YA Review: Take the Key and Lock Her Up

Take the Key and Lock Her Up (Embassy Row, 3) by Ally Carter, December 27, 2016. 327 pages. Published by Scholastic. Source: Borrowed from library.

The princess is dead. Long live the princess.
Centuries ago, the royal family of Adria was killed…or so everyone thought.

Now Grace Blakely knows the truth: There was one survivor, and that survivor’s blood runs through her veins. This simple fact could cause a revolution—which is why some people will stop at nothing to keep it from coming to light.

There is only one way for Grace to save herself, save her family, and save the boy she loves. She must outmaneuver her foes, cut through the web of lies that has surrounded her for years, and go back to the source of all her troubles, despite the risk.

If she wins, she will inherit a throne.

And if she loses, she will inherit the fate of all the dead princesses who came before her.

First Sentence:

When the screams come, I can't be sure that I'm not dreaming. 

I know, I totally spaced out on reviewing the second book in the series...but that's what rereads are for!! While I'm not too fond of reviewing books in a series out of order, it must be done this time!! So, let's talk about the end of Embassy Row and whether or not it was a good conclusion to the series!!

• Take the Key and Lock Her Up begins where book two left off, with Grace on the run from, well, everyone and just trying to survive long enough to find out the truth. As the book starts out, you see that she is still reeling from all that happened in the previous two books; who wouldn't be after all the things she discovered. It was rather nice to see a character who was so emotionally scarred not miraculously healed from their mental trauma. It happens to often, a characters been through a lot, something happens and then *boom* they're all peachy again. Yeah...that's not how it goes in real life. Even though she still has a lot to work through, I liked that she never gave up.

• Even though there are definitely dark points in this book, and the entire series, I liked that there were till traces of hope. It may not have been obvious, but the fact that she, and her friends, kept moving forward through everything even with the odds stacked against them, showed that even though the world was against them they still maintained hope. I'll be honest, if there's no trace of hope in a book, well, then I tend to lose interest. I don't know about you, but it's those bright spots that really make me enjoy a book.

• Okay, enough about Grace and her history... I really did like the way the series ended. Mostly because the end was both satisfying and felt true to the characters. The way things played out, which I'm obviously not going to tell you, was 100% in line with Grace's personality (also everything that she did which lead up to that point). You'll definitely have to read the entire series to see why exactly I found the ending to be perfect...and that ending with that one character was creepy and oh so perfect.

• I'll be honest, I love Ally Carter's writing and have since I read her young adult debut. Each of the books she writes features female characters that are strong, and yet, still battling through things (even if some of those things are not likely to actually happen, you know). Having now read her books about teenage girl spies, thieves, and crazy lost princess, I'm so ready to see what scenario she'll tackle!!

Final Verdict: Take the Key and Lock Her Up- Wraps the series up in "Flame and glory"... Seriously though, the ending was really nice and Grace went out in typical Grace fashion with things going *boom*!! As much as I enjoyed the ending, I am sad that Embassy Row is over.

Take the Key and Lock Her Up earns

A copy of this book was borrowed from the library. All thoughts are my own.