Take the Key and Lock Her Up, by Ally Carter

Take The Key and Lock Her Up is the final installment in Ally Carter’s Embassy Row trilogy. Sadly, this series ends the way it began: fun, frenetic, and stylish, but ultimately a little empty.

Grace Blakely has finally discovered the truth about her connection to the long-lost royal family of Adria. This is a secret Adria's current leadership will do anything to protect, but Grace—along with her friends, family, and devoted boyfriend—are determined and resourceful. Grace has no desire to meddle with royalty, but the mysterious forces surrounding her may leave her no choice.

The action sequences in Take the Key and Lock Her Up are fast and furious, but the never-ending drama makes it difficult to appreciate an individual set piece, or anticipate a clever move by our protagonists. Eventually, the wash-rinse-repeat cycle of danger, discovery, and betrayal runs out of steam, and meaningful interactions between the characters are too infrequent to make up the difference. Carter has created plenty of endearing relationships in her other books; it’s too bad she didn’t trim some of the more forgettable action sequences in this story and replace them with the romantic and friendship-based storylines that have made her previous series so much successful.