Monday, April 6, 2015

Review: All Fall Down

ALL FALL DOWN
Embassy Row #1
Ally Carter
Contemporary Young Adult
320 pages
Scholastic
Available Now
Source: Finished copy from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Amazon)
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.

MY THOUGHTS
All Fall Down is pure entertainment, the kind of book perfect for picking up after a long day and letting ourselves settle into as we escape reality for a while. Grace’s story does require the suspension of disbelief and the capacity to go with the flow as she follows possible assassins down dark tunnels with absolutely no backup, but this story is in no way meant to be a serious behavioral examination of the children of prominent politicians. Instead, it's a story full of murder plots and power exchanges–with a bit of humor mixed in–and it ensures we keep the pages turning well into the early hours of the morning.

Grace is someone whose sorrow is a tangible thing, the death of her mother three years prior and the fact that she witnessed it something that haunts her hours both waking and not. She’s not in an overly healthy place when we meet her, reciting a mantra of “I’m fine” to anyone who asks, but what keeps those two words from being frustrating is the fact that Grace herself doesn’t believe them any more than those on the receiving end of it do. She knows she’s struggling, but her fear of being forced back into a hospital and heavily medicated forces her to put on the bravest face she can, and we can’t help but hope her desire to pull it together will eventually make it so.

Even though Grace is weighed down heavily by her mother’s murder and the fact that no one believes what she saw that night, the story itself doesn’t feel overwhelmingly sad, and we move forward quickly and easily with Grace as she tries to extract the truth from both past and present. We’re left with the full reveal of exactly what happened the night of Grace’s mother’s death, but it’s also very clear that things are just beginning and everything we thought we knew after spending a few hundred pages in Grace’s world is going to be called into question moving forward.

Rating: 4/5

Find Ally:


This book was sent to me by the publisher free of charge for the purpose of a review
I received no other compensation and the above is my honest opinion.

37 comments:

  1. I loved Carter's Heist Society series, Jenny, and so am planning to give this one a try because it seems like it's full of action and adventure too. Grace sounds more serious than Kat though.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Me too Z! Her books are just fun and quick and entertaining. Grace is definitely a bit more serious, but I'm looking forward to seeing how she grows from book to book:)

      Delete
  2. I have yet to read any of Carter's books. Grace seems like an interesting character, though.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hm, the whole revenge thing and that she is young

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's fairly light on the revenge - it's more her trying to figure out what happened to her mom:)

      Delete
  4. I'm glad that you enjoyed this one so much, Jenny! I couldn't help but be frustrated with Grace and her throwing herself at everything head first and refusing help...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. She definitely did dive headfirst into danger, but Ally's books are always a little over the top that way so I've come to expect it by now:)

      Delete
  5. Sounds like a fun read! I have never read any Ally Carter, but have always wanted to. Thanks for the heads up that you have to suspend your disbelief. I always like to know that before I read a book, otherwise it irks me to no end that the main character is doing things that a typical teenager couldn't do. Thanks for putting this book on my radar, Jenny!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You just have to roll with how things unfold Christina, if you try and paint all the characters with a super logical brush you're likely to get frustrated:)

      Delete
  6. This sounded mostly like a fun read, but it looks like it tackles depression too in a pretty intense way. I think I'd need to emotionally prepare myself for that. I'm glad you were able to enjoy this so much, Jenny.
    Great review!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's more serious than her Heist Society books to be sure, but she always writes a great cast of characters that keep things from getting too heavy:)

      Delete
  7. I love these type of reads because sometimes I just need these reads. ;)
    Great review Jenny! I adore this author simply because her reads are fun and pure entertainment like you said.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Exactly! I need more books like this in my life Ali:)

      Delete
  8. Oh yes I remember hearing about this one. I haven't tried it but you're right it's nice to have a book like that from time to time after a long day. thanks for the review!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're welcome, I hope you give it a try!

      Delete
  9. I haven't read this author's other series but this one really appeals to me:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm glad to hear it! I so enjoy Ally's books:)

      Delete
  10. Like you, I'm a pretty big fan of Ally Carter and a certain nameless mister from her other series. Pure entertainment is exactly what I expect from her and I'm so SO glad she didn't disappoint. I have to get my hands on this asap.
    Thank you for pushing me in the right direction!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. YESSSSS! One of these days we're going to find out what those w's stand for ;-)

      Delete
  11. I've really enjoyed Carter's books in the past so I know I need to get my hands on this soon. I might wait closer until the release date of the sequel but I know I'll love this because, sometimes, a feel-good read is precisely what I need. ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I can't wait to see what you think Keertana!

      Delete
  12. I love her other books and I think I might really like this one! I'll definitely have to keep in mind that it's a suspend disbelief kind of read, but that's expected with her. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Exactly. Her books aren't meant to be realistic and it's fun to follow Grace down dark tunnels no matter how ill-advised it may be:)

      Delete
  13. I really liked the Heist Society and am very excited to get my hands on a copy of this one. I'm one or two people behind on the hold list for this one and I can't wait to enjoy pure entertainment.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Woo hoo! Hope those people read fast Rummanah!

      Delete
  14. This sounds emotional, intense and frustrating (in a good way). I'm very curious as to how she handles the mystery. I know if you enjoyed it, I will.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was definitely surprised by the reveal at the end, and I'm interested to see how that affects things moving forward:)

      Delete
  15. I've been meaning to read this book. I won it, but haven't gotten to it yet. Sometimes I just need a book that's pure entertainment, though.

    Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Me too Nicole! I love books that make me think and push me emotionally, but I definitely need books that just pure fun too:)

      Delete
  16. Well the beginning of that blurb sounds familiar! (Twilight, anyone?) Glad you enjoyed it.

    ReplyDelete
  17. I read this a few months ago and really liked it too! I'm excite dfo rthe next book in the series.

    ReplyDelete
  18. I have the first book to her other Spy girl series, but I have yet to read it! After doing that to sample her writing I do also want to try this one. It seems like a lot of readers, you included, are having fun with this one. And I want to be in on it!

    Check out my review and giveaway; http://olivia-savannah.blogspot.nl/2015/04/the-snapped-series-mini-reviews-giveaway.html

    ReplyDelete
  19. All Fall Down sounds like a great escape read. And this sounds like just what I had hoped for with its assassins, dark tunnels and murder plots!

    ReplyDelete
  20. I'm glad this one was entertaining! I could use a read like this right now. :-) I always have fun with Ally Carter books, and it sounds like this one will be no exception!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Lovely review Jenny! I totally have to read this now.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Definitely a fun read! And I really felt for Grace, who struggled so hard after her mom was killed. Highly enjoyable.

    ReplyDelete