Book Review: Take the Key and Lock Her Up by Ally Carter

*** This is the third book in a trilogy. If you have not read All Fall Down and See How They Run be careful of spoilers. Also read those, they're great. ***

Title: Take the Key and Lock Her Up Series: Embassy Row Written by: Ally Carter Published: December 27, 2016 by Scholastic (Amazon / Goodreads) Synopsis: THE PRINCESS IS DEAD.  LONG LIVE THE PRINCESS.  Centuries ago, the royal family of Adria was killed . . . or so everyone thought. Now Grace Blakely knows the truth:  There was one survivor, and that survivor’s blood runs through her veins. This simple fact could cause a revolution — which is why some people will stop at nothing to keep it from coming to light.  There is only one way for Grace to save herself, save her family, and save the boy she loves. She must outmaneuver her foes, cut through the web of lies that has surrounded her for years, and go back to the source of all her troubles, despite the risk.  If she wins, she will inherit a throne.  And if she loses, she will inherit the fate of all the dead princesses who came before her.

*** I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher at BEA in exchange for an honest review. This fact has not changed my opinion. ***

This was a pretty good conclusion to a good YA political thriller. I really like Ally Carter and she has shown yet again that she can write a fantastic and subtle thriller with this book.

Over the course of the two books I have definitely become attached to these characters. One of the things I like most is the fact that they are all so complex and interesting, especially the main character. Grace is far from perfect. She is the kind of character who makes tons of mistakes and is constantly having to live with the consequences of her actions. She's such a good hero for this kind of story because not only does she make things interesting but she is someone that you want to see succeed.

But she is not the only complex character. This is a political thriller so it is jam packed with political types, royalty, and diplomats who are constantly changing allegiances and keeping things interesting. There are some really odious characters here and I always love that. Throughout the course of three books I have loved seeing figuring out who to trust and who cannot be trusted. The characterizations here are really fantastic.

Every book in this series continues to escalate the plot and change the game when it comes to the overarching story. Take the Key and Lock Her Up did that as well, reading as much like it's own story as a conclusion to the series. And while I did really enjoy that it felt a little odd at times. Like there was a disconnect between the books. It didn't feel much like a cohesive story despite the fact that it did have a solid and satisfying conclusion.

So much of what made this book interesting was the political thriller aspects. There are not a lot of these kinds of YA reads and I really wish there were more because I always enjoy them so much. This was one that was full of twists and turns and things that caught me totally off guard. Not to mention there was so much scheming and plotting that went along with those twists. It was totally shocking but it was really engaging.

Take the Key and Lock Her Up was a good ending to a fun and compelling YA political thriller. It has great characters and a plot full of surprises. I was really happy with this series from start to finish and feel like even though it's a subtle thriller, it's a great read.

I give Take the Key and Lock Her Up by Ally Carter 9 out of 10 stars

Buy/Borrow/Bypass: Buy/Borrow. If you liked the first book in this series then you should absolutely pick this one up. It's not perfect but it was a good ending to the series. I would also absolutely recommend this book to anyone who is looking for more YA political thrillers. It's a pretty good one.