the mantle and should really get to it. So when i'd rather sort my Cat5 cables by color and length than finish a book, it's a sign to me to just give up.

No one wants to be reminded that everyone thinks they are crazy. Grace knows deep down she's not but so many people are trying to convince her otherwise.

Grace knows her mother was murdered; she saw it happen! That night continues to haunt her even after she returns To Adria on Embassy Row to live with her grandfather, The US Ambassador.

She plans to make the killer pay but will others pay instead during her quest for the truth? Read it to find out.

I was hooked from page one.

Written by Ally Carter, published by Scholastic Inc.

I generally love Ally Carter books, but unfortunately, this one just didn’t seem for me. Before I begin, I’m going to say that I am a black sheep on this one, so please don’t feel as though you’ll hate the book just because I didn’t like it. You might love it!

Grace was a 16 year old girl whose mother was dead, and her father was in the army. She was sent to live with her grandfather at Embassy Row, because she wasn’t allowed to go to a war zone. Grace hadn’t been to Embassy Row in three years, because of a tragic event. One day, while Grace was with her mother, Grace’s mother was shot and killed. Ever since then, Grace has been terrified of a Scarred Man who she thought killed her mother. Her family thought that she was crazy, so she was put on medicine to stop having panic attacks. But now, now she was back at Embassy Row, and everywhere she looked, she saw her mother. She had flashbacks often, and one day…she saw the Scarred Man.

My main issues with this book were the characters, the plot pacing, and the setting. And yes…that basically means that I disliked the entire book. But please, let me explain why. For some reason, this book seemed much more MG than YA to me. None of the characters seemed to act their age- instead they were all completely immature. Yes, I understand that some high schoolers are immature, but these characters seemed to take immature to another level. In addition, I could never understand the relationships between the characters, especially Megan and Grace. It seemed as though they were friends when they were younger because they had to be, and never really liked each other. But later in the book, Megan said she actually cared about Grace and had always wanted to be her friend. It didn’t make sense, not one little bit. Was I supposed to trust Megan? Was I supposed to trust Grace? I ended up trusting neither, which just made me more confused.

As far as the plot pacing, the beginning and middle of this book were very slow. There seemed to be a lot of random events that occurred for no reason whatsoever. While some of the events were exciting, I never felt completely hooked on the story. In addition, there were many flashbacks that were supposed to tell Grace’s backstory, but they never made sense to me. The regular plot and the flashbacks didn’t grab my attention like Ally Carter’s books normally do. And then the end of the book…what can I even say? It was a jumble of rushed events that went way over my head and confused me completely. What even happened? I honestly have no clue.

Overall, I really wasn’t a fan of this book. I give it 2/5 stars.

Written okay, a little repetitive and formulaic. For teen lit, I would say my rating reflects reality against the median. The story is good though, and if this is to continue in a series, then I would say it's worth reading another installment, just to find out if the author will be able to polish the sequel into something a little more serious.

Stacked up against Hunger Games, or the Divergent series, it's a half-tick down. Against some of the classics or even Harry Potter, it's a full 2-stars down, so be forewarned. Nothing ground-breaking in the writing ... maybe a couple of words a teen might want to look up to expand vocab. Other than that, it's just a read. Can be finished in just a couple hours, and again, the story is engaging. Not sorry I read it, but not blown away either.

There was a simultaneous release of ALL FALL DOWN from multiple publishers across multiple countries and the copy I received was from Hachette UK, hence the different cover. Honestly I like the US cover better because this UK cover alludes to a premise that’s far lighter and akin to Carter’s Gallagher Girls series when this book is very far from it. That surprised me the most.

I was invited to review this from the publisher so I ended up with the copy and I figured why not? I did like the first couple of Gallagher Girls books although it started to get into a territory that’s a bit outside of my reading tastes (very firmly YA, catering to the more girly set, a bit too fanciful and out there for me) so I ended up stopping my reading of the series. I never read any of the Heist Society books and now this one fell in my lap. Okay, I’ll take a stab at it, gearing myself up for a lot of overblown characters and plots and something that wasn’t going to be in line with my reading tastes.
Expectations blown.

It started off a little rough and very typical. New girl on the block befriends boys but butts heads with “popular” girls, only support is “weirdo” girl who’s also shunned by the popular clique but is really too young for the new girl to be hanging out with (16 and 12). That really bothered me and for all the girl power in Carter’s books I really wished she wouldn’t cling to that cliche. Not all girls who are pretty and dress well are bitches. I really wish Grace was met with the normal new friend trepidation but the ultimate kinship of being these displaced kids would win out and they’d end up allies. It kind of worked out like that and Megan, one of the popular girls whom Grace has known since she was little, throws her attitude back in her face, makes her realize the error of her ways, and they get on with it. A bit of redemption there but it’s kind of too little, too late. The boys got too much attention up front and it’s hard for me to get over that.

The whole tomboy getting dressed up for the ball thing hitched me up too. There’s just a lot of very typical YA girl cliches all at once at the beginning of this book and it’s a lot to take in and get over. It set a similar tone to Carter’s other books and makes it look like it’ll be in line with this cover and copy and I was getting disappointed.

And then it took a swan dive off a cliff (kind of literally, actually) and it got all sorts of dark and Grace became an unreliable narrator and it really took on a thriller aspect that I wasn’t expecting in the slightest. I loved it. At first you get the typical set-up where no one believes the kid about what she saw when her mom died, let’s make her think she’s crazy. Except that’s not it at all. Grace is really, genuinely, sick and when that’s made clear everything that came before it is put into question and as you keep reading your heart starts to hurt for this girl who really needs help and it gets almost painful to watch. Her “friends” are enabling her psychosis and you just watch her spiral down into madness because she can’t get over something that just isn’t true.

Or is it?

ALL FALL DOWN is genuinely a roller coaster and the tone that’s set at the beginning of the book is 180 degrees away from the tone at the end of the book. I loved, loved, LOVED the book at the end. Maybe because it was just so unexpected and not at all what I would think Carter would write or just because it was written in a crime thriller way that you really don’t see too much of in YA. I should say not enough of. It’s the reason I like the US cover better. It doesn’t beg to a light, whimsical, girls’ romp through Spy Town. This is not what ALL FALL DOWN is. There’s next to no romance in it (LOVE), it dives head first into psychological disorders, and there really isn’t any lightness in it at all. Grace doesn’t take on the quest to find her mother’s killer while showing down with the local popular girl during the day. Lila, said popular chick, is seen once at the beginning of the book and then only mentioned by name the rest of the time. Not an issue. I. LOVE. THIS.

I can also see how lovers of Carter’s previous work would hate it. My expectations were blown in the absolute best way but people looking to read Carter’s work because it’s just like her other work will be sorely disappointed, I think. Like I said before, I’ve only read two books of the Gallagher Girls series and none of Heist Society but from what I have read ALL FALL DOWN is so incredibly different. I can’t wait for the next book.

4.5

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

One can sometimes lay bare the hidden recesses of their mind with simple strategies. For example, while i wasn't wild about the first half of this book, it certainly wasn't awful, at least not in any way i could identify. However, each time i tried to sit down to read the second half, pressing chores came up that absolutely had to be done first. Emptying the dishwasher, folding laundry, weeding the garden, tracking down all of the marbles that the toddler threw down the basement stairs... basically, any task i could conjure was preferable to actually finishing this book.

I'm not a fastidious housecleaner. Unless things are getting out of hand, i'm far more likely to spend 15 minutes of downtime sneaking a chapter or two of my latest novel than i am to suddenly remember that i'd been meaning to dust the mantle and should really get to it. So when i'd rather sort my Cat5 cables by color and length than finish a book, it's a sign to me to just give up.

No one wants to be reminded that everyone thinks they are crazy. Grace knows deep down she's not but so many people are trying to convince her otherwise.

Grace knows her mother was murdered; she saw it happen! That night continues to haunt her even after she returns To Adria on Embassy Row to live with her grandfather, The US Ambassador.

She plans to make the killer pay but will others pay instead during her quest for the truth? Read it to find out.

I was hooked from page one.

Written by Ally Carter, published by Scholastic Inc.

I generally love Ally Carter books, but unfortunately, this one just didn’t seem for me. Before I begin, I’m going to say that I am a black sheep on this one, so please don’t feel as though you’ll hate the book just because I didn’t like it. You might love it!

Grace was a 16 year old girl whose mother was dead, and her father was in the army. She was sent to live with her grandfather at Embassy Row, because she wasn’t allowed to go to a war zone. Grace hadn’t been to Embassy Row in three years, because of a tragic event. One day, while Grace was with her mother, Grace’s mother was shot and killed. Ever since then, Grace has been terrified of a Scarred Man who she thought killed her mother. Her family thought that she was crazy, so she was put on medicine to stop having panic attacks. But now, now she was back at Embassy Row, and everywhere she looked, she saw her mother. She had flashbacks often, and one day…she saw the Scarred Man.

My main issues with this book were the characters, the plot pacing, and the setting. And yes…that basically means that I disliked the entire book. But please, let me explain why. For some reason, this book seemed much more MG than YA to me. None of the characters seemed to act their age- instead they were all completely immature. Yes, I understand that some high schoolers are immature, but these characters seemed to take immature to another level. In addition, I could never understand the relationships between the characters, especially Megan and Grace. It seemed as though they were friends when they were younger because they had to be, and never really liked each other. But later in the book, Megan said she actually cared about Grace and had always wanted to be her friend. It didn’t make sense, not one little bit. Was I supposed to trust Megan? Was I supposed to trust Grace? I ended up trusting neither, which just made me more confused.

As far as the plot pacing, the beginning and middle of this book were very slow. There seemed to be a lot of random events that occurred for no reason whatsoever. While some of the events were exciting, I never felt completely hooked on the story. In addition, there were many flashbacks that were supposed to tell Grace’s backstory, but they never made sense to me. The regular plot and the flashbacks didn’t grab my attention like Ally Carter’s books normally do. And then the end of the book…what can I even say? It was a jumble of rushed events that went way over my head and confused me completely. What even happened? I honestly have no clue.

Overall, I really wasn’t a fan of this book. I give it 2/5 stars.

Rating: 3.8 of 5 stars

I have just finished reading the book and I have this overwhelming feeling of wanting to read the next one immediately.
I am a huge fan of Ally Carter and I always find it difficult to write a review of her books because I never know how to put into words exactly how I feel. I LOVE the GG and Heist Society books and I have to say All Fall Down is no exception.

I love how different this book is from Ally Carter's other books. The main protagonist, Grace, is going through a very traumatic experience of having to witness her mother die. No one believes her though when she says she knows that it was no accident. This is where Grace's main struggle comes in. No one believes her. Everyone acts as if she's lost her mind. But Grace, being her stubborn and reckless self, makes it her life's mission to find out who the "scarred man" is and prove to everyone that she's far from the crazy girl they believe her to be. Unfortunately she herself doesn't truly believe that she's not crazy. She doubts herself most of the time and questions her own sanity. No one trusts her and she's not sure she can trust herself either.
I wasn't a big fan of Grace for the first half of the book. She seemed too bitchy, whiny and childish and lashes out at everyone who questions her. She's frustrating and very one dimensional. She was too reckless and doesn't think about how the consequences of her actions may affect other people. I understand it would feel horrible and unbearable to lose your mother the way she did but did she ever think that she wasn't the only one who lost someone she loves?

Fortunately I got to the second half of the book and from there the book just got better. It took a long time for the story to really unravel. Half of the book consisted of Grace being a brat, telling people she's not crazy, trying to prove that she's not crazy, having a breakdown and then having a yelling match with whoever dares help make her feel better. It made me want to put the book down so many times. But then the story picks up, you'd get hooked, forget why you thought you'd end up not liking it and end up thinking "oh heck I LOVE it". That's exactly what happened to me.

I've always admired Ally Carter's writing. It's to the point, simple, and fast paced but very addictive. She writes secondary characters that are unique, hilarious and endearing. Noah, Rosie and Megan are an odd team but they do make a perfect one. I hope we get more of their backstory in the succeeding books because I just didn't get enough. Also is it just me or does Ms. Chancellor remind anyone else of Aunt Abby? But the one I love the most? That slow, exciting build up to the romance. The one that makes readers long for a word, a glance, a touch... something. Anything really. Ally Carter is never one to focus on the romance but when she writes a scene, no matter how short it is, she writes it. And makes it so swoon worthy you'd read it again just to make sure you didn't imagine the underlying chemistry. Alexei is a huge enigma. He's a lot like Zachary Goode and I kinda love him for it.

There's so much intrigue, glamour and mystery that surround Embassy Row. I love this world that Ally Carter created. It's new, different and nothing short of amazing. I just wish we were given more, you know? It ended way too soon. And that ending? That was a very torturous way to end the book. I definitely want more!

I received an e-arc from the publisher via NetGalley to read and review

Ally Carter is one of my favorite authors, so needless to say, I was over the moon excited when I saw that she had a new release out!! I was not at all disappointed either. All Fall Down is a highly engrossing and intriguing book that kept me racing through the pages to see what was going to happen next. The characters are excellently written and, as a reader, I was quickly absorbed into not only the characters, but the plot and story as well. I love Ms. Carter's talent and her ability to weave an unforgettable story. I cannot wait to read the second book in this series!

Summer Stevens
Mrs. Pryle
Period 5
5/2/16
The Book that Turned into a Series
**Spoiler Alert**
“Grace Blakely is absolutely certain of three things: 1. She is not crazy. 2. Her mother was murdered. 3. Someday she is going to find the killer and make him pay.”
At Embassy Row, Grace is haunted by memories of her mother and her violent death, which Grace witnessed. Through the trauma of the event, everyone has written off what Grace saw as a side effect of watching her mother die. But Grace knows that a fire did not kill her mother. Her mother was murdered and now that she is back at Embassy Row there is nothing and no one who can stop her from finding the killer. She teams up with a couple of friends in the embassies to help her investigate. The book ends leaving the readers confused after a huge plot twist. It's a huge cliffhanger.
I personally loved this book! Once I got into it, I couldn’t put the book down. It was cliché since it had the same basic plot like all teen mystery/drama novels. In the beginning and towards the end, the book dragged on. Time seemed to go by slow as I was reading. Also the book is written for the interest of 12-14 year olds. Other than those minor details, I enjoyed the book a lot!
Ally Carter gives amazing sensory details! I felt like I was in the tunnels with Grace as I was reading! She also made it very easy for the reader to feel sympathy for Grace. I learned that this is a series. The ending makes more sense now that I know it is the first book. It seems like it is just background information for the rest of the series.

The main character is nuts and sooooo dramatic I just couldn’t like her. She seemed to be all over the place motivation wise, super impulsive and self centered. She’s traumatized and that makes sense but it was not enjoyable to wade through all of her random outbursts and crazy antics. I could not figure out why so many people in the book care about her when she doesn’t seem to offer anything in return in these relationships. I thought this was a book about political intrigue but it’s not it’s just about her crazy ptsd issues.

I love Ally Carter's writing, but this series was very painful for me to read with the subject matter. There wasn't the usual cuteness that I am used to seeing in her books. Usually she works her way up to the dark parts of the story like Harry Potter, but this was dark right from the beginning and the shock at the end was so sad. It just broke my heart. The cliffhanger left me wondering if I would like the next one better, I guess I will just have to wait and see.