All Fall Down by Ally Carter

All Fall Down 
by Ally Carter
Read: January 15 - 17, 2015
Published:  January 20, 2015 by Scholastic Press
Source: ARC from publisher. (TY, Scholastic!)
Category: YA thriller, foreign embassy
Series: Embassy Row #1
Find: Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | The Book Depository

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. 
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Set-up
Everyone will tell you that Grace's mother died three years ago in a tragic accident. Except Grace is certain her mom's death was not an accident at all, but murder. Grace know's she's not crazy, because she was there. She watched it happen. But no one believes her. With her soldier father deployed in the Middle East and her brother at West Point, Grace is back living in Embassy Row with her Grandfather, the most important US Ambassador to Europe. But Embassy Row is also where her mother grew up, and Grace is surrounded by her mother's memory, and her own growing determination to find her mother's killer.  

YA Thriller
In the letter I received with the ARC of All Fall Down, author Ally Carter calls her latest a "YA thriller set in a foreign embassy." Well that grabbed me immediately, and as expected, this is an exciting beginning to what I'm already certain is going to be a favorite series. While the first half of the story was slower paced, containing world building and set-up about Grace and her history, Embassy Row and it's inhabitants, the second half exploded into the rapid-fire thriller I was expecting, especially in the final quarter. I definitely did not see those last chapters coming! One of the many things I love about All Fall Down is how excited I am for what is to come in the future. I can't believe I'm going to have to wait so long for more.

Embassy Row
This book is set the American Embassy in a nonexistent country in European, though all the foreign Embassies surrounding the American Embassy are real - as are their relationships with each other. Some interactions are definitely more strained than others, and one wrong move could very well cause an international crisis. I loved getting to know Embassy Row and the other countries and inhabitants along the street. I usually struggle with books that take place in fake countries, but I can imagine that there's a bit more freedom for Carter setting her story in fictional Adria instead of a real nation. Thankfully, this book does have a small-European-country-located-along-the-Mediterranean feel, including a history of kings and conquest. 

Grace 

I just want to give Grace a hug, only she wouldn't like that very much, especially if it was accompanied by pity. My heart broke for her. She has faced immense personal tragedy and upheaval in the past three years. Not to mention believing something that everyone else refuses to consider. Grace is fierce and fragile. Incredibly impulsive and vulnerable. She doesn't trust easily, but she is desperate for someone to trust her. There are many sides to this girl, and I felt them over the course of this story. But even when I wanted to yell at her to slow down and think, I was always rooting for her. Grace goes through an incredible evolution in this book, and I'm very excited to see how she transforms and develops as the series continues.  

Friends
Grace is in desperate need of a support system, and relationships are always one of my favorite parts of Carter's stories. I love seeing the eclectic mix of friends Carter's characters amass. Grace doesn't go looking for friends, but they find her anyway, and in true Carter fashion, they all have their own special talents and involve themselves in quite the intrigue when they get together.  This is the beginning of what will hopefully turn out to be a close group, which is exactly what Grace needs. 

Romance 

There is the barest hint of a romance in this book - one blink and it's gone. But I'm intrigued by the direction it's taking and I hope it sticks.  I am a fan of Carter's slow burn style, and the fact that the love doesn't take over the rest of the plot. There are two guys in the book, though one is firmly in the friend camp as of now. At this point, I'm not sure I could completely predict where the relationships are heading.  But, Grace has a lot more to focus on that isn't guys, and Carter isn't known for relationship angst or drama - or love triangles. Instead of nervous, I'm excited to see how this develops. 

Themes

Grace feels powerless and undermined throughout most of this book, and yet as the granddaughter of an ambassador, she is a representative of her country and expected to act in a certain way. (Of course she doesn't usually pay attention to what she's suppose to be doing.) What Grace notices very quickly is how men are mostly the ones with visible power in her grandfather's world. But, Grace also begins to notice the strength of women around her, even though it's often expressed less visibly. Ms. Chancellor is one of the most interesting women in this regard. It's clear that she has a lot more influence than what it appears on the surface. Grace's friend Megan is another who is more than she appears. I'm really excited to see how these themes progress in the series, and watching Grace gain confidence and learn to see her own power.  

Conclusion
All Fall Down ends after a mass of revelation, and now I'm itching for the next book. I can't wait to be inside Grace's head again. I'm eager for relationships continue to build, more information to unravel and the danger to increase. Don't miss this one. 

Love Triangle Factor: None - very little romance in this book. Only a hint of the direction. Carter does great slow burn, though. 

Cliffhanger Scale: Medium. This is definitely built as a series and I am DYING for more. Lots of revelations near the end of this book, but doesn't end in the middle of danger.