Review: They All Fall Down by Roxanne St. Claire

Title: They All Fall Down

Author: Roxanne St. Claire

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Publishing Date: October 14th, 2014

Pages: 339
Audio Length: Not available on Audio

Genre: Young Adult Thriller

Series: Standalone

Source: Book

 

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.

What made me pick this book up: 

Jenn had it and I had taken a bunch of books from her room (Shh, don't tell!) 

And this one had a great cover, that just screamed murder! And I really like books about people killing people. (Hey! I never said I was normal!)

What did I like about the cover: 

I think it matches well with what the book is about. A table full of pretty girls who have been killed? Yeah, it works. 

I think it would be cool in black and white with some color splash of red. I really like color splash.

What made me read this book: 

It's been on my TBR for a bit, and it matched for a task. So I decided to go for it. 

I hadn't read what the book was about since I found it in her room months ago, so I was kind of going into it blind. 

What did I like the most: 

I loved the mystery of everything. 

The girls were supposedly being killed in freak accidents because of a curse that is associated with the "hottie" list. A list that guys vote on, and the top 10 girls with the most votes are considered the hottest in the school. If you weren't popular before, once you were on the list you automatically were. 

Anyway, the freak accidents that killed each of the girls, were just that, accidents. Or so it seemed. In the previous years with the list, sometimes no one would die, sometimes one or two, but never all of the girls. This year, the 30th year of the list, it seemed that all of the girls were going to die, in order that they were put on the list.

Now if you're like me, you don't believe in curses, or anything of the sort. So of course, I had to keep reading to know why the girls were dying.

The main character was okay, if not just a bit whiny. But I think that's kind of how girls are in high school in books. But she was also pretty smart for the most part. 

I absolutely loved Levi. He was definitely the kind of guy I would see and instantly find hot. Plus he was sweet. Bonus points for being a sweet bad boy. Yum!

What didn't I like: 

I did not like her best friend. Talk about whiny. 

She was obsessed with being popular (Le eye roll) and she was so happy that Kenzie got on the list, because that meant she would be popular by association. 

She didn't even listen to Kenzie when she said she couldn't bring her along and she threw a huge hissy fit. Like a 12 year old. Like come on lady, grow up! 

I also did not like Josh. I feel like he knew he was hot and let it get to his head. He was annoying and cocky. 

Would I read the rest of the series/more from this author?
I think if there was more in a series I would still love it. I haven't checked out any of her other books yet.

I kind of really loved this book. It was a great mystery.

“Nihil Relinquere et Nihil Vestigi.
It says 'to leave nothing behind and no trace.” 
― Roxanne St. Claire, They All Fall Down

I don’t know about you, but when I check out an author's bio, it’s usually because I’ve read a book I liked and wondered about the person behind it. Let's skip the formal bio and I'll give you the inside scoop on who Roxanne St. Claire really is.

First of all, call me Rocki. Everyone does. Evidently, when my mother brought me home from the hospital I seemed too scrawny and small to pull off “Roxanne” (she’d read Cyrano de Bergerac while pregnant or I would have been Judy) so they called me Rocki.
I grew up in Pittsburgh, PA, the youngest of five (overachievers, every one), and fell in love with words and stories the summer I read Gone With The Wind. That year, for my twelfth birthday, my parents gave me a typewriter (with italic font – it was the coolest thing) and from that day on, I’ve had my fingers on a keyboard, pounding out love stories for fun. My AP English teacher taught me the two most important lessons an aspiring author ever needs: 1) verbs are the key to life and 2) a writer should get a real job. After attending UCLA and graduating with a degree in communications, I tried acting and television broadcasting. Oh, they aren’t real jobs? I learned that the hard way. I changed my last name from Zink to St. Claire because a news producer told me Roxanne Zink had too many harsh consonants for a TV personality – apparently Katie Couric didn’t get the memo. I got some fun gigs, and even met Tom Hanks when I did a guest appearance on Bosom Buddies. I liked on camera work, but wasn’t too crazy about starvation, so I moved to Boston and got that “real” job. In fact, I placed my foot on the bottom rung of the corporate ladder and didn’t look down until I’d climbed all the way up to the level of Senior Vice President at the world’s largest public relations firm. On the way up, I met the man of my dreams in an elevator. Two years later – in the same elevator! – he asked me to marry him and I wisely said yes.
I stayed in PR, moved to Miami, had a few babies, lost my home in a hurricane, built another one a few hours north and all along, I kept writing my “stories” for fun. One night, I read a particularly fabulous romance novel that changed my life for good. That night, I decided I wanted to make someone else feel as whole and happy as that author made me feel. (Everyone asks! It was Nobody’s Baby But Mine by Susan Elizabeth Phillips.) With two small children and one big “real” job, writing my first novel wasn’t easy, but I did finish a manuscript that managed to get the attention of a literary agent. She told me to do one thing and one thing fast: write another book. (The first one is usually a “learner” book, honestly.) That second manuscript sold to Simon & Schuster’s Pocket Books and was released in 2003 as Tropical Getaway. Since then, I’ve written almost thirty more, in multiple genres, and long ago replaced the corporate ladder with the rollercoaster of publishing as a full-time novelist. Finally, writing is my real job.
Today, I live in a small beach community in Florida with my husband and two dogs. Our kids are off to college and law school, which means my nest is empty! I spend my time writing, working with the kids at my church, enjoying my husband's gourmet cooking, and hanging with my many writer friends. Of course, I love to read. I’m still crazy about words and stories and hope to write at least a hundred books in my lifetime. And, yes, verbs are the key to life. My favorites? Love. Work. Believe.
xoxo
Rocki