All Fall Down (Embassy Row, #1)

by Ally Carter

[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.