Before the Fall: Departure

Embassy Row #0.4

by Ally Carter

Genres: Young Adult, Mystery, Short Stories, Contemporary, Adventure, Fiction, Coming Of Age

12 pages, ebook

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

Ally Carter writes books about sneaky people and movies about Christmas. She is the New York Times Best-selling author of the Gallagher Girls, Heist Society, and Embassy Row series for teens as well as WINTERBORNE HOME FOR VENGEANCE AND VALOR for younger readers. Her books have been published all over the world, in over twenty languages.

She encourages you to visit her online at allycarter.com and embassyrowbooks.com.

Reviews

[Mora]

Guess who a) just found out this existed and b) will take any excuse to procrastinate?

I liked this one better than the other short story bc it showed Jamie and Grace together and how much Jamie cares about her. It also had Grace's feelings about Adria that she hides in the first book - shows how she viewed it coming in, which we don't get immediately in All Fall Down.

[shiloh · Rating 4 out of 5]

(I’m really only writing this because my goal was to review every single book I read this year.)

I’m so excited to start this series! The writing sucked me in, and I’m really starting to wonder what the plot of the first book is…

Anyways having this be a whole different novella doesn’t seem too necessary…like it could have been combined with 0.5.

I enjoyed it nonetheless 🤷‍♀️

(Not doing content & age rating bc its so short)

[Veronica · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wasn't a huge fan of the Embassy Row trilogy but have a compulsive need to finish things. The good news is that this is free. The bad news is that, as a prequel, it's kind of boring. The somewhat okay news is that it features big brother Jamie looking out for his sister. (I’m kind of a sucker for protective older brother moments).

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOL, "I'll be good... I'm not going to stir up trouble."
Grace is just not a lucky duck, ya know?

I also can’t help but still point out this all could’ve been avoided if they didn’t make her think she was crazy, but whatever 😎

Also, Jason Statham?! That is just perfect, I won't be able to think of anything else now when I picture their dad. :D

[Bronwyn Lok · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full review at https://bronzelock619.blogspot.com/2018/04/before-fall-departure-embassy-row-04.html.

This short story, with just two scenes, gave us a glimpse of Grace's life before she was shipped off to Adria, from living in an army base, to the helplessness her father and brother felt due to her fragile mental condition. It also featured intimate moments with her brother, which was quite moving as they showed that he truly cared about her.

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

The problem with this series is that I was reading it like it was a Gallagher Girl novel. And it was not that. I mean it does have an element of politics and mystery, but it's more about grief and how we process that.

Reading this short after reading the series, I can see the layers more clearly of the story. How it fits in more with the whole. I like it.

[Asyirah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first time I am reading all of the series’ novellas, to read everything in the series in order. But this short felt very unnecessary. Maybe I’ve read it before at the back of some of her other books as extras, or if this is included in my copy of All Fall Down, but honestly don’t waste your time reading this because this will be outlined in the book anyways.

[Elaine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun to find this, even if it's years after I read the book. (I found it at a scholastic.com link when I Googled the title. AN EMBASSY ROW SHORT - Scholastic https://www.scholastic.com/allyambass...)

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was 12 pages long and only took a few minutes to read. It's been awhile since I reread any Embassy Row books, but I do remember the premise of the first book. This little prequel gave some background to how Gracie's dad and Jamie decided to send her to the grandfather's place.

[M. Basnet · Rating 1 out of 5]

All the while I kept thinking, what happened to her dad? He's not mentioned much in the series, or to my recollection, at all.

[Christy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can see why this wasn't included in the original story. It was more information, I guess, but not necessary.

[Ayra · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not actually value adding. We already know these details.

[bookishlife23 · Rating 4 out of 5]

All i have to say is that I love this series, this was too short, and I love Jamie.

[Rini ARUM · Rating 5 out of 5]

As always, Ally Carter's story is beautiful.

[bethany · Rating 4 out of 5]

cute extra scene

[Nina Caps · Rating 5 out of 5]

We got to see Jamie! Great prequel!!!

[Shana Dorgelo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Liked this, fairly simple and, as lots of others have said, huge love to Jamie

[Ashley Freeman · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a pretty good prequel.

[Ayesha Bukhari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jamie <3

[Riley · Rating 2 out of 5]

This should have been included in the first book as well.

[soph &#x1d717;&#x1d71a;]

how they act around gracie makes so much more sense after fully knowing what happened with her mom

[Louisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fantastic scene, and I'm glad that we got to see it!

[Maria · Rating 1 out of 5]

1 star

Nothing special, just the same backstory with a few added snippets.

[Maya Markowski · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was nice to see Grace’s father, but it wasn’t vital to the series. Just repeating what we’ve seen before

[Evtitch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short novella. I liked seeing Grace's brother Jamie!

[Liv · Rating 2 out of 5]

The one and only time we see Grace and Jaime's dad in the entire series and it was a total let down. He seemed like he was at his wit's end with Grace's issues and he didn't want to deal with it anymore. I know he was devastated because his wife was dead and Grace was really struggling, but his behavior and attitude towards Grace's issues was pretty sad. It did make me love Jaime more though, he really loves his sister.

[Elizabeth Aguilar · Rating 3 out of 5]

I appreciated that this short section provided more context for why Grace was sent back to Adria after three years.