Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.69 AVERAGE
3.69 AVERAGE
The plot twist I can't deal with it???????? I liked that this was a lighthearted mystery and then things kept getting darker and it was so sad that Grace fell into the hole of being 'crazy' and it hurt, cos she wasn't crazy and then..... Oh man. Just WHY.
Would probably read the sequels, but not for a while...
Would probably read the sequels, but not for a while...
This review was written for 'The Review Diaries'
You can read the full review here:
http://reviewdiaries.blogspot.fr/2015/01/review-all-fall-down-by-ally-carter.html
I absolutely love Ally Carter’s previous series, both Gallagher Girls and the Heist books, so I couldn’t wait to get my hands on her latest offering and get to know a whole new world. Unfortunately my anticipated love affair with ‘All Fall Down’ didn’t quite go as I’d anticipated.
The concept is great, the world is wonderful, the writing is up to Carter’s brilliant standard, but sadly there were problems. The biggest one being Grace herself. I never really felt like I connected with Grace, which is I think due in part to the fact that Grace is the most unreliable narrator I have ever come across in fiction. By about a third of the way through the book I just didn’t trust her at all, which meant that my enjoyment of the book became severely compromised.
It comes across as for a much younger audience, perhaps on that transition line for those just coming into young adult fiction. In part due to the style, but mostly again due to Grace. She never struck me as a sixteen year old teenager, she felt as though she’d gotten stuck at age thirteen. Understandable given the circumstances, but a little bit frustrating to read.
You can read the full review here:
http://reviewdiaries.blogspot.fr/2015/01/review-all-fall-down-by-ally-carter.html
I absolutely love Ally Carter’s previous series, both Gallagher Girls and the Heist books, so I couldn’t wait to get my hands on her latest offering and get to know a whole new world. Unfortunately my anticipated love affair with ‘All Fall Down’ didn’t quite go as I’d anticipated.
The concept is great, the world is wonderful, the writing is up to Carter’s brilliant standard, but sadly there were problems. The biggest one being Grace herself. I never really felt like I connected with Grace, which is I think due in part to the fact that Grace is the most unreliable narrator I have ever come across in fiction. By about a third of the way through the book I just didn’t trust her at all, which meant that my enjoyment of the book became severely compromised.
It comes across as for a much younger audience, perhaps on that transition line for those just coming into young adult fiction. In part due to the style, but mostly again due to Grace. She never struck me as a sixteen year old teenager, she felt as though she’d gotten stuck at age thirteen. Understandable given the circumstances, but a little bit frustrating to read.
4 Stars
This was a hard read. I had to slodge through the first 2 chapters again, I put it down years ago and never picked it back up.
It got better. This storyline is a unique one and I hadn't read anything like that before. The mystery was intriguing and the kids as relatable as are the adults.
Ally Carter does tend to be the younger end of YA and I would have loved this more as a younger tike. My complaints would probably lie in the love interest that needn't be there and the fact that a good chunk of the book was just them following some guy around a city for days on end.
Aside from that i'm glad I finished it - it was a really good filler. Sadly it was no Heist Society.
Would definitely recommend for it's international angle and for the ball scenes but it was a very easy-filler read for me after the initial few chapters.
This was a hard read. I had to slodge through the first 2 chapters again, I put it down years ago and never picked it back up.
It got better. This storyline is a unique one and I hadn't read anything like that before. The mystery was intriguing and the kids as relatable as are the adults.
Ally Carter does tend to be the younger end of YA and I would have loved this more as a younger tike. My complaints would probably lie in the love interest that needn't be there and the fact that a good chunk of the book was just them following some guy around a city for days on end.
Aside from that i'm glad I finished it - it was a really good filler. Sadly it was no Heist Society.
Would definitely recommend for it's international angle and for the ball scenes but it was a very easy-filler read for me after the initial few chapters.
Full disclosure: Ally Carter is my favorite YA author. I love how she writes teen girls, their friendships, and the way the world views both. I fully expected to love AFD. And I did ... But not for the normal reasons.
Instead of the fun, smart, tense girl spy/con caper I expected, Carter gave us Grace. Grace who is strong and weak and broken and daring anyone to call her so. Grace who is hurt and unstable and trying her hardest not to be. And given what she's been through, it would be an insult to ask her to be anything else. Would it be more fun if she were whole? Yes. Would she be more likable if she weren't reckless or unsure or someone who lashes out? Yes.
But would she be real? No. She would not be real. And I applaud Carter for making me feel all the panic and paranoia and self-doubt that Grace feels.
The reasons I haven't given AFD 5 stars are two-fold: 1) Wow, I am glad we don't end here, because that twist? I need to know how Grace deals now. And HOW do we go on from here? Where is there to go? I feel unsettled by that bombshell, and needed a little more time to come to grips. Maybe? 2) That last page makes me nervous. Given the high emotional stakes, I find myself hoping the rest of the series DOESN'T turn into what I've come to expect from Carter. Grace deserves more than that.
In conclusion, this may not be the book I expected, but it is a stellar character study of Grace Blakeley.
Instead of the fun, smart, tense girl spy/con caper I expected, Carter gave us Grace. Grace who is strong and weak and broken and daring anyone to call her so. Grace who is hurt and unstable and trying her hardest not to be. And given what she's been through, it would be an insult to ask her to be anything else. Would it be more fun if she were whole? Yes. Would she be more likable if she weren't reckless or unsure or someone who lashes out? Yes.
But would she be real? No. She would not be real. And I applaud Carter for making me feel all the panic and paranoia and self-doubt that Grace feels.
The reasons I haven't given AFD 5 stars are two-fold: 1) Wow, I am glad we don't end here, because that twist? I need to know how Grace deals now. And HOW do we go on from here? Where is there to go? I feel unsettled by that bombshell, and needed a little more time to come to grips. Maybe? 2) That last page makes me nervous. Given the high emotional stakes, I find myself hoping the rest of the series DOESN'T turn into what I've come to expect from Carter. Grace deserves more than that.
In conclusion, this may not be the book I expected, but it is a stellar character study of Grace Blakeley.
I was in grade 6 when I bought and first read this book. It's been (more than) six years, my god. I guess this might've been the actual, for real this time, first YA book I ever read. Which means that the younger audience and extreme amounts of melodrama didn't even catch on my radar at the time. I was the target audience, and everything Grace ever did was completely justifiable to my 11 year old mind. I never found her annoying in the slightest, even when she repeats like 7 times virtually identical lines about how likely she is to make the city fall down and that she hates/can't respect people for caring about her. Girl has some extreme self image issues. Girl cannot take a step back. But can't we all relate to thinking we're the worst thing in the world but also the most important? Just most, things are the most. I feel like that is a phase we all must get through to some degree. And in Grace's case...
I was worried that this reread would kill my fond memories of this book. I was lucky and I was wrong because this will always be a comfort read for me, and I will always be on board with it because I got into it at the right time, even if future books like it might not fly with my current tastes, and I should've known this from my 39 clues reread binge last year. I'm grateful for that.
One thing that has always slightly itched about this book is how much of a fever dream the last 10 percent feels like in a way that doesn't hit completely what it's going for for me. Tension is just weirdly gone and..hold on...is she literally locked in a literal tower??? The pacing and tension is so tight up to then and the scenes so purposeful and then the ending is still not the worst or anything but idk.
Also in previous reads I noticed that Carter reuses the name Petrovic/Petrovich in two of her series, but this is the first time I noticed that Valancia feels potentially Dubrovnik-inspired. Which is kinda cool.
Spoiler
well, she wasn't really wrong, was she?I was worried that this reread would kill my fond memories of this book. I was lucky and I was wrong because this will always be a comfort read for me, and I will always be on board with it because I got into it at the right time, even if future books like it might not fly with my current tastes, and I should've known this from my 39 clues reread binge last year. I'm grateful for that.
One thing that has always slightly itched about this book is how much of a fever dream the last 10 percent feels like in a way that doesn't hit completely what it's going for for me. Tension is just weirdly gone and..hold on...is she literally locked in a literal tower??? The pacing and tension is so tight up to then and the scenes so purposeful and then the ending is still not the worst or anything but idk.
Also in previous reads I noticed that Carter reuses the name Petrovic/Petrovich in two of her series, but this is the first time I noticed that Valancia feels potentially Dubrovnik-inspired. Which is kinda cool.
I honestly did not like this book until the final five pages. It seemed A) too long for me considering how little happened in those pages (and I read this in about two hours, mind you) and B) a little immature in its writing. I stand by it being strictly more middle grade that I usually like, but those last few pages were intriguing enough that I guess I'll read the next one.
SUMMARY
Grace is the 16 year old granddaughter of the US ambassador to Adria (probably) a country in Europe. She goes to live there three years after her mother is murdered in front of her, but no one believes that her mother was murdered and insist she died in a fire. Grace sees the "Scarred Man" she is convinced killed her mother, spends most of the book following him, blah. Turns out Dominic (so called Scarred Man) was in love with mom, was ordered by the PM of Adria to kill the mother (why WE DON'T KNOW), was going to FAKE her death, but idiot Grace saw the faked death, thought it was real, shot at Dominic, hit and killed her mom. I think that's what happened.
Book ends with Ms Chancellor, the Q to her grandfather, revealing her mother was "not JUST an antiques dealer" and leading her to a mysterious room under the embassy.
Also there's weird stuff kinda happening with Noah and Alexei, two other boys who live on Embassy Row.
SUMMARY
Grace is the 16 year old granddaughter of the US ambassador to Adria (probably) a country in Europe. She goes to live there three years after her mother is murdered in front of her, but no one believes that her mother was murdered and insist she died in a fire. Grace sees the "Scarred Man" she is convinced killed her mother, spends most of the book following him, blah. Turns out Dominic (so called Scarred Man) was in love with mom, was ordered by the PM of Adria to kill the mother (why WE DON'T KNOW), was going to FAKE her death, but idiot Grace saw the faked death, thought it was real, shot at Dominic, hit and killed her mom. I think that's what happened.
Book ends with Ms Chancellor, the Q to her grandfather, revealing her mother was "not JUST an antiques dealer" and leading her to a mysterious room under the embassy.
Also there's weird stuff kinda happening with Noah and Alexei, two other boys who live on Embassy Row.
This book was pretty good for the most part but I didn't care for the ending. That caused me to bump it down from a 3 to a 2.
I didn't really care for grace as a character either. I liked Megan and rosie much better. Noah was odd. The first time grace meets him, he says, "hi. Im your best friend." That just seemed like such an awkward way to begin a friendship that I really didn't buy them as friends.
It felt like this book existed purely with the purpose of setting up the next one.
I didn't really care for grace as a character either. I liked Megan and rosie much better. Noah was odd. The first time grace meets him, he says, "hi. Im your best friend." That just seemed like such an awkward way to begin a friendship that I really didn't buy them as friends.
It felt like this book existed purely with the purpose of setting up the next one.
A fun thriller/mystery, started quickly and I cared about the characters very early on. Worth looking for the rest of the series but probably not worth re-reading.