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booktallie's review
4.0
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.
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.
amandalyn's review against another edition
4.0
Well I really liked this book, I didn’t totally love it. I can tell I’m going to like the series, but this first book just felt like it took a long time for things to actual happen. I did really like all the characters, especially Noah, and I think Carter handled the PTSD Grace was suffering from extremely well. I absolutely loved the Gallagher Girls books, and I can see this series becoming a favorite too! Can’t wait to read the next ones!
abbycostello1999's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
katykelly's review against another edition
4.0
I picked this up because the prospect of seeing an Embassy tale told for teens intrigued me, I haven't seen this setting for the age group before. Carter is also not an author I'd tried before.
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.
I quite enjoyed this, but must say I liked the first half better, before the 'who killed my mother' plot kicked in. I was hoping for more of a Theodore Boone-style introduction to the Embassy world, and what happens there (as Grisham did for younger readers with lawyers and courtrooms), but the Embassy really is just the setting for the mystery and murder plot. It could have been set in other arenas and still followed similar lines.
Friends conveniently line up for Grace, and the obvious choice for romantic interest does indeed follow that path as well. Grace's grandfather only gets a couple of good scenes with her, the adult view is left mostly to Grace's minder, a longstanding Embassy employee tasked with keeping Grace in line and ready to perform her formal duties.
I quite liked how the teenagers managed between them to use their skills and Embassy-given materials to seek out murderers and plotters, but the big reveal wasn't as exciting as it should have been. But I am a mid-thirties, experienced reader, hardly the target market.
It's fast-paced, with a strong female protagonist (if slightly annoying at times) who has issues that do get explored, quite an exciting plot and a unique setting. Hope the second book makes more of the setting and delves further into the world of foreign diplomats.
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.
I quite enjoyed this, but must say I liked the first half better, before the 'who killed my mother' plot kicked in. I was hoping for more of a Theodore Boone-style introduction to the Embassy world, and what happens there (as Grisham did for younger readers with lawyers and courtrooms), but the Embassy really is just the setting for the mystery and murder plot. It could have been set in other arenas and still followed similar lines.
Friends conveniently line up for Grace, and the obvious choice for romantic interest does indeed follow that path as well. Grace's grandfather only gets a couple of good scenes with her, the adult view is left mostly to Grace's minder, a longstanding Embassy employee tasked with keeping Grace in line and ready to perform her formal duties.
I quite liked how the teenagers managed between them to use their skills and Embassy-given materials to seek out murderers and plotters, but the big reveal wasn't as exciting as it should have been. But I am a mid-thirties, experienced reader, hardly the target market.
It's fast-paced, with a strong female protagonist (if slightly annoying at times) who has issues that do get explored, quite an exciting plot and a unique setting. Hope the second book makes more of the setting and delves further into the world of foreign diplomats.
freadomlibrary's review against another edition
3.0
Actual rating 3.5 stars
This review was originally posted at https://freadomlibrary.wordpress.com/
Critically
Plot – 3.5 out of 5 stars
The plot of this book was really mysterious and intense. It was really slow and sometimes it was kind of boring to be honest. The setting was really unique and there were lots of twists and turns throughout the story. I feel like this whole book was just set up for something bigger to come. There were a lot of positives but I just didn’t end up enjoying it as much as this author’s other books.
Writing Style – 4 out of 5 stars
It’s very simple and easy to read. This particular book has a slow to medium pace but also really intense writing style. It got kind of confusing at times since it had the tendency to get repetitive a lot. Some of the narrative felt light and kind of young for YA, but at the same time, it was really emotional too.
Characters – 3 out of 5 stars
I think this is the part that I enjoyed the least in the book. I have a lot of issues with the main character and the side characters and their development and it’s really disappointing since the characters have always been my favorite part of these author’s series.
Grace is one of the most unreliable narrators that I’ve ever come across in YA. She’s very paranoid and angry. She’s dealt with a lot of trauma and mental health issues in the last three years. She’s suffering from a lot of emotional wounds and she pushes people away because of that. She can be kind of rude and she really frustrated me because I felt like she purposely dragged her feet through what could’ve been really great and supportive relationships around her.
I was really disappointed with the side characters. There was a really big cast involved in this book but I felt like they weren’t fleshed out enough. They were only there like 10% of the time and they wasn’t enough interaction between them and the side characters. They should’ve been instrumental for Grace, but they didn’t even spend that much time together on page.
Emotionally
The plot was mysterious. We follow Grace, a girl who says at the age of 13 she saw her mother killed but no one believed her. Three years later, she’s back in Adria where her mother grew up. There she discovers who she knows is her killer and is determined to get to the truth. This book was a lot more emotionally intense than I was expecting. Most of Carter’s books are light, action packed but entertaining contemporary thriller that have espionage and thieving and girls kicking ass and taking names in different ways. This one is a lot heavier than that and much more than I was originally expecting. I’m sure to laughing out loud with her books and to become completely invested in the story because of how much fun I’m having, but this one was much more dramatic and angsty than I’m used to. The main character is dealing with a lot of trauma which affects her narrative which made me anxious. Her thought process is very intense and emotional and inconsistent and that just kind of wound me up in a negative way. There were constant twists and turns and unexpected developments which usually keep me hooked in a story, but with this book, there was also a lot of slow and boring parts. I think because I was expecting something more lighthearted, the dark themes of the story took me off guard and they just didn’t affect me the way that I think it was supposed to. I wasn’t as interested in what was going on, I didn’t connect with the main character as well and it just felt a little bit underwhelming for me. The book just felt like it was setting up for the upcoming books and that it couldn’t really stand on it’s own. It wasn’t a complete story by itself and the cliffhanger kind of ending only solidified that feeling for me. It was cruel and unexpected and that’s the only reason this book has that .5 added to the rating. The last few chapters were really intense and that’s pretty much the only thing that kept me interested in continuing the series.
Grace is really suffering. I don’t like to use that word a lot, specially because there’s a lot of mental health struggles that she goes through but emotionally, she really is suffering. It’s been 3 years but she’s haunted by the death of her mother and almost obsessed with proving to everyone that she was killed and that she knows who the killer is. I had a soft spot for her, I felt for her and yet I was frustrated with her but I also don’t feel like I know her beyond the trauma. The narrative is so saturated with this part of who she is, that I can’t really tell you much more about her personality. It’s just this dark cloud that surrounds everything she does throughout the whole story and while I understood why, it made it really hard to connect with her because I can only connect with that so far as I have never lost anyone close to me, let alone been present when it happened like with her. I wanted more from Grace and unfortunately, she’s my least favorite protagonist from this author’s work.
There are several side characters in this book but again, unfortunately, I don’t feel like I know them very well either beyond certain characteristics. I really liked Noah, he was really sweet. He has a kind of earnest personality that contrasts well with Grace’s seriousness and I’m glad he’s a character in this book. However, I don’t know him beyond simple things: he has a twin sister, he’s Brazilian and Israeli and he likes soccer… That’s pretty much it. I want to see more from him (this is kind of my thought for every character in this book). Megan was an awesome badass. I loved how she took after her mom and the way she kind of took control of situations. Rose is super adorable, she’s the youngest character in the book but the most rambunctious and dare devil one. I loved her tenacity and her spirit. There’s also Alexei who I have a feeling will become the love interest at some point. However, he’s kind of strange to me. I don’t really know much about him at all, he’s only in this book for a few scenes but Grace sure thinks about him a lot. One good thing that I really liked about this book is how there are parental/adult characters present throughout the whole story. The characters do go around and get into mischief on their own, but it doesn’t last long without some adult intervention and help which is definitely something needed in more YA books.
Overall, I was disappointed in this book. Because I’ve loved and cherished the author’s earlier series, I had specific expectations for this book and it wasn’t at all like I thought it was going to be. The plot was kind of dark and intense and the main character was an unreliable narrator. She’s dealing with a lot of difficult and powerful emotions which made the book tumultuous but didn’t really help me connect to the story or to her or to the rest of the side characters. The ending was cruel and totally out of the blue and one of the only reasons I want to read the next book.
This review was originally posted at https://freadomlibrary.wordpress.com/
Critically
Plot – 3.5 out of 5 stars
The plot of this book was really mysterious and intense. It was really slow and sometimes it was kind of boring to be honest. The setting was really unique and there were lots of twists and turns throughout the story. I feel like this whole book was just set up for something bigger to come. There were a lot of positives but I just didn’t end up enjoying it as much as this author’s other books.
Writing Style – 4 out of 5 stars
It’s very simple and easy to read. This particular book has a slow to medium pace but also really intense writing style. It got kind of confusing at times since it had the tendency to get repetitive a lot. Some of the narrative felt light and kind of young for YA, but at the same time, it was really emotional too.
Characters – 3 out of 5 stars
I think this is the part that I enjoyed the least in the book. I have a lot of issues with the main character and the side characters and their development and it’s really disappointing since the characters have always been my favorite part of these author’s series.
Grace is one of the most unreliable narrators that I’ve ever come across in YA. She’s very paranoid and angry. She’s dealt with a lot of trauma and mental health issues in the last three years. She’s suffering from a lot of emotional wounds and she pushes people away because of that. She can be kind of rude and she really frustrated me because I felt like she purposely dragged her feet through what could’ve been really great and supportive relationships around her.
I was really disappointed with the side characters. There was a really big cast involved in this book but I felt like they weren’t fleshed out enough. They were only there like 10% of the time and they wasn’t enough interaction between them and the side characters. They should’ve been instrumental for Grace, but they didn’t even spend that much time together on page.
Emotionally
Spoiler
I have to say that I was a little disappointed by this book because it’s not similar to the author’s other works at all, and I wasn’t really expecting the story that I read.The plot was mysterious. We follow Grace, a girl who says at the age of 13 she saw her mother killed but no one believed her. Three years later, she’s back in Adria where her mother grew up. There she discovers who she knows is her killer and is determined to get to the truth. This book was a lot more emotionally intense than I was expecting. Most of Carter’s books are light, action packed but entertaining contemporary thriller that have espionage and thieving and girls kicking ass and taking names in different ways. This one is a lot heavier than that and much more than I was originally expecting. I’m sure to laughing out loud with her books and to become completely invested in the story because of how much fun I’m having, but this one was much more dramatic and angsty than I’m used to. The main character is dealing with a lot of trauma which affects her narrative which made me anxious. Her thought process is very intense and emotional and inconsistent and that just kind of wound me up in a negative way. There were constant twists and turns and unexpected developments which usually keep me hooked in a story, but with this book, there was also a lot of slow and boring parts. I think because I was expecting something more lighthearted, the dark themes of the story took me off guard and they just didn’t affect me the way that I think it was supposed to. I wasn’t as interested in what was going on, I didn’t connect with the main character as well and it just felt a little bit underwhelming for me. The book just felt like it was setting up for the upcoming books and that it couldn’t really stand on it’s own. It wasn’t a complete story by itself and the cliffhanger kind of ending only solidified that feeling for me. It was cruel and unexpected and that’s the only reason this book has that .5 added to the rating. The last few chapters were really intense and that’s pretty much the only thing that kept me interested in continuing the series.
Grace is really suffering. I don’t like to use that word a lot, specially because there’s a lot of mental health struggles that she goes through but emotionally, she really is suffering. It’s been 3 years but she’s haunted by the death of her mother and almost obsessed with proving to everyone that she was killed and that she knows who the killer is. I had a soft spot for her, I felt for her and yet I was frustrated with her but I also don’t feel like I know her beyond the trauma. The narrative is so saturated with this part of who she is, that I can’t really tell you much more about her personality. It’s just this dark cloud that surrounds everything she does throughout the whole story and while I understood why, it made it really hard to connect with her because I can only connect with that so far as I have never lost anyone close to me, let alone been present when it happened like with her. I wanted more from Grace and unfortunately, she’s my least favorite protagonist from this author’s work.
There are several side characters in this book but again, unfortunately, I don’t feel like I know them very well either beyond certain characteristics. I really liked Noah, he was really sweet. He has a kind of earnest personality that contrasts well with Grace’s seriousness and I’m glad he’s a character in this book. However, I don’t know him beyond simple things: he has a twin sister, he’s Brazilian and Israeli and he likes soccer… That’s pretty much it. I want to see more from him (this is kind of my thought for every character in this book). Megan was an awesome badass. I loved how she took after her mom and the way she kind of took control of situations. Rose is super adorable, she’s the youngest character in the book but the most rambunctious and dare devil one. I loved her tenacity and her spirit. There’s also Alexei who I have a feeling will become the love interest at some point. However, he’s kind of strange to me. I don’t really know much about him at all, he’s only in this book for a few scenes but Grace sure thinks about him a lot. One good thing that I really liked about this book is how there are parental/adult characters present throughout the whole story. The characters do go around and get into mischief on their own, but it doesn’t last long without some adult intervention and help which is definitely something needed in more YA books.
Overall, I was disappointed in this book. Because I’ve loved and cherished the author’s earlier series, I had specific expectations for this book and it wasn’t at all like I thought it was going to be. The plot was kind of dark and intense and the main character was an unreliable narrator. She’s dealing with a lot of difficult and powerful emotions which made the book tumultuous but didn’t really help me connect to the story or to her or to the rest of the side characters. The ending was cruel and totally out of the blue and one of the only reasons I want to read the next book.
izzys_internet_bookshelf's review
3.0
3/5
This weirdly got me out of some sort of slump? Even though the writing to me seemed younger, I had enjoyed the story. I read through it so fast and I already have the sequel checked out.
This weirdly got me out of some sort of slump? Even though the writing to me seemed younger, I had enjoyed the story. I read through it so fast and I already have the sequel checked out.
bootlefish's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Death of parent, Dysphoria, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Gun violence and Violence
alidottie's review
4.0
This new series is very typical Ally Carter, but I didn't find Grace as likeable as her usual main characters. She is working through some major issues and since a lot of progress was made in this first book, she may grow on me in the future.
renuked's review
3.0
Ally Carter returns! And unsurprisingly, she arrives once again with an espionage filled novel with slightly reckless protagonists and cute boys. If I had read this in my preteens/younger teenage years, it would have been one of my favorite novels.
Carter has created "Embassy Row" a lovely street, filled with the gorgeous manors of diplomats and ruling heads of countries across the world. However, it's filled with national tensions, and one small misstep can erupt in war. Living here, we have the daring Grace - a girl prone to many disasters and a girl with a strange past. At a young age, she saw her mother murdered in front of her very eyes. The trauma still haunts her, and to this day she is searching for the killer.
“For the first time I realize how perilous peace can be. I appreciate the tightrope that my grandfather has spent his whole life trying to walk. And now, more than ever, I grow terrified that I'm going to make us all fall down.”
Grace was a lovable protagonist (most of Carter's protagonists are). However, if you've read her previous novels (Gallagher Girls, Heist Society), Grace doesn't stand out much. The characters become a little generic. Alexei (love interest) drifts in and out of the picture with nothing very special other than his lovely Russian accent. Noah (best friend) is cute, funny, and forgettable. Grace's other relationships are strained, but far more interesting such as her relationship with her grandfather, his assistant/wife?, and her ex-best friend.
Unfortunately, the plot also doesn't do much to set Grace apart. It's a mystery, of course, filled with riddles, secret passages, conspiracies, blah blah blah. It's all fun - but it wasn't quite enough to hold my attention. Again, it's perfect for younger girls, however it felt a little juvenile to me. This wouldn't have bothered me much if it hadn't felt like Carter was trying to be darker and aim at an older audience. Grace is haunted by her memories. She suffers panic attacks, has traumatic stress disorder, and has darkness shrouding her past. It's as if Carter was trying to add maturity, and depth, to her character, but was stunted by her own silly murder mystery plot.
Overall, it was a cute novel, and I really enjoyed it. I appreciated the darker vibe Ally Carter was trying to bring, especially because I did like the main protagonist. The setting was different from her other novels, but honestly, there wasn't anything that drew my attention and held it.
Review cross-posted to Eternal-Books.
Carter has created "Embassy Row" a lovely street, filled with the gorgeous manors of diplomats and ruling heads of countries across the world. However, it's filled with national tensions, and one small misstep can erupt in war. Living here, we have the daring Grace - a girl prone to many disasters and a girl with a strange past. At a young age, she saw her mother murdered in front of her very eyes. The trauma still haunts her, and to this day she is searching for the killer.
“For the first time I realize how perilous peace can be. I appreciate the tightrope that my grandfather has spent his whole life trying to walk. And now, more than ever, I grow terrified that I'm going to make us all fall down.”
Grace was a lovable protagonist (most of Carter's protagonists are). However, if you've read her previous novels (Gallagher Girls, Heist Society), Grace doesn't stand out much. The characters become a little generic. Alexei (love interest) drifts in and out of the picture with nothing very special other than his lovely Russian accent. Noah (best friend) is cute, funny, and forgettable. Grace's other relationships are strained, but far more interesting such as her relationship with her grandfather, his assistant/wife?, and her ex-best friend.
Unfortunately, the plot also doesn't do much to set Grace apart. It's a mystery, of course, filled with riddles, secret passages, conspiracies, blah blah blah. It's all fun - but it wasn't quite enough to hold my attention. Again, it's perfect for younger girls, however it felt a little juvenile to me. This wouldn't have bothered me much if it hadn't felt like Carter was trying to be darker and aim at an older audience. Grace is haunted by her memories. She suffers panic attacks, has traumatic stress disorder, and has darkness shrouding her past. It's as if Carter was trying to add maturity, and depth, to her character, but was stunted by her own silly murder mystery plot.
Overall, it was a cute novel, and I really enjoyed it. I appreciated the darker vibe Ally Carter was trying to bring, especially because I did like the main protagonist. The setting was different from her other novels, but honestly, there wasn't anything that drew my attention and held it.
Review cross-posted to Eternal-Books.