This book was amazing. It was gripping and had me hooked from page 1. I would definitely recommend this book to people I know. Overall a great read.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of this book! I absolutely LOVE the cover of this book and it is honestly one of my favorite covers ever. The storyline itself was a confusing and I didn’t really understand what was happening until I was half way through the books. The characters were somewhat enjoyable but I didn’t feel a connection to any of them. Overall this had a cool premise but I don’t see myself reading the next book.

Other reviewers have said this better than me, but We All Fall Down was a big let-down. The concept of the world was the strongest aspect of this book, but everything else was subpar. What Big Teeth was so good, so it's surprising this is the book that comes next from Szabo.

Everything about this book had potential, but almost all of it fell flat. The characters, the world, the writing--none of it really blew me away, and it certainly didn't compare to the author's previous release. As others have pointed out, the handling of misgendering in this book makes it for an uncomfortable read, and the treatment of Black characters by the white characters with zero consequences is pretty disappointing. I don't know...did no one think this book needed a sensitivity reader or two? Perhaps others will feel differently, but it was not fun to read.

I was hoping for a new successor to Six of Crows with this book, but this is not the one.

I received an advance copy via NetGalley.

This unabashedly queer fantasy book is in a modern setting--a city that has lost its magic, and exists in a neither here nor there within the real world--and neatly twists around tropes about the Chosen One. Frankly put, the last Chosen Ones failed. They are why magic is down to dregs. However, a new generation is drawn to River City, tugged by the tight, strangling lines of fate, and the night of Carnival looms near...

The writing is fabulous. The characters--wow. Nuanced to the max. This book does need a bunch of trigger warnings up front, though. It is dark and brutally honest about racism, homophobia, and police brutality. As the first book of a duology, there are some major cliffhangers. I hope the next book comes out soon, because I really want to know what happens next!

"The first book in a dark fantasy YA duology by Rose Szabo, the author of What Big Teeth, about the power and danger of stories and the untold costs of keeping magic alive, perfect for fans of Aiden Thomas and Marie Rutkoski.

In River City, where magic used to thrive and is now fading, the witches who once ruled the city along with their powerful King have become all but obsolete. The city's crumbling government is now controlled primarily by the new university and teaching hospital, which has grown to take over half of the city.

Moving between the decaying Old City and the ruthless New, four young queer people struggle with the daily hazards of life - work, school, dodging ruthless cops and unscrupulous scientists - not realizing that they have been selected to play in an age-old drama that revives the flow of magic through their world. When a mysterious death rocks their fragile peace, the four are brought into each other's orbits as they uncover a deeper magical conspiracy.

Devastating, gorgeous, and utterly unique, We All Fall Down examines the complex network of pain created by power differentials, even between people who love each other - and how it is possible to be queer and turn out just fine."

I would also say for fans of Leigh Bardugo!

No longer interested in reading this book, due to other reviews citing insensitive portrayal of race, as well as mechanical issues.

I was really excited to read this book but my friends who have read it are saying it contains racist themes and I no longer feel comfortable reviewing this book. I have to leave a review and rating for every book I get on NetGalley or my ratio won't hit 100%, I hope you understand.

DNF at 15%. I wanted to love this story badly, and I already had read the first chapters as a preview. I liked them and therefore requested this title. But …

Meanwhile, I saw reviews coming in about racism in the book, and I found myself procrastinating reading the story. Eventually, I picked it up, but although I loved the writing, the story fell flat for me, while the remarks in the reviews kept nagging in my mind. I tried twice but just didn’t enjoy myself. Therefore I decided to DNF.

Sometimes it’s a bad idea to read reviews beforehand, and in this case, it probably was. I haven’t read the part about racism, so I can’t have an opinion on that matter. And maybe I’m going to pick up this story somewhere in the future again because the premise and the representation really intrigue me.

Bonus points on the cover! It is gorgeous!!

I absolutely adored "What Big Teeth", Szabo's previous work, so I had high hopes for "We All Fall Down". Unfortunately, it missed the mark for me. Szabo's prose continues to be lyrical, but the atmosphere - and the characters - just didn't grab the heart like "What Big Teeth" did. It felt very plot-driven, rather than character-driven - I didn't understand people's motivations quite a bit of the time. I"m hoping that some of these issues can be evened out in the sequel, as there is a lot of potential here - it's not just as magnetic as it needs to be.

Other readers have spoken about the racial component to this book, and I agree - it's not great. I didn't mind the pronouns/gender identity journey that some of the characters went on, though - it was a little messy, but so is figuring yourself out, right? It's not dead naming if you're still in the state of figuring out who you are.

At any rate, I'll still be curious about anything Szabo writes, but this one didn't work for me.

Series Info/Source: This is the first book in the River City duology. I got an eGalley of this book through NetGalley to review.

Thoughts: Previous to reading this book I had read Szabo's "What Big Teeth" and enjoyed that. I was excited to see what Szabo would write next. This was a very enjoyable read as well. Szabo is a little out there with subject matter and characters, but I really enjoy authors that are a bit different and take some risks with their stories.

I loved the world created in River City. It is separate from our world and was protected by magic but the magic is gone now and the modern day world has been slowly creeping in. The characters here are all very well done too. There is a lot of gender-bending, which may annoy some readers. I personally just kind of stopped keeping track of pronouns; they are all just people. The way Szabo handles this it never gets confusing who is who; they have very distinct voices and it’s easy to track whose POV we are reading from. All of the characters have a lot of depth and are fun to read about.

I really enjoyed the way the story is set up and told. The magic fell because of a curse and, as the key figures of the curse (The Hero, The King, The Maiden, The Monster) rise in the city again, there are those who hope to break the curse that is holding River City and those who seek to take advantage of it. Our characters have no idea of their roles and how they play into this larger picture.

Additionally, I thought the ending was a perfect place to stop this story, especially since this is a duology. I thoroughly enjoy Szabo's writing style. It flows well, is descriptive, somewhat humorous at times, and is very easy to read. I never struggled to stay interested in the story or to read this book. It was a very nice change from some other mediocre books I have read recently.

My Summary (4/5): Overall I really loved this book and am looking forward to reading the second book in the trilogy. This book is a bit different and so is the subject matter. However, I loved the traditional fairy tale themes to it, with curses to be broken and characters with fairy tale-esque roles to play. I love Szabo’s writing style; it flows well and has excellent description throughout. The characters are quirky and interesting, the world of River City is intriguing and I enjoyed the uniqueness of this a lot. Szabo is becoming a go to author for me when I am in the mood for something dark fantasy but different.

I didn’t hate We All Fall Down…but there’s a problem when I’m at 61% and don’t care how a book is going to end.

On paper, this should have been a book I adored, and I went in hoping to love it. And I do think some of the critiques I’ve seen are unfair: I never had any trouble keeping up with what was going on, and it’s not misgendering when the characters themselves haven’t figured out their genders or pronouns yet. Very few of us wake up one day understanding we want to use nonbinary pronouns from now on, or are ready to come out as girls when people think we’re guys. That takes time, and these kind of character arcs should be messy and uncertain and complicated. They should be allowed to be.

Gender stuff aside, We All Fall Down just fell really flat for me. I just didn’t care about any of the characters, and I really wasn’t invested in most of the plotlines. It’s hard to put my finger on why. I was so happy this was written in third-person, not first-person, but the prose itself was nothing special, the worldbuilding felt frustratingly simplistic and yet went mostly unexplained, and the characters all seemed to be defined by just one or two traits. A fair bit of the book moved very slowly, but the story wasn’t really introspective enough to make that work – and at other times things seemed convoluted just because, with a very because I said so vibe.

It’s very readable – I got to 61% very quickly – but reading it felt like a chore. I don’t care about the characters or how this book is going to end, and that means putting it down and walking away.

While a beautiful cover...not sure the author is equipped to address certain topics in this book. A lot of TW with little to no explanation. Did not finish

This is a hard book for me to review.

1. The writing style and story structure is really not for me. I couldn't get a strong sense of place because there just weren't enough details about the little things for me to fully understand the world that we were describing. The opener was particularly jarring, and I found it SO WEIRD that we were dealing with these very fantasy esque terms (The Maiden, the Hero) and a lot of jargon, and then people's names are like Nathan, Pete, and Kyle. Maybe that is some kind of weird bias I have toward wanting weird fantasy names, but it was...a lot.

2. A lot of the characters are unlikable or do unlikable things, and I genuinely didn't understand how we were supposed to be rooting for them. The issue with Jack and race etc is extremely problematic, and I can't for the life of me understand how that bypassed an editorial team in 2021 because it's so incredibly inappropriate, especially if Jack is going to receive no consequences and/or the issue isn't exploring privilege, simply flaunting it. However, it was NOT just that issue. The opener of the book has a MAIN character who I (think???) is supposed to be good, leaving a CHILD to die. Yes the child is "monstrous" but she literally sees it be born, sees that it is at least partially human, calls the child a thing and a monster and just leaves it to die. And we're supposed to just be...on board? Confused.

3. The gendering in this book...where to start. I think at this point I've read a good number of fantasies with trans and/or non-binary characters. I've seen authors handle this in a variety of ways, all of them honestly fantastic. I've seen ACE/ARO rep too, handled well and clearly. My point is...I think you can have gender fluidity and play with expectations and yet still be incredibly clear about your representation so that your audience can still apply their real world knowledge to the book and understand the characters AND trans/non-binary people in real life respectfully. This book was so confusing and problematic on this front. I am once again surprised that this got past an editorial team. There is a character who *I BELIEVE* is a trans woman, who is referred to as girl and thinks of herself as she, who other people clearly refer to as he, for most of the book. And again...I'm actually still confused on this point because of how strangely all of this is handled. There's another character who I want to believe is non-binary, who literally switches between male and female bodies. This is kind of a cool concept, but again, it feels really messy the way it's done.

There were some interesting ideas in this, but none of it came together for me unfortunately, and I really cannot get past the problematic issues.

dnf-ing cause i feel super uncomfortable at a certain part in this book. I am not black so I can't fully speak on how problematic it is but basically one the [black] mc's gets treated badly in the book, and falsely accused (falling into the stereotype) yet the author never truly addresses it despite everything.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is one of those books that I desperately wanted to love but ended up only liking. I enjoyed the writing style, and the worldbuilding, but some of the characters just sort of fell flat for me. When the POV was with Jesse or Turing, I found I definitely read a lot faster than when the POV was Jack or David. The relationships were also, especially with Jesse and David, very much a case of tell, not show (which... since they don't actually meet up again until the back half of the book, makes some sense). Also, like many other reviewers have noted before me, this seems less like a young adult novel, and more new adult-y, seeing as most of the characters seem to be somewhere in their 20s.

Overall, I'll probably give the sequel a go, just to find out what happens to my two favorites. I need to know!

We All Fall Down by Rose Szabo (releasing June 7th, 2022) is the first in a YA fantasy duology, and follows the story of four inhabitants (Jack, Jesse, David, and Turing/Zara) of a mysterious city where magic is slowly fading. I read the arc for this book on the plane, and have some mixed feelings on it.

To preface, I don’t feel qualified to be giving my opinion on certain aspects of representation within this book (specifically one of the main characters, David, who is black). However, I've seen a few reviewers point out problems with the way that David is treated by the plot (as well as one of the white main characters, who doesn’t really face consequences for her actions) and also the conflict with the police that is a significant part of the novel. I’d be inclined to agree after reading the arc though. there aren’t a lot right now because the book isn’t out yet but I’d recommend reading reviews by black reviewers, especially as more reviews are posted.

One of the parts of the book that I liked were the worldbuilding, including the magic and mythology. The setting of River City with the disappearance of magic was felt like an interesting and unique concept. I also liked the exploration of gender through the character of Jesse as well as their personality and curiosity. They were definitely my favourite character and point of view to read in the book.

The two other main aspects that I did not like in the book were the continuous misgendering of one of the characters and having too many point of views and the quick changing between them. I also didn’t like were that there were a lot of characters and concepts being introduced really rapidly. I felt like there was a lot that felt confusing and not well fleshed out. Well, however, it could also be setup for the sequel? Overall, I feel lukewarm towards this book at best and I don’t think I’d read the sequel though. Also I'd like to mention that when reading this book i felt like it didn’t really feel like YA despite being marketed as such.

Thank you to Macmillan & Fierce Reads for sending me an eARC of this book.

I wanted to like this SO BADLY. It was a book I had on my tbr as soon as I saw it was finished and I was so excited for non binary/trans rep and a world filled with openly queer characters and a non binary author.


What I liked? The opening chapters were really strong and portrayed a world steeped in magic and wonder reminiscent of Tolkien.

That’s about all this book had to offer.

I wish, I really wish I could have loved it the opening chapters were so strong. SO STRONG. Then we appeared to tumble into a whirlwind of harmful tropes, an utterly baffling plot line (everyone and absolutely nothing happened at once?) and then we had basically zilch plot wise until the last 5 pages.

I finished the book, normally I fly through fantasy but this took me weeks. I wanted to read it all though so I could leave a full review with TW’s for those who plan to read it.

I’m used to reading both YA & adult fantasy’s and sci-fi, but this somehow had a plot more baffling than Dune.

I myself am non binary, it’s why I was looking forward to this SO MUCH. I personally use she/they pronouns. However, this books trans rep is utterly baffling. Their genders aren’t clarified until the last chapters of the book, and whilst I understand coming to terms with gender, an explanation off the bat would have helped as we have 2-3 pronouns being used for characters, many which they don’t identify as, and it’s not explained prior. And as this is a multiple voice novel it gets very confusing very fast. To clarify, I think Turing is an AMAB trans woman (she/her), Jessie is non binary (they/them). It also felt kinda uncomfortable that I had been misgendering them the whole way through because their gender is never clarified until the end.

Then we have the whole issue with the treatment and story path of the MC black characters. Other reviewers have explained this better but there is racism tropes at play that were hard to read.


TWS listed below please skip if you do not want spoilers:




Tws// homophobia (strong use of language and treatment) , transphobia, misgendering (accidental and intentional) , abusive parenting, kidnapping, PTSD, science experimentation on kidnapped people, head shaving, scenes depicting drowning, mentions of native people being held captive & tortured (not overly detailed but there), sex work (not detailed), fight rings, death of a parent, murder, racist tropes, police brutality, false imprisonment.

This was a cute book, but I wasn't really into it. It wasn't really a topic that I enjoyed, it had potential but I didn't see myself getting into the writing.

Im not really sure how to review this book. On the one hand, it's interesting for certain and will appeal to a very niche group of readers. On the other hand, I am not in that group and i found it extremely confusing and anticlimactic.

I couldnt tell you what the plot of this really was. What I experienced was mostly just people interacting with each other and sharing their feelings. Theres something about a king? And a maiden? and certainly something big happened at the end, but i couldnt tell you what that really was. There was also an organized crime boss who was a german shepherd and i guess thats cool.

I think what this book did concerning conversations around gender was interesting. Thats the highest compliment I can give it.

This was not my favorite fantasy that I've ever read, but the writing was beautiful and I think the concept was pretty unique. Overall I would recommend.