Ally Carter, All Fall Down (Embassy Row #1), Scholastic, 1 February 2015, $19.99, 320pp., ISBN 9781743628942
Popular American author Ally Carter has a new series, Embassy Row, of which this is the debut novel. We meet sixteen year old protagonist Grace, on the day of her return to live with her grandfather, ambassador for the United States within the fictional European country of Adria. We learn that Grace had left Adria three years earlier after witnessing the death of her mother, a mystery which will unravel as the novel progresses. The American Embassy in Adria is located on Embassy Row, home of the many countries represented diplomatically and it is the teenagers who reside in these embassies that become Grace’s world for this novel. Like all international relations, there are secrets, romance, crime, errors in diplomacy, and friendships forged out of necessity. This is a pacey novel, with a perfect balance of light heartedness and intrigue. Grace is a modern, assertive and likeable heroine and the diversity of characters represented by the different countries on Embassy Row makes this an original and interesting read. Despite the themes in the plot, the content and language is tame and age appropriate, but Carter maintains a fresh, energised tone to sustain the interest of upper secondary readers.
reviewed by Angie Holst
