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Ally's World #1

The Past, the Present and the Loud, Loud Girl

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Meet the Love children: oh-so-perfect Linn, airy-fairy Rowan, animal-obsessed Tor - and Ally, trying to have a normal life somewhere in the middle of it all. Which isn't easy when you live in a house that's a cross between an animal hospital and something out of 'Changing Rooms'. And then there's school and the small matter of the forgotten history project and the obnoxious new girl that - oh joy! - Ally's been nominated to look after. It's going to be a fun couple of weeks...

This is the first in the wildly successful, utterly loveable "Ally's World" series.

First published January 1, 2001

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326 people want to read

About the author

Karen McCombie

181 books195 followers
Karen McCombie is a bestselling author of children's and young adult novels, and has had more than 90 books published. She is the author of the much-loved series 'Ally's World' (early 2000s) and her most recent books include the Carnegie-nominated historical adventure 'Little Bird Flies' (2019) and it's newly published partner novel 'Little Bird Lands' (2020, Nosy Crow Books), plus the 'St Grizzle's School' series for younger readers (Stripes). She has several books publishing in 2021.
Originally from Scotland, Karen lives in London with her husband, her teenage daughter and beautiful but bitey cat Dizzy.

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5 stars
226 (22%)
4 stars
365 (36%)
3 stars
308 (31%)
2 stars
72 (7%)
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18 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 64 reviews
Profile Image for Olivera.
Author 4 books376 followers
July 27, 2017
This will be my forever favourite book series I have read as a child. I remember that I only came to book six because the local library didn't have the rest and in the book stores these little babies were too expensive. I am so sad I never finished it.

Edit
14/5/17

My nostalgia is preventing me to write an objective review, so you won't get one.
Profile Image for Amanda O'Donnell.
101 reviews16 followers
February 11, 2010
My family's weird. My eldest sister is 17 going on 70, my other sister is away with the fairies (literally - her room is a shrine to whoever invented fairy lights) and my little brother is a space cadet. Me? Somehow I ended up normal, but it's a struggle, let me tell you...
Profile Image for Meg’sLostInABook.
86 reviews3 followers
May 6, 2025
This is exactly what my inner 10 year old me needed on an afternoon before work!

Ally’s World is still quick and easy just as I once remembered.. 🤭
Profile Image for Katie.
199 reviews19 followers
November 15, 2013
**GENERAL REVIEW FOR THE ENTIRE SERIES**

Aww, man....
I started reading these books when I was about nine years old. I don't think I even read them in order at first, just got whichever ones I could find out of my schools library. I loved them. LOVED.

Eventually I figured out the order and filled in the gaps. And then proceeded to read the entire series about five times over. Those were the times.

Ally was my spirit animal in those days. She was a little awkward, wasn't quite sure where she fit into her family, had a nice group of friends but only a special few that she considered best friends. She was unlucky in love, to say the least. That's not even mentioning all of the unbelievably embarrassing moments.

Coupled with a few other series, these books pretty much sum up my childhood reading. I think my heart sank a little when I realised I was reading the last one.
Profile Image for Vick Luck.
113 reviews
May 12, 2024
Příjemná oddechovka, ve které se člověk vrátí do dětství a zdánlivě jednoduchého života školáka. Jakožto vysokoškolská studentka, jež se snaží balancovat sociální život, práci, studium, sport a snahu o samostatnost mi věk třináct let přijde životem nezatížený. Avšak i tehdy jsme řešili problémy, které pro nás měly velkou váhu a není na škodu si je připomenout.
Klidné prostředí okraje Londýna říznuté chaotickou rodinou Love, kde každé z dětí je úplně jiné a dodává příběhu osobité kouzlo. Pánovitá a nejstarší z dcer Lynn se smyslem pro pořádek (zcela s ní souzním), snílkovská tvůrčí Jabla, pohodářka Alice, která sice nevyniká ničím konkrétní, ale čtenářsky je velmi sympatická, a Tor, milovník zvířat a takový roztomilý tichý mimoň. Dohromady složili knížku plnou milých i typicky rodinných situací.
V dětství jsem sérii Alice a... milovala, i když tehdy bylo na světě snad pouze pět knih, takže uvidíme, jestli se odhodlám o rodině Love číst delší dobu, neboť aktuálně je těch knih patnáct. Také jsem zpětně pochopila narážku, kterou český překlad úplně nezvládl. Jedná se o nápis „Naty je motyka“, přičemž Alice se diví, proč by mělo zahradní náčiní být urážka. No, tak s mou aktuální anglickou slovní zásobou již narážku chápu.
Je třeba dodat, že celá kniha je věnována Alicině mamince, která sice celou knihu působí, že zemřela, ale vlastně to není pravda. Rozhodně to nechá čtenáře v napětí.
Profile Image for Belinda.
2 reviews
January 13, 2019
*Series review*

As a kid I really enjoyed reading the whole Ally’s World series, it was subtle in talking about real life problems whilst also having good amounts of humour and really likeable characters!
Profile Image for Inga.
80 reviews
December 31, 2023
Duża rodzina jeah. Ro hipiska. Zwierzęta. Idealna starsza siostra(hihi). Odklejona główna bohaterka. Nie podobało mi się że zakończenie że trzeba następne tomy. No przepraszam bardzo ale gdzie ja to niby kupię. Wsm spoko. Taka książeczka ∆
Profile Image for Paige.
201 reviews
February 27, 2011
brilliant sotry-line and brilliant way that its been written. though i can't help but notice that her oher series (starting with 'an urgent message of wowness') has an incredibly similar storyline but with the father leaving and not the mother. don't get me wrong; they're both great, but i can't help wondering what hapenned at home with the author...
Profile Image for Liz.
342 reviews44 followers
May 1, 2009
I really liked this book. However, I'm 95% happy with the way Karen McCombie handled Kyra's 'confessions' or whatever. She could have written it a bit better. Ally's house and family just suck me in, though :). They're fascinating.
Profile Image for Carys Gidlow.
12 reviews
June 25, 2008
I quite liked this book, it was quite funny and it was a good and easy read. i am now readin the sequel because i liked it so much!
Profile Image for Kyra.
556 reviews250 followers
January 12, 2014
Series Review:

I have finally finished the series. All fourteen books, in a space of ten days. I read the first four books in the series when I was ten or eleven, and I adored them. This January, I really felt like revisiting them, as well as continuing with the rest of the books in the series that were still in the garage. I was scared that I wouldn't like them anymore in case I felt that they were too young for me...but I think I loved them even more this time round. IT WAS JUST...SO... PERFECT! *sobs* And I am now officially emotionally attached to this series.



The whole Ally's World series centers around thirteen year old Ally who lives in Crouch End in London, in her ramshackle house with her quirky family. Throughout the series we are introduced to her sweet, but dippy dad; her seventeen year old sister Linn, who is neat freak and is quite grouchy with the fact that she has to live in such a chaotic house; Rowan, who is fifteen years old and is away with the fairies, her room is completely overtaken by fairy-lights and her own misshapen art projects; last but not least is her seven year old brother Tor, who is an animal fanatic, with a bedroom that doubles as the equivalent of London zoo. The only person missing in this equation is there mom who left them four years ago, battling bad post-natal depression after having Tor, to go travel the world that she has always wanted to see.

I absolutely ADORE Ally's family. They are all so loveable and quirky and I just adore them! Linn is the super-sensible, neat-freak and the oldest one out of the siblings. She also thinks that she has actually been adopted and belongs to a royal family somewhere out there. I felt sorry for Linn, at times I wished she wouldn't be so grouchy, but I could understand the frustration that she felt. I completely adored Rowan, she was utterly adorable and so sweet! I loved how she wasn't afraid to be different and dress quirkily, as it really just made her such a fantastic character that was strong in her own way. Tor was utterly adorable, he is such a cute character, and I loved reading about all his endless pets. I also loved Ivy, who was such a sweet little thing, she is only introduced way later in the series though, so I won't say much else!

I love that Karen McCombie has shown us all these little things that the characters do and how different their personality traits are. She wrote the family aspect amazingly - capturing the chaotic, yet wonderful, every day life of being in a big family. The characters had their ups and downs, where they lent on each other for support when there were times as trouble and I could clearly see the strong bond they all had with each other. It was truly wonderful the way Karen McCombie wrote the life of the Love family.

THE WHOLE FAMILY BOND IS JUST SO BEAUTIFUL.
Throughout Ally's World, we also become acquainted with Sandie, Ally's best friend who can win the award for being The Shyest Person in the Universe; Kyra (my name!), who, at first sights, is seen as rude and obnoxious...but there is more than meets the eye; Billy, Ally's boy best mate and her four other friends who we also begin to know, but not quite as well as the others, who are made up of Chloe, Jen, Salma and Kellie.

The characters in this series are fantastic!

Ally is such a phenomenal character! She is sarcastic, funny, kind and she tells her stories with such an authentic voice. Throughout the series it honestly feels like we have become best friends. I love the way she tells the stories of her everyday life and how she deals with certain situations. She is also a character that I can relate to, as we are both professional worriers.

Then there are Ally's three best friends: Sandie, who is such a sweet character that I immediately liked, although she did disappoint me later on in the story as she did something that she really shouldn't have done, but I suppose it did all workout in the end. Billy, I adored Billy! He is, as Ally calls him, such a berk. He's absolutely hilarious and I often found myself laughing at the ridiculous antics that he could get up to. Then there is Kyra...at first I was disappointed to share my name with her, as she was quite rude and obnoxious without a singular tactful bone in her body.

However, I soon learned about Kyra's troubled home life in book four and I felt sorry for her. Kyra, as a character, definitely improves throughout the series. She is still loud and obnoxious...but she is funny and sarcastic too, which is a good thing. I think.

This is a truly phenomenal series. I would love to say more, especially about books 10 to 14 in the series. Some truly shocking things happened and there were times where I wanted to cry, scream, hug the books and fling them across the room.


My family's reaction to my fangirling state. Ahem.
Whenever I started reading the next book in the series, I felt like I was being welcomed into my second home. It felt like I was literally living in the story, and partaking in the hustle of the Love household's every day life. I felt like part of the family. I know the characters' histories, I know their fears, their wants and I know each of them as they were my own sibling.

I think that's the truly amazing thing that Karen McCombie accomplished when she wrote the stories, is how she makes you feel like you're living in their world. She makes the characters seem so unbelievably real.

When you open another Ally's World book, you'll feel as if you are walking into your second home.

These books are absolutely perfect. The characters are loveable, the dialogue is fantastic and Karen McCombie has a way with words that will have you devouring every word on the page and constantly in hunger for more.

The last book was highly emotional, as I saw how far the characters had come, compared to where they were at in the first book. Laughs will be had, tears will be shed, hearts will broken, unexpected love lurks around the corner, families will fall and families will be completed. The last book was stunning and I was a highly emotional person after the final page had been read. A series that I will cherish. After reading this whole series, I can safely say Karen McCombie is now one of my favourite authors.



If you are to read these books, I'd recommend that you make sure you have all the books in the series at your fingertips, as you'll want to keep reading and drinking in the words and completely losing yourself in Ally's World.



I give it: 5/5 CUPCAKES!
Profile Image for chad chrysanthemum.
356 reviews22 followers
Read
January 15, 2025
Finally, THIS is the chick lit from my childhood I remembered so vividly. Let's be honest they're all kind of iterations on the same form, but this one had by far the most sticking power in my brain (and remained the best on a reread too). It took me absolutely forever to read, but that was more a symptom of the fact I got sidetracked by engineering, fanfiction, and walking so fucking much. It's not the craziest plot in the world, but it's honestly got some not-bad twists. The characters and dynamics are clearly the strongest point - Ally's varied family are all so strongly characterised, and the cast of characters at school are good too. Some of the descriptions, too, were vivid enough that I'd still stored them. I appreciated that this is a book that focuses far more on friendship and family than endless moaning about boys and appearances. This is definitely the one I'd give to my kids to read.
Profile Image for Rita Prates.
205 reviews13 followers
November 18, 2024
"I'm an idiot sometimes, I really am. This bossy, pushy girl tells me to sit down in my own house, and what do I do? I sit down."


Ally’s World had such a hold on me when I was a kid/teen; I read the first six or seven books in portuguese (Clube das Amigas forever) and then begged my mum to let me create an Amazon account so I could get the rest of the books. I think they were the first books I read in English, and re-reading them now I see how much they influenced me. the first time I visited London I went to a bunch of places Ally mentions (including the iconic and eclectic Ally Pally ❤️) just because they were in the books and hey, some of them are still my favourite places in London now, after countless trips and half a decade living here.

these are top tier teen girl books and I will defend them until the end, I’m excited to re-read them all.
Profile Image for C.H. Williams.
Author 9 books9 followers
March 24, 2021
Read for a personal research project on middle-grade fiction. I have fourteen books in the Ally's World series (I don't know if there are any more) but as a young reader I loved these stories and couldn't wait for the next one, and the next! It was a fun and nostalgic read for me. The story still holds up and I feel would still be relevant many years on. Not sure how to rate this as I am no longer the intended audience, and this wasn't strictly reading for pleasure, but I gotta hand it to Karen McCombie for being one of my favourite authors growing up, so five stars!
Profile Image for Doris Day.
6 reviews
March 31, 2017
Ally is a great character, and her whole family are great too - I especially love Rowan. I think this book is really good, it's a happy story with lots of humour, drama and energy. These books are great for showing how hectic family life can be, and it has all the little dramas which occur when a family of four live together. (not counting all the cats and dogs, because I can't remember how many exactly). They are all on top of each other, getting on nerves but ultimately sticking together. I really like the front covers and illustrations of these books, they complement the stories very nicely.

These stories are addictive, and you can read them pretty quickly once you get going, and if you have the opportunity!

I was lucky enough to come across a stack of Ally's World books at a used book store recently, which was great! Because I've read a lot of them in the past, but not really seen them around much recently. Libraries don't seem to want to keep books in stock after a few years. But I have them now! And so I am going to re read them, as part of my 2017 reading challenge.
Profile Image for Hannah Daykin.
29 reviews1 follower
April 7, 2018
I liked this series much more when I was 11 - 14. Rereading the first one it doesn’t grip me like it used to but I would still highly recommend it to people in that age group. It’s a gentle, easy read with a lot of heart.
Profile Image for Tessie Dragon.
469 reviews4 followers
April 7, 2023
Série: Alice a ... .Tuto sérii jsem naprosto milovala.Alice je velmi vtipná a blázen.Oblíbila jsem si celou rodinu a mimo to i Alfieho.Rozhodně doporučuji sice je Alice 13 let,ale myslím,že knížku si můžou přečíst i starší.

Profile Image for Anyla.
10 reviews
June 20, 2017
The Ally's World series is the definition of my childhood/pre-teen years.
30 reviews
May 3, 2021
It is a very interesting story, there are very beautiful moments but others are very funny.
Profile Image for Neha Azhar-Fahad.
199 reviews16 followers
April 2, 2024
A walk down the nostalgic path. Always been a huge fan of Ally Love and family, even in my big age.
20 reviews7 followers
May 17, 2014
I loved this series, as I felt each character brought their own.

Ally - A unconfident yet popular girl who is relatively normal minus the odd dog or 3! yet throughout the series I looked Ally as she never seemed to so defeat and was often the support for her other siblings. Karen McCombie really showed off her characterisation skills throughout and as the series had grown I felt more and more attached to Ally and new she was going to be a memorial character that didn't need other stories to be recognized.

Rowan- I loved rowan as well, funnily I feel Rowan was the most confident as she light up the room (Literally) I loved reading about Rowan, mainly because she was often judged and underestimated, I personally felt sorry for rowan during the bullying story book number 3 as you saw how innocent and vulnerable her character was and how she needed the support of others to get her through. I felt Rowan was at her happiest during her relationship with Alfie. Together they really made me smile as Rowan just wanted someone to love her for who she was and resultantly this was Alfie

Lin - Lin I remember as the neat freak yet she made you smile as you did care. In the first few chapters you got the feeling Lin was separate from the rest of her family due to the way she acted. this was later revealed to be because of the departure of her mum Melanie. I personally feel Lin was important at keeping the family inline and focused yet she did have her moments such as finding out about Rowan and Alfie. this I feel was because of Lin having a great connection with Alfie and Rowan seperatley.

other characters include tor, dad, grandma etc ...
Displaying 1 - 30 of 64 reviews

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