Tuesday 13 September 2011

I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have To Kill You


Author: Ally Carter
Publishing Company: Orchard Books
Blurb:
“Do you ever feel like you’re invisible? I know I do – just call me Cammie the Chameleon. But at my school, that’s seen as cool. Why? Because the Gallagher Academy might say it’s for geniuses, but it’s really a school for spies.”

Cammie Morgan might be capable of killing a man in seven different ways, but she’s about to begin her most dangerous mission yet: falling in love.

The review:

I’ve heard a lot of amazing things about the Gallagher Girls books, and have never really been inclined to buying one of the books to check it out. July I bought it in the 3 for 2 deal in Waterstones and decided to read it yesterday. I was a bit dubious about it, but I decided to give it a go, and it was a lot better than I expected.

I do want to say, when you’re reading the first 60 pages were rather hard to read, because it had a lot of italics and brackets that I found rather annoying which made it a bit hard to start and fully get into the book. Though the character was 16, when you saw the repetition and the italics and all of that, she sounded like a 13 year old which I got annoyed at because I felt like it was a bit like those people on twitter who you just don’t want to listen to because they seem to over express themselves with capital letters and exclamation marks (though granted I probably am one of those people).

But at Chapter 5 I really started getting into it. I don’t know why but I thought it was funny, cute and interesting. Maybe it was because we saw the introduction of a new character who you knew would make it interesting. I don’t know, but from then on it was very good. The characters were funny without really trying, it was fast paced from the spy element, you had the love interest and the ‘what’s going to happen’ bit because they were doing things they shouldn’t be. It was very interesting to read.

The characters were definitely some of the most diverse bunch of people, but the ones that strangely fit together. Cammie was just enough self-conscious and yet comfortable enough with who she was that she wasn’t annoying because she didn’t think she was the best person in the world and yet she didn’t hate herself. The blend of those two things was amazing to see because you could understand her and it made you relate to her and not want to rip her throat out. As the main character, I did feel like she was a little young for her age, but then again we have to take into account that she has lived in the spy world for a very long time, so that could have something to do with it. But she wasn’t vulnerable at all because she had all this knowledge and skills that I found really fun.

Then you have Liz, who was such a funny character. She seemed to always be studying and taking notes and trying to take in all of this information. She was the nerd girl, but I loved her because she did have some points where she didn’t understand things and yet she was desperate to find out about them. At one point it was said that she saw everything as a new subject to be studied, which I found hilarious, she was just a very interesting character.

Bex was very different. I didn’t think I’d like her because I have a problem with people trying too hard to write up English people, but she wasn’t stereotypical or trying too hard and she was really funny and just a good character to have there. She wasn’t overdone which was very refreshing, and to be honest she was an interesting and clever character that you enjoyed to read about. I definitely have respect for Ally Carter for making a good and believable English character.

Josh was adorable. I felt sorry for him at points, but he was definitely an extremely cute character that you loved. I don’t want to say much about him in case you haven’t read anything about him, but he’s definitely someone that you would enjoy to talk to because he was just a nice guy.

I think the plot was very cute. When I first began to read, I thought it would be slightly like Hex Hall, an easy fun read about a girl going to a bit of a different school, but to be honest I enjoyed this book a lot more than I enjoyed Hex Hall. I think it was a cute and funny book with an interesting enough plot that had enough twists to keep you reading.

Altogether I definitely want to read the next book, and possibly Ally Carter’s other series, and I definitely can see why people love this series so much.

My rating:
Setting: 4.5 out of 5
Characters: 5 out of 5
Plot: 4 out of 5
Writing: 3.5 out of 5

If you read the book, I hope you enjoy it, and I’ll talk to you guys later! Bye x

1 comment:

  1. I read this book awhile ago, so I was a little younger, but I had a lot of the same feelings. The book read young, despite Cammie being 16. However, I agree that it does pick up and we get a little action which is always fun. I recommend reading the second book, I thought that one was much better than the first. I haven't gotten the chance to finish this series yet, but I'm hoping to eventually. Really nice review =)

    Kristan @ Lost Amongst the Shelves

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