[All Fall Down] Ally Carter

     Grace Blakely is absolutely certain of three things:

1. She is not crazy.
2. Her mother was murdered.
3. Someday she is going to find the killer and make him pay.

***THIS REVIEW IS SPOILER FREE***

Genre: Suspense, YA, Mystery

Author: Ally Carter

Content: Things get the tiniest bit violent at a few points.

Recommended for: Anyone who wants to have their soul brutally ripped apart, pureed, and then served back to them on a spoon.

Kidding.

(Mostly).

Fans of Ally Carter (le duh), suspense, fast pacing, geeky sidekicks and international intrigue. 

Memory: "I stare back and then something occurs to him. "Oh, you need me to turn around? Here. I'll turn around.""

Rating: Five. Freaking. Stars. 

     Overall:

     I am a big Ally Carter fan. I have been for almost three years now. She's one of those authors that I trust will always give me a good story. I don't have to spend time deciding if I want to buy her book when it comes out or not because it's been preordered since the option was available.

    So, going into this, I knew I would love it. 

    I just didn't know that I would love it this much. 

     Gosh, I don't even know where to start with this. There's so much I love about this book, honestly. I love love love the setting - Embassy Row is so fun to read about. I also love the way that Ally sets up the plot - I won't go into great detail because SPOILERS, but it's...

      Well.

       Remember what I said about plot twists galore? 

       They're in here. Trust me. 

        GAAAH. I really don't even know how to describe this book without spoiling the entire thing or being too vague. D: You know what? I'm going to be lazy and make a list. Because reasons. 

• GRACE. I love Grace. I love how it feels being in the mind of someone who cannot even trust herself - it makes you think twice about everything that you're told. 
• The fact that real-world relations between countries affects relationships between the Embassy Kids (does that sound like a band? I think it sounds like a band.) Particularly the Noah/Iran situation, and the whole relationship between Alexei and Grace. 
• The mystery. It was impossible to follow, but in a good way. The moment I started to feel like I knew where things were going, Ally gave out a new bit of information that completely changed everything I knew. And the end is explosive. Did not see that coming. 

     Speaking of the ending...you wanna know where, exactly, I finished this book?

     In Rooms-To-Go. 

     While one of the employees was helping my mom. 

     Just picture this, okay? I'm sitting on a couch (because why not), reading, blah blah blah...and then I'm maybe five pages from the end. I lower the book in horror. I squeak. I'm pretty sure I grow pale. I pull the book closer and read the last few pages and then just kind of...flop. 

     My grandma asks, "What's wrong? What happened to her?"

     Ally Carter, Grandma. Ally Carter happened. 

Characters:

     Obviously I am a sucker for characters. It's usually my favorite part of a book. 

     This is no exception. 

     And I'm resorting to lists again. Oops?

• Grace. Grace. GRACE. Grace is mean at times, maybe crazy, slow to trust, and a wreck, and she's one of the best protagonists I've ever read. Because on top of all of those other things, she's loyal, and she really does care, and she's heartbreaking. 
• N O AH . Easily one of my favorite parts of the book! Noah is a dork, really. He's part Israeli and part Brazilian, a footballer, and just an all around cool guy. The quote in the Memory section is actually from him - and it was the exact moment I realized he'd become a favorite. 
• Megan: I have mixed feelings about you, Megan. You kick butt. You are pretty darn cool. But I'm also, somehow, not sure you can be trusted? Hmm. 
• Rosie. AKA the most adorable 12-year-old girl to grace (ha. Grace.) YA history. Really, though. The first thing you hear her say is that she was going to be a gymnast but now she's too big, and that she likes to take tours of the Roman tunnels beneath the city. 
• Alexeiiiiiiii. You're a darling. And I eventually am going to need you and Grace together, 'kay? My ship must sail. I think, somehow, we're going to get a lot of his backstory - something probably very sad that will make everyone collectively aaaawwww and D: at the same time - next book. 
• Ms. Chancellor. This lady, okay? Imagine a combination of a female version of Uncle Eddie from Heist Society and Aunt Abby from Gallagher Girls, with a bit of Julie Andrews in The Princess Diaries thrown in. Then you have an almost-complete picture of Ms. Chancellor. Imagine. The. Sheer. Awesome. 

     TL;DR: I love this book. Please go buy a copy and read it and sob and laugh and fall in love with it.

      I need book 2. 

    

[January 2015 Wrap-Up]

     Hey guys!
     So, I've not posted in a couple of weeks, but I have been reading.
     I mean. It's not necessarily what was on my TBR list. But I've been reading. If you look on my Goodreads, you'll be able to see what I've been up to this month, literary-wise.
      And while it isn't the end of the month yet, I'm slowing down on reading (with the exception of two FABULOUS NEW RELEASES COMING OUT THIS WEEK) to make some headway in my writing (you can read about that here). So, here's what I've done this month:

      From My TBR List:
      Guys. This is really pathetic. I finished Maisie Dobbs, The Girls at the Kingfisher Club, and most of Only Yesterday. *blinks* Oops. Try again next month, I guess. xD

       Other:

• All three books in The Raven Cycle by the fabulous Maggie Stiefvater! I read The Scorpio Races right after Christmas and loved it. Also loved these. GANSEY. <3
• Perfect Scoundrels (Ally Carter). (And okay, this was a reread, sssshhh)
• The Impersonator/Silent Murders (Mary Miley). These were so much fun! You can read about her research and writing on her blog. I really enjoyed these two--mysteries set in 1924-1925? Heck yes. Gimme. 
• Don't Touch (Rachel M. Wilson). This was good. Not what I was expecting, but really good. 

And that's all I read this month. :3 However. There are two more books I can guarantee I'll read before January's up, and they are (you guessed it) All Fall Down and Fairest! I am so excited for these, guys. I might just explode.
     Till next book,

[Book Release] Fairest and All Fall Down!

     A few updates!
     Number one being that I am almost done with Only Yesterday. This book has been super fun to read, guys. Like, it's a history book and I'm cracking up reading it. More on that in the review. ;)
     Number two...I am ashamed. I completely forgot to mention Fairest and All Fall Down in my TBR post!
     I've been looking forward to these since they were announced!

Fairest (Marissa Meyer) and All Fall Down (Ally Carter): Predictions and Excitement

Fairest
     Back in April, I read the first three books in The Lunar Chronicles (Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress). They were recommended to me by my cousin and her friend, by my aunt, and by various positive reviews I read. So I requested the first one from the library.
     And the second.
     And I begged my friend to loan me the third.
     And I read them all in under a month, only to find out that the third, Winter, wouldn't be released until 2015!
     So like any normal reader, I googled the Chronicles and obsessed over everything. I read theories. I stalked it on Goodreads, Pinterest, Tumblr. I liked all the Facebook pages.
     And then....one fateful day... I read that Winter had been postponed  until December of 2015.
     NO.
     But alas, it was true. Shortly after Fairest was announced, and I was slightly soothed.
     Slightly.
     But anyways.
     I am beyond excited for this book. There's just something about preordering a book, you know? When release day comes around I constantly look out the window, waiting for the mail to come. And when it does I run out the door, meet the UPS man halfway up the driveway, and tear through the house like a madwoman.

     I fully expect this to be the case on January 27th.

     So what am I looking forward to about Fairest? To start, it's a whole book on Levana. One of the most interesting (and possibly complex) characters of the whole series. A villain. A queen. A tyrant. Levana is cruel, heartless (or so she seems), and vicious, but she also held my interest like few of the other characters could. She's intriguing.
     And a whole book about her is definitely something to be excited about. I'm expecting:

• A (possibly dead) love interest
• Lots of secrecy and betrayal 
• SIBLING DRAMA. Channary and Levana were in a constant state of catfight-y-ness and no one can convince me otherwise.
• Exploration of Luna, Lunar customs and government, Lunar society...Lunar everything.

All Fall Down
     I am a huge fan of Ally Carter. Her Heist Society trilogy (hopefully soon-to-be saga?) is one of my favorite series, and Hale is forever my standard of male sidekicks in YA lit. Gallagher Girls is also a favorite (but not quite as high-up as HS).
     So, naturally, I'm excited for a new Carter book! And the premise on this one is super intriguing. Grace, from the preview I read a few months ago, seems like she's going to quickly become a favorite with me. And I'm really looking forward to meeting the other kids of Embassy Row--and getting the other books in this series!
      Given that this is a brand new series, I don't have much to go on and can't guess much about what it'll be like. But here's what I'm thinking so far:

• As always with Ally, a hilarious protagonist and a memorable set of characters (with one Hale-like guy, thank you very much).
• Political drama. Can security guards be imposed upon Grace? I think that would turn out super funny.
• Lots of feels. Going into it, we know that Grace's parents are dead (I think, someone correct me if I'm wrong) and that her mother's death still haunts her. Sounds like a recipe for serious damage to my poor fangirl heart.
• Plot twists galore. Ally Carter always manages to come up with something that makes me go "What?? No way!" and then plow through the rest of the book. I'll avoid spoilers, but there are a few I can think of from Heist Society and a LOT from Gallagher Girls. 

So there it is, guys. We'll see how these two pan out (I'm expecting them to be amazing) on the 27th!
Till next book,