All Fall Down – Review

 

All Fall Down is the first book in Ally Carter’s series Embassy Row. All Fall Down follows teenager Grace as she moves back with her grandfather after her mother’s traumatic and mysterious death. Grace is certain that her mother’s death wasn’t an accident but as she navigates Embassy Row’s politics and danger, she starts to wonder if she’s as crazy as everyone thinks. Embassy Row is a village full of country houses, each estate represents a country where their ambassadors and staff live inside. Peace is a fickle thing so living in Embassy Row isn’t always fun, well actually it doesn’t seem that much fun at all.

I won’t lie, I picked this book up because it was $5 in Dymocks. I mean a book for $5, who could resist? I didn’t know anything about the book when I turned to page one, and honestly, I’m glad. I immediately found the story interesting and I was excited to learn more. Embassy Row is fascinating and I can see so much potential within the village walls. Grace was a fun character, and as the story progressed she became more and more unreliable, which is always interesting to read. There were many interesting relationships that started to form in this book and the story constantly moved. What did happen? Who can we trust? Can we even trust Grace? All Fall Down had so, so much potential.

It was so close to being an amazing story, I could taste it, feel it, smell it even. But in the end, the story fell short. The life of a teenager in Embassy Row was so interesting to me. The politics, the scandal, the danger, but in the end we saw almost none of it.

The relationships for me were the worst part of the book. It’s as if we were going through the progressing of friendship but jumping past the middle section. Relationships changed so quickly. People’s actions weren’t justified. And the forming romance was so close to being great but instead, it flopped.

And lastly the story, it had the makings of an amazing story. But once again, it lacked. The book always moved, and I think that’s the problem. We needed more and we needed it slower. More information, more time, more development, more mystery. I did still enjoy the story and I loved waiting to know what had happened. And I got that confused, excited feeling towards the end when the piece’s started falling into place. But damn, it could have been so much better.

I did enjoy this book, I flew through it and never once thought it was boring. But in the end, it just lacked. This book has the makings to be great and I will read the next one in hopes that it improves. I’m interested in where the story is headed and to know more about life on Embassy Row.

 

You can purchase All Fall Down with free shipping here