A new series of global proportions -- from master of intrigue, NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author Ally Carter.
This exciting new series from NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author Ally Carter focuses on Grace, who can best be described as a daredevil, an Army brat, and a rebel. She is also the only granddaughter of perhaps the most powerful ambassador in the world, and Grace has spent every summer of her childhood running across the roofs of Embassy Row.
Now, at age sixteen, she's come back to stay--in order to solve the mystery of her mother's death. In the process, she uncovers an international conspiracy of unsettling proportions, and must choose her friends and watch her foes carefully if she and the world are to be saved.
This exciting new series from NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author Ally Carter focuses on Grace, who can best be described as a daredevil, an Army brat, and a rebel. She is also the only granddaughter of perhaps the most powerful ambassador in the world, and Grace has spent every summer of her childhood running across the roofs of Embassy Row.
Now, at age sixteen, she's come back to stay--in order to solve the mystery of her mother's death. In the process, she uncovers an international conspiracy of unsettling proportions, and must choose her friends and watch her foes carefully if she and the world are to be saved.
So if you know me at all, you know how much I love Ally Carter's books. I don't know, there's just something about the characters and the writing that makes me love them all. All Fall Down gets added to that list. After all the anticipation for its release, it definitely did not let me down.
What I liked: This is by far Ally's darkest book. There's lots of psychological damage going on, and Grace is broken. She's so beautifully broken and scarred. She has sass and girl-power determination, but she definitely has an attitude. And for good reason: Grace saw her mother murdered. Those things change a person. In this case, it causes an obsession and a dark shadow that's always following her. But, Grace is strong and funny. She's incredibly well rounded for somebody so screwed up. The world of Embassy Row is fascinating, and I love that they say things like (and I'm paraphrasing) 'I'm headed over to Brazil' or 'We can't be in Iran right now'. It's so cool. The politics and tensions with that subject are extremely well done and interesting to read about, even when they aren't the main plot line. The characters on Embassy Row are just as great. Grace's new friends are gutsy and up for adventure. And then there's Alexei and I like him (wants a thousand scenes of him in the next book pretty please).
What I didn't like: Like Grace, I felt incredibly frustrated with all the adults in the book. Nobody was willing to give her the time of day and they expected her to be a puppet and move on with her life. It was pull-you-hair-out frustrating. And you know how I love active adults in YA who don't treat teenagers like they're...well, idiotic teenagers. I do have the feeling that's going to change in the sequel though, just based off how this one ended.
I loved the crazy plot-twist at the end of this book. I feel like it's going to cause even more psychological damage and I'm so excited. What a weird thing to be excited about... Great ending to a great book. A teeny bit cliffhanger-y but it completely changes things in a very good way. Can't wait for the next one!
-Annie
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