They All Fall Down by Roxanne St Claire - Review

Title: They All Fall Down
Author: Roxanne St Claire
Genre: YA Mystery/Thriller
Published by: Delacorte Press
Published in: 14th October 2014
Content warning: Deaths
Format: E-book
Source: Bought
My Rating: ★★★★ 

Pretty Little Liars meets Final Destination in this YA psychological thriller that will have readers' hearts racing right till the very end!                                                                        
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.

        It has been a month or so since I have started blogging and I have to say, it has been so rewarding! I'm sure a lot of you have felt the same way because the book-blogging/book-tubing community is so fantastical and mystical that they are just a WORLD on their own :) I am still learning various bookish blog things and trying to settle down into a routine and blogging style that suits me so those who have been reading my blog (yea you! My precious few! haha!), thank you so much for your patience!

Now on to my howl for this book:

MORE PRETTY LITTLE LIARS THAN FINAL DESTINATION REALLY.

 (also, second love interest with the name Levi in about ten books I've read. I mean, I already have my very own Levi-named fictional boyfriend so if I read about another guy named Levi, everything about him in my head would be...)

        They All Fall Down is tells its story from the POV of Mackenzie Summerall, who is a latin geek. She is a pretty average high school student who just wants to get a scholarship to her dream college in order to get away from her mother's obsession of keeping Kenzie safe and her mundane high school life. The mundanity gets thrown out of the window when one day Kenzie finds out that she has been placed FIFTH on the high schools very own "Hottie List", in which the guys in her high school vote for the top 10 hottest girls in school to be on the list. However, the supposedly glamorous benefits of being of on the list quickly turns into a prerequisite to get you killed as the girls on the list start dying one by one, and it might be Kenzie turn soon.

        I absolutely loved the suspense of this book. The author really threw me off into different directions when it came to having me guess the culprit behind the deaths of the girls. There was an "Urban Legend" vibe to the story, as there was speculation among previous members of the list and those who were involved in it that there was a curse revolving around said list, that the deaths may even have supernatural causes. The book also became thrilling towards the climax, when the pacing was at its max and there was a lot of action going on. It allowed me to race through it super fast and to turn each page without hesitation. 

        Kenzie played her main female protagonist role great. She did not really care for popularity in high school and after the initial surprise of finding out that she was fifth on the "Hottie List", her opinion on popularity did not change. Everyone in her school was freaking out over that list, and how if you were a part of it, gateways to elite parties and a membership to the in crowd opens, and that it is a seriously BIG, BIG THING. It was so overhyped in the book that it made me question whether the author wrote it sarcastically, to mirror how superficial popularity actually is. Coming back to Kenzie, she is the only one worth remembering really. She is the most sensible and level-headed one, being aware of how degrading the list is to girls, and freaking out over the thing others should be freaking out on a.k.a. the seemingly coincidental deaths of the girls ON the list and taking actual precautions and actions to investigate the truth. It was also nice to see her being human and taking pleasure of the fact that her long-time crush was now noticing her, but it was still not an excuse to let a boy dictate her (or her name).

I give They All Fall Down 4/5 stars, as there was never a boring moment in the book for me. There were definitely plot holes and suspension of disbelief was required during certain disconnected and far-fetched parts but I was too entertained to meticulously pick on them. The light romance did not made me roll my eyes so that was a plus too! The author wrote her book genre really well and deserves a thumbs up for maintaining a slight level of light-heartedness of this young adult mystery and thriller. Would recommend to YA book lovers who don't like their mysteries/thrillers being overly dismal, dark and gritty.