Review: All Fall Down by Ally Carter

Title: All Fall Down

Author: Ally Carter

Publisher: Scholastic

Publication Date: 1.20.2015

Pages: 320

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Mystery

Series: Embassy Row #1

Source: ARC from NCTE

Rating: 4 Stars

Summary (from Goodreads):

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.

Review:

Prior to ALL FALL DOWN, I had never read an Ally Carter book. But now I can see why so many of my friends are such firm fans of Carter's work. She creates original stories with unique characters and thrilling situations.

Grace is still reeling from the loss of her mother three years earlier. She is sent to live her grandfather, a well known ambassador, in a last ditch effort to help reign her in (the adult rationale) and find her mother's killer (Grace's rationale).

Grace was a hard character for me to nail down. She was impulsive and kind of bratty, but I could always see her heart underneath. The more the book continues, you learn that Grace is less of a rebel and more of a girl with a broken heart.

There were parts of ALL FALL DOWN that I loved and other parts I couldn't get through fast enough. While Grace does read a bit on the younger side of the YA spectrum, she is still a refreshing character and someone I think teens will rally behind.

Buy: All Fall Down