They All Fall Down by Roxanne St. Claire {review & giveaway}

Hello, all! Today, as part of the They All Fall Down Blog Tour, I'll be sharing my thoughts on the book and giving away a finished copy! 

They All Fall Down
by Roxanne St. Claire
♦publisher: Delacorte Press
♦release date: October 14, 2014
♦harcover, 339 pages
♦intended audience: Young adult
♦source: from publisher for honest review

Every year, the lives of ten girls at Vienna High are transformed.

All because of the list.

Kenzie Summerall can't imagine how she's been voted onto a list of the hottest girls in school, but when she lands at number five, her average life becomes dazzling. Doors open to the best parties, new friends surround her, the cutest jock in school is after her.

This is the power of the list. If you're on it, your life changes.

If you're on it this year? Your life ends.

The girls on the list have started to die, one by one. Is it a coincidence? A curse? Or is the list in the hands of a killer?

Time is running out for Kenzie, but she’s determined to uncover the deadly secret of the list...before her number’s up.

Review: In a story as fun and entertaining as it is dark and murderous, They All Fall Down delivers a smart heroine, a bullet-fast pace, and a murder mystery that just keeps coming with the surprises. 

Kenzie has a good head on her shoulders and every determination to get through high school unscathed and into Cambridge. Her big brother, Connor, was in a freak accident two years ago, leaving his sister grieving, their parents unable to see eye to eye, and their mother terrified of danger in even the most unlikely scenarios.  Kenzie rails against her to get a little bit of freedom—this is her biggest daily problem, until one day she makes it on “The Hottie List”.  It’s a secret list that every boy in school votes on, but every year it puts ten girls at the top. As cheesily named as it is sexist, Kenzie can’t help but roll her eyes at this supposed “honor”.  Her best friend, Molly, can’t believe their luck and plans to ride Kenzie’s coat tails into popularity, something the two of them have never had.

The deaths start piling up as each girl on the list gets picked off in order, and rumors of a curse are flying, but Kenzie’s not buying it.  I loved her sharp humor and her cynical attitude toward the ridiculous things that people around her were taking at face value, including the list itself.  Sure, she’s pulled along into it all, but she quickly confirms for herself that popularity and its perks may not be what she wants at all. She takes it on herself to figure out exactly what is going on before her number is up. I felt for her vulnerability that came from her grief and I loved the fact that she was willing to let someone in that everyone else had written off.

Even the romance proved to be edge-of-your-seat: falling for the bad boy is definitely frowned upon by her “list sisters”, especially when he turns up as suspect #1 in the murders.  No love triangle here---of the two main male characters, it’s pretty clear which one Kenzie will fall for…and which one will turn out to be not only a jerk, but one scary disaster.  Best friend Molly’s likability was off and on for me, as were many of the characters, but all of them made for an interesting mix.

It’s a crazy twist of an end that sets these characters up for possible future adventures, though I found it a little far-fetched, especially concerning the mother’s very severe change of heart and the likelihood of the FBI asking a bunch of teens to take on a very deadly mission---but it was a really fun story and had me wildly entertained from beginning to end. This is definitely something I can see turning into a show or movie along the lines of Pretty Little Liars!

Find Roxanne St. Claire online: Website  •  Twitter  •  Facebook

Purchase the book:  BN.com  •  Bookdepository  •  Indiebound

GIVEAWAY!

The awesome folks at Delacorte are allowing me to give one finished copy to one very lucky blog visitor! Enter below!

•US mailing addresses only please

• Must be 13 or older

•Ends  November 13, 2014

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