YA Review: All Fall Down

All Fall Down (Embassy Row, 1) by Ally Carter, January 20, 2015. 320 pages. Published by Scholastic Press. Source: publisher.

Grace 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.

First Sentence:

When I was twelve I broke my leg jumping off the wall between Canada and Germany," I say, but the woman across from me doesn't even blink.

I cannot even tell you how excited I am for a new Ally Carter book and series! Guys, I have been a huge fan of her writing since I first discovered I'd Tell You I Love You, but Then I'd Have to Kill You way back when it first came out in 2006. Oh, and All Fall Down is out tomorrow (you want this one so much, trust  me!)

For me, her books have always been the perfect balance of action and mystery, incredible characters with complex stories, and wonderful writing to keep you flying through the pages. All Fall Down is no exception to the rule because it had me glued to the pages (true story: I almost missed Mass because I couldn't put it down).
    From the moment Grace first introduces herself in the opening pages of All Fall Down I knew I would love her. As a former military brat I could understand her when it came to starting over and over again and the whole new-girl feeling. Yet, it was her story that really pulled me in as I wanted to know why she was always up to her ears in trouble; also, I may have a thing for books with crazy, fearless characters (they amuse me like no others).

Even though there's one similarity between all of the heroines in Ally Carter's books, that of them having lost a parent and being , I found myself hooked by the mystery surrounding the death of Grace's mom and putting together the sprinkling of clues to unravel the answer. The more I delved into All Fall Down  the more my heart broke for this poor girl and what she'd been through. 'Gah', this book while not as funny as her previous books, was so good because the story line and characters just so good!!!!
   So, as one who reads tons of books, what was it about All Fall Down that impressed me. Well, that would have to be the tensions within Embassy Row and the intricacies that came along with it. I really enjoyed how well Ally Carter captured the (again) tensions that came with living within the embassies and how delicate of a line everyone walked to maintain the peace between the various countries. Every time Grace and her new allies came closer to solving the mystery of her mother's death, close to causing scandal that could ripple out to the world. Yeah, this was definitely my kind of read!

Again, the characters and their interactions really add so much to this book. I thought it was interesting to see how this odd group of characters from various backgrounds build and lose each others trust in their quest for answers. Really, I am not doing these characters justice in this review because I'm trying to hard to not spoil the entire book. Just read it and you will understand why I think this book is a must read!

Final Verdict: All Fall Down- Definitely one of Ally Carter's best books to date! One crazy girl looking for answers and the potential to set off a new world war, yeah, this one is going to keep you on the edge of your seat!

All Fall Down earns

this book was received from Scholastic in exchange for an honest review.