All Fall Down

Title: All Fall Down (Embassy Row #1)
Author: Ally Carter
Genre: YA
Rating: 4.5/5
Cover: 10/10
Release Date: February 5th

I was given an egalley of this book by the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

"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."

**

Stunning, as usual. I had truly missed Carter's specific brand of storytelling; because while the book was in no way thin, it simply flew by in a flash.
Carter is an expert storyteller; she has complete control over the narrative, and it shows very clearly here. We are only allowed to see what she wants us to see, when we want her to see it. As such, everyone becomes a possible suspect, and we end up just as paranoid as Grace. It is a delight to read, making us feel connected to Grace through our confusion and shared mistrust of everyone - and even of Grace, the very unreliable narrator.
And the plot twist at the end (well, one many in a quick succession - this book isn't for the faint of heart, I'll tell you that much!) left me breathless, and desperately wanting to find out more.

That it, ultimately, the one problem I had with All Fall Down: the ending felt a bit rushed. After all the shocks of the last few pages, to have that just dumped on us halfway, and not explained in full, left the ending lacking somewhat compared to the brilliance of the rest of the novel. However, knowing that there will be sequels does help with that, as I'm sure it will all be explained in due course.