REVIEW: See How They Run by Ally Carter

Some secrets are better left unfound.

For the past three years, Grace Blakely has been desperate to find out the truth about her mother’s murder. She thought it would bring her peace. She thought it would lead her to answers. She thought she could put the past to rest.

But the truth has only made her a target.

And the past?

The only way to put the past to rest is for Grace to kill it once and for all.

On Embassy Row, power can make you a victor or a victim, love can turn you into a fool or a fugitive, and family can lead you forward or bury you deep. Trust is a luxury. Death is a very real threat. And a girl like Grace must be very careful about which secrets she brings to light.

I can honestly say that I did not enjoy See How They Run quite as much as I enjoyed All Fall Down. This isn’t to say that Ally Carter did not do an outstanding job on both of the books, it’s just that the second book in the Embassy Row series is blatantly and obviously a second book in a series. It suffers from the second book womp (and yes, that is what I’m officially calling it).

The reason this book suffered from the second book womp is because of the plot. This is an action series and yet nothing happened until literally a third of the way through the book. As second books go, this one wasn’t terrible, but it was a little slow. Took a third of the book to actually hit a major plot point that hadn’t already been addressed! Grace took the first third of the book to just complain about being alone in the world and how she’s the root of everyone’s problems and yadda yadda, give me your sympathies. Don’t get me wrong, I love Grace. I think she’s a great character, I just wish more had happened in the first third other than hearing about her sorrows over and over.

There were a lot of amends to Grace’s character, though, and that’s one thing I enjoyed reading. She apologized for her flaws and actions, but she still stayed true to her character. But her apologies were not the reason I love Grace. The following quote is why I love her:

“I didn’t mean to say it. Not so quickly. Not like that. But the words have been on a perpetual loop inside my head and now they’re out, tumbling free. I know I should have broken the news gently, eased Jamie off the cliff. But eventually, he had to fall. And I have never been one to fall when I can jump.”

This is the part that completely drives home Grace’s character for me. She’s blunt and broken, and she’ll take down anyone with her that’s in her path of destruction. She knows that anyone who get close to her in a domino and she’s the catalyst. She’s knows this, and bears the weight of such knowledge.

In this book, Jamie comes to Valancia because he’s has been informed that she remembers the night of their mother’s death. Now, while I love the strong relationship between Jamie and Grace, and the fact that Jamie is the one person who knows and accepts Grace through everything, I still kind of wish there was a little tension between them. The only tension we truly saw was between Jamie and Alexei, and I almost wish a little of that had been indirectly directed toward Grace. Does that make me mean?

Honestly, there wasn’t really a reason for Jamie’s character other than to bring the random victim to Valancia, hate on his best friend, and to comfort Grace during her times of need. I hope the third book offers more for Jamie’s character, because he seemed like one of those extra pieces that come with furniture building that you only use if you lose a piece (or if you’re lazy and can’t come up with something better for the plot). Jamie was always in the right place at the right time, and I found it very annoying.

Alexei on the other hand, I did not find annoying. I loved Alexei in this book. He was flirtatious, secretive, and dashing. It was great getting to see more of his character in this book, and I can’t wait for the next book because of his and Grace’s relationship. This isn’t my favorite series by any means because I find the plot a little womp, the twists a little lax, and the characters a little annoying. Nevertheless, I am hooked into the series and I will continue to read the rest of the books to come.

XOXO Tia