I'd Tell You I Love You ... by Ally Carter: Book Review

I’D TELL YOU I LOVE YOU BUT THEN I’LL HAVE TO KILL YOU by Ally Carter Book Review
Series: Gallagher Girls, #1
Publication Date: April 25th 2006 by Hyperion
Rating: – Acceptable |

Book Summary: Cammie Morgan is a student at the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women, a fairly typical all-girls school-that is, if every school taught advanced martial arts in PE and the latest in chemical warfare in science, and students received extra credit for breaking CIA codes in computer class. The Gallagher Academy might claim to be a school for geniuses but it’s really a school for spies. Even though Cammie is fluent in fourteen languages and capable of killing a man in seven different ways, she has no idea what to do when she meets an ordinary boy who thinks she’s an ordinary girl. Sure, she can tap his phone, hack into his computer, or track him through town with the skill of a real “pavement artist”-but can she maneuver a relationship with someone who can never know the truth about her?

Cammie Morgan may be an elite spy-in-training, but in her sophomore year, she’s on her most dangerous mission-falling in love.

I’d Tell You I Love You But Then I’d Have to Kill You Book Review Overview:

Love the concept but the plot was a little lacking; the book is definitely a lot more development than anything else
I love the family dynamics and I can’t wait to read more between Cammie and her mom
Will definitely check out the rest of the series because there’s nothing better than teenage spies!

So, I’D TELL YOU I LOVE YOU, BUT THEN I’D HAVE TO KILL YOU by Ally Carter is basically the contemporary version of my much-loved Agency series by Y.S. Lee (in case you don’t know about the books: Victorian girl spies… yep!). It is also one of those books that I’ve known about for years but never picked up. Cammie Morgan is a student at the Gallagher Academy. Despite the deceiving facade, the Gallagher Academy is not your ordinary boarding school; it is an academy where the brightest girls are training to be spies. They are experts in just about everything: foreign languages, hand-to-hand combat, weapons… but when it comes to boys, these girls are absolutely clueless.

I’D TELL YOU I LOVE YOU by Ally Carter is such a quick and easy read and I enjoyed every moment of it. I really loved the set up of the characters so I didn’t mind much that the plot was a bit lacking. Nothing really happened. The tension in the novel came more from Cammie sneaking around trying to see Josh, rather than the romance itself. Because no one knows what the Gallagher Academy really is, the school has a reputation of being a school for rich, snobby girls. So on top of the fact that Cammie cannot tell Josh that she is a spy-in-training, she also cannot tell him that she goes to the Gallagher Academy because she doesn’t want him to think she is stuck up. It was fun to read about Cammie’s dual lives – especially because I knew the duplicity couldn’t last for long.

Cammie was such an easy character to relate to that I had no problems getting into the story. I easily related to her boy woes and her constant overanalyzing of anything that had to do with Josh. I was able to put myself into Cammie’s shoes which made I’D TELL YOU I LOVE YOU by Ally Carter a lot more enjoyable to read.

One of the highlights of I’D TELL YOU I LOVE YOU, BUT THEN I’D HAVE TO KILL YOU by Ally Carter is the interpersonal relationships between the girls. I loved how close she was to her best friends, Bex and Liz – especially because she doesn’t have any siblings. Furthermore, I love the development of the friendship between Macey and the other girls. Despite their differences, they were able to forge a friendship. I also loved reading about Cammie and her mother. They have a strange relationship due to the fact that her mother is the headmistress of the school, but I think it’s quite obvious that they both want to be closer to one another. I can’t wait to see how this mother/daughter relationship develops in the future books. All in all, Carter has written a fantastic book with strong, female bonds in I’D TELL YOU I LOVE YOU, BUT THEN I’D HAVE TO KILL YOU.

Overall, I enjoyed Ally Carter’s I’D TELL YOU I LOVE YOU, BUT THEN I’D HAVE TO KILL YOU. I wish the plot had a bit more substance, but hopefully the next few books in the series will make up for that. I enjoyed getting to know Cammie, Bex, Macey, Liz, and Josh and I can’t wait to read more about them in the rest of the Gallagher Girls series.

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About the Author

Ally Carter is a writer living and working in the Midwest. She loved school so much she kept going…and going…and going…until finally she had to graduate. Now she has degrees from Oklahoma State University and Cornell University and a house and a job and other very grown-up things.