All Fall Down: Book 1 (Embassy Row, #1)

by Ally Carter

Praise for Ally Carter:

Ally Carter is an author that you simply can't miss. - Gripped into Books

Gallagher Girls books have real heart, pushing strength and sisterhood over sass, with super wit and humour too... brilliant. ***** Books for Keeps

Absolutely unputdownable and completely gripping... everything that fans of this series will have been waiting for... 10/10... an incredible series in which each book gets better and better. The Guardian

Ally Carter has done it again! From the story to the cover, everything about All Fall Down is exciting and sure to keep you on your toes! http://sassyanddangerous.blogspot.mx/


Product Description:

I don't mean to get into trouble. Trouble just sort of finds me.

Grace has been shipped off to stay with her diplomat Grandpa in the glittering Embassy Row, a place where trespassing into the wrong garden can cause an international incident. Grace knows the rules - she's ignored them before - but however much she wants to change, she can't. Not while she's certain of three things:

1. She isn't crazy.
2. Her mother was murdered.
3. Someday she's going to find the man with the scar, and then she is going to make him pay.

About the Author:
Ally Carter writes books about spies, thieves, and teenagers. She is the New York Times best-selling author of the hugely popular Gallagher Girls series, including I'd Tell You I Love You but Then I'd Have to Kill You, Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy, Don't Judge a Girl by Her Cover, and Only the Good Spy Young.

She lives in the Midwest where her life is either very ordinary or the best deep-cover legend ever. She'd tell you more, but...well...you know.

• ISBN10: 1408334372
• ISBN13: 9781408334379
• Publish Date: 5 February 2015 (first published 1 January 2015)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Hachette Children's Group
• Imprint: Orchard Books
• Format: Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
• Pages: 320
• Language: English

Reviews

[Sam@WLABB]

I wasn't expecting that at all. Well done! Moving at a brisk pace with quite a plot twist, this book had me fully engaged from beginning to end. This whole Embassy Row world is quite interesting, and I am looking forward to getting more answers in the next book.

BLOG | INSTAGRAM |TWITTER | BLOGLOVIN | FRIEND ME ON GOODREADS

[Joséphine]

Actual rating: 3.5 stars

Initial thoughts: Fun audiobook to listen to, which also distracted me from my cough, sore throat and fever today. Narration was good and kept me engaged, such that I kept awake even through my drowsiness. Grace was an intense character right from the beginning, sucking me into her world. Her friends could've been better developed, though. Despite Grace's intensity, I felt that the mystery was surprising light-hearted. Yes, I could see why things were upsetting to her but at the same time, the reasons weren't dealt with on a deep enough level. At least there were hints towards the end that the sequel will take care of those questions.

[Angie]

All Fall Down sounded like it was going to be this international, teenage, super-spy revenge thriller type of story. I wasn’t sure if that was my thing, and it’s not quite like that, but I did enjoy it! It took awhile for me to get into, but once I did, I was hooked! Then that ending was fantastic! Grace has been sent to live with her grandfather at the U.S. embassy in Adria, and it’s there where she sees the man who has haunted her nightmares for three years. It’s the Scarred Man who shot her mother. Now, Grace is going to catch him, prove that her mother’s death wasn’t an accident, and make him pay.

At first, I just assumed that All Fall Down was going to be one of those suspense tales where the adults don’t believe the traumatize teenager and use her age and mental health status against her. Then she does dangerous stuff, proves them all wrong, and they live happily ever after. Well, this is not that book. Yes, Grace’s grandfather tells her that the trauma caused her to think up this so-called Scarred Man. He even reminds her that the autopsy report said nothing about a bullet wound and none of the surveillance footage showed a man. But Grace does not give up! She knows what she saw and assumes there’s some kind of cover up! Then things happen, the killer is revealed, and I was like holy crap! No way!

All Fall Down was a nice surprise. It started off like a typical teen mystery, and kind of made me think of old Disney Channel movies with the tone, but soon it took a darker turn. The big reveal at the end is a bit jumbled, so I had to read that part twice, but it’s great! I really could not believe it! I think this would have made a fantastic standalone though, since I have no idea what Grace could possible do in the next books. I suppose they could focus on other kids of the diplomats, but her story is very much not finished.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

[stefu1]

Woah! This book was pretty intense, It was suspenseful, dramatic, relatable and sad. Cool story, neat ending

[Kelly]

4½ Stars.
http://www.divabooknerd.com/2015/02/all-fall-down-by-ally-carter.html
I knew I'd enjoy All Fall Down, but I didn't expect to love it as much as I did. I adored it. It follows the story of Grace, who is still grieving her mother's death three years prior and vows it wasn't the accident those around her claim it to be. Grace has spent the last three years trying to hunt her mother's killer, until she discovers him at Embassy Row and working for the Russian Prime Minister no less. What ensues is a thrilling chase for answers, new friends along for the ride and a revelation that left me questioning Grace's mental health.

Grace is a angry young lady, rude and antisocial. Her own family disbelieves that she seen her mother being killed, so she's angry at the world and rightly so. As much as I liked Grace, her irritation became tedious and I wish she had of taken time out to be a regular teen. Apart from challenging authority and a few sassy quips, she seemed to have only one emotion, suspicion. She was difficult to relate to. But the real draw card is the actual storyline.

I love the setting, a united nations embassy in a foreign country where children usually join family members and officials for the summer holidays. International relations can be a minefield to navigate, and now Gracie is expected to fill her mother's role by her grandfather's side. The diversity was present, but not explored and I'm hoping in further books in the series, the reader will see the rich culture and history of the other nations part of Embassy Row.

My first Ally Carter novel was a complete success. Well written with a touch of humour and mystery, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[ellieroth]

Hay muchas cosas que criticar pero me divertí un montón leyendo. La cosa es que conozco a Ally, no puedes dar por segura la trama porque después te la cambia toda. Aún así, hay cositas que no me han agradado (como eso del fútbol y los brasileños que publiqué en mi último status del libro).

Ojalá cuando escriba la reseña tenga más claras mis ideas.

Reseña: También en: El Extraño Gato del Cuento

Más de una vez he mencionado mi amor y admiración por los libros de Ally Carter, una de mis sagas favoritas está escrita por ella, Gallagher Girls. Toca temas bastante interesantes en sus libros, del tipo que me gusta ver en películas, donde hay mucha tecnología y espías, lo que me gusta más es que sus protagonistas son jóvenes. Al menos cuando yo leí por primera vez a Ally Carter, tenía la misma edad que sus protagonistas, entre 16 y 17, no había leído mucho tampoco, por lo que quizá no me di cuenta de algunas cosas.

Por momentos siento que el libro en realidad me gustó pero luego por otros sé que no me gustó tanto como quisiera.

Me gustó porque... Se me hizo fácil de leer, Ally Carter escribe de una manera en que puedes leer por horas y no cansarte, trajo personajes bastante simpáticos y divertidos. Además Alexei, que sale como dos veces nada más, es.. bueno, lindo. Es ruso así que no deje de pensar en otro ruso amor mío cofcofDanilaKozlovzkicofcof. Además que la historia en realidad es interesante, el giro que hay al final no me lo esperaba para nada, fue un poco chocante.

Es solo que tiene muchas cosas que quiero mencionar no me gustaron:

• No me gustó el hecho que resaltará estereotipos, un ejemplo es cuando Grace va la embajada de Brasil, todos están viendo un partido de fútbol. No es que esté mal, pero mientras se recalca que en la embajada de USA tienen cosas importantes que hacer incluso en la madrugada, la Embajada de Brasil podría caer en ataque y nadie se enteraría porque están viendo el fútbol.

• Pensé que el interés amoroso sería de Irán, no había leído la sinopsis, pero sabía que algo tenía que haber con amor prohibido o al menos con un país que USA tenga mucho problema. ¿Pensé en Irán solo por los problemas bélicos? No, lo hice por como Carter resalta el miedo a ese país, y la verdad no me gustó nada.

Quizá sea solo cosa mía pero me malogró mucho la lectura al leer ese uso del estereotipo. Tengo la esperanza que Ally cambie eso en los siguientes libros, por experiencia sé que el romance no es algo fijo en sus historias, en el primer libro nos da uno para cambiarlo por otro en los libros siguientes.

Tiendo a sentirme cómoda y reírme cuando escritores extranjeros utilizas clichés para describir a otros países pero por alguna razón esta vez no pude dejarlo estar, no quiero calificarlo de racista porque sería una exageración, como repito, tengo la esperanza que en los siguientes libros Ally Carter mejore las cosas que no me gustaron en este. Y sobre todo es que no pude dejar de pensar en como se sentirán sus fans Iraníes cuando lean esto, no es que los califique de nada, pero a veces no hay necesidad de usar palabras exactas sino como en el caso de All Fall Down, acciones.

Sin duda un libro que los estadounidenses amarán, es muy patriota del país del águila calva.


Twitter || Blog || Pinterest || Tumblr || Instagram || Facebook

La miel el libro, el oso yo