Review of All Fall Down by Ally Carter

Title/Author: All Fall Down (Embassy Row #1) by Ally Carter
Publisher/Date published: Orchard Books, February 5th 2015
How I got this book: received it from the publisher through NetGalley
Buy this book at: The Book Depository

Goodreads summary: Grace can best be described as a daredevil, an Army brat, and a rebel. She is also the only granddaughter of perhaps the most powerful ambassador in the world and Grace has spent every summer of her childhood running across the roofs of Embassy Row.

Now, at age sixteen, she's come back to stay - in order to solve the mystery of her mother's death. In the process, she uncovers an international conspiracy of unsettling proportions, and must choose her friends and watch her foes carefully if she and the world are to be saved.

Ok, so confession time: I've never read one of Ally Carter's before this one. I know. So many people keep raving about her Gallagher Girls and Heist Society series and they do sound really good, I've just never gotten around to actually picking one up. Which is why I was excited when I got approved for All Fall Down, because a mystery with political intrigue is just my kind of thing!

And I did like All Fall Down, Ally Carter's writing style is very engaging and it made me want good things for Grace and just find out what exactly had happened and what the heck was going on with the Scarred Man. I mean, one girl investigating her mother's death is fascinating, especially when it comes with a side of embassy politics and running through tunnels and quirky new friends!

I liked Grace, and I also liked that the way Ally Carter has written this story, you can't really tell if Grace is right or if she's actually imagining things, like everyone keeps telling her. There was constantly this doubt at the back of my mind, wondering if she really was chasing a ghost based on nothing. It kept things interesting. Grace was definitely not ok with her mom dying and there were so many secrets surrounding her death and I had really not expected the twist at the end of All Fall Down. I really hadn't. It was kinda out of the blue and I'm not even sure what just happened and honestly, the ending felt a bit rushed, but maybe that was how it was supposed to feel? To build up anticipation for the next book? I'm not sure.

I LOVED Noah. Noah is awesome. He just comes into Grace's room and announces they're best friends and then he behaves like a best friend and is just extremely lovable. He is just adorable. I'd love to see more of him and get to know more about him in the next book! I also really liked Rosie, who is a little girl ninja and up for the challenge of finding out what the Scarred Man is up to.
And I see some much approved of romantic potential with Alexei, who is pretty swoony and the brother's best friend angle always works for me.
Two people who were very present in All Fall Down without actually making an appearance were Grace's father and her brother Jamie. I'm really hoping we'll actually get to see them in the next book, because Jamie sounds awesome and I need some family members for Grace.

All Fall Down was an interesting start to this series and I did like it, it just wasn't everything I'd hoped it would be. I didn't fully connect to the story and I'm still looking for answers, but maybe that's just the way it is with series sometimes. I'm probably picking up the next book in the series, because I want to know WHY and HOW and WHO and just all of it.

My rating: 3,5 stars