Take the Key and Lock Her Up (Embassy Row, #3)

by Ally Carter

The third and final instalment in the thrilling Embassy Row series.

Grace has discovered that she's the lost princess of Adria ... but some people would prefer she stay lost. With her brother's life hanging in the balance and secret assassins everywhere, life on Embassy Row has never been more dangerous.

• ISBN10: 0545654955
• ISBN13: 9780545654951
• Publish Date: 27 December 2016
• Publish Status: Active
• Publisher: Scholastic
• Imprint: Scholastic Press
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 336
• Language: English

Reviews

[Joséphine]

Initial thoughts: After finishing the trilogy, I wish I hadn't bothered. All Fall Down was a good book in and of itself. Tie up a few loose ends, and I could've walked away, satisfied. Thinking of the series in its entirety, though, things just went down. A lot of things in Take the Key and Lock Her Up were repetitions from the previous two books. As for the plot development, I really didn't care for it. The characters didn't develop much anymore either. The only thing that remained solid throughout was the audiobook narration, but even that didn't save the series for me in the end.

[Kelly]

Take The Key and Lock Her Up begins mere moments after the revelations of See How They Run, Jamie is injured, Alexei a fugitive and Grace is determined to carry her mother's legacy, finding evidence of the lost princess.

Grace Blakely is a descendant of baby Amelia, a centuries old mystery that the government and Society of Ardia are determined to protect. Since moving into the embassy to live with her grandfather, Grace has been embroiled in controversy. Grace is relentless in her search to uncover her mother's findings, needing evidence as leverage against Adria and the royal family who occupy the throne. I admire Grace's tenacity as a character and enjoyed her relationship with her brother and love interest Alexei, who are now fleeing Adria with the assistance of Dominic.

While in previous installments, the murder mystery aspect added drama and intrigue, the focus is now placed upon on Grace, while the narration of friends and embassy residents were left unresolved. Grace is a character who has struggled with her mental health, placed within a health facility leaving her distressed. Her anguish and post traumatic stress disorder is now absent, apart from the occasional inner monologue reminiscing the death of her mother. Unfortunately, the storyline felt entirely repetitive. One aspect I found fascinating about the series were the ancient and secretive society of women, political puppeteers that seemed a convenient device of justification for the lawless Embassy Row, where adults in authoritarian positions maim and murder. Unfortunately it wasn't fully explored.

Suspension of disbelief was virtually impossible. Although entertaining, I wasn't immersed or as engaged as I've been with the previous installments but was surprised by the ending and a little disheartened by the vigilante justice imposed. The Embassy Row series has been wonderfully entertaining, secrecy and intrigue creating a narrative that will enthrall and delight readers but unfortunately the finale left me feeling disappointed.

[nightingalereads]

I feel like this series, and this book in particular, lacked a little of the depth, heart, and realness of her first two series. The writing was still familiar and I enjoyed the characters, but I was never as invested in them or sucked into the story the way I was with her Gallagher Girls and Heist Society books. It could just be because I'm older now, but the world/plot/characters of this trilogy(?) felt rushed and never fully explained. There was so much background information (both setting and character-wise) that I felt could've been filled in or expanded upon. Whatever it was, this was the first Ally Carter book where I began to skim just to find out what happens. Overall, though, Ally Carter is such a great writer that it's still an enjoyable book.