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

Gallagher Girls, Book 1

De: Ally Carter

Narrado por: Renée Raudman

The Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women is a fairly typical all-girls school - that is, it would be 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.

Cammie Morgan is a second-generation Gallagher Girl, and by her sophomore year she's already fluent in 14 languages and capable of killing a man in seven different ways (one of which involves a piece of uncooked spaghetti). But the one thing the Gallagher Academy hasn't prepared her for is what to do when she falls for a boy who thinks she's an ordinary girl.

Sure, she can tap his phone, hack into his computer, and track him through town without his ever being the wiser - but can she have a relationship with a regular boy who can never know the truth about her?

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

©2007 Ally Carter (P)2006 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Appeals to the teen girl I once was

Ok, so this book wasn't good as Heist Society, but I am fast becoming an Ally Carter fan! The Gallagher Girls are just great fun. Not only did I relate to the boarding school misconceptions, I whole-heartedly enjoyed the homage paid to Alias and other spy genre greats. I wondered if the main characters in both series would be similar, but Carter crafts them uniquely despite the similarities in their secret-filled lives. I enjoyed the light-hearted humor that kept potentially intense scenes from being taken too seriously. Unlike Alias, this is no "Project Christmas" creating super-human spies. No matter what the girls' special skills, they are all still just high school girls with high school girl problems. See you in sub level 2.

Great Middle School Read

Cammie Morgan goes to the Gallagher Academy for exceptional young women. IT’s your typical boarding school, except it’s where girls go for spy training. This book is geared towards middle school readers but every now and again an adult could just use a fun, light read, that’ll make her laugh. At some points in this book I felt like I was listening in to a group of 15-year-old girls and their typical angst which, when it’s not you or your daughter, is pretty funny to listen to. In “I’d Tell You That I Love You But Then I’d Have to Kill You” Cammie meets a “townie,” a boy that lives in the nearby town of Roseville. He’s her first crush and she uses her sleuth skills to sneak out of the boarding house (also referred to as a mansion) to see him, forgetting that her mother, who also happens to be trained as a spy and is the head master at the school, has some pretty amazing sleuthing skills of her own.

BLUSH FACTOR: There is discussion of “getting to second base” and kissing, etc. but I’d let my daughter read it (if I happened to have a middle-school aged daughter), perhaps with a discussion of appropriate behavior and what it means to get to second base.

THE WRITING: This is the second Gallagher Girl book I’ve listened to and I found it to be well-written. Ally Carter captures the essence of teenage behavior well and like I said, I found the book extremely humorous. This book is written from Cammie’s perspective.

STAND-ALONE OR CLIFFHANGER ENDING: Though this book is part of a series, it has a solid ending.

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT: Well done.

NARRATOR OF THE AUDIBLE VERSION: Very well done. The narrator sounds like a teenage girl except when an adult voice is needed.

BOTTOM LINE: It’s not for everyone, but I enjoyed it.

Great YA with it all-romance,mystery,action

I love this whole series. My first dip into YA fiction. Boarding school narrative with a twist- these girls are training to be spies. The townies think this is an exclusive school for spoiled rich girls. Our lead character acts on a crush on a townie and her suitemates help her. These girls have rigorous classes and exciting training exercises. Great book for middle schoolers and older.
# audible 20 review sweepstakes entry

Pleasant Spy Romp

Light hearted spy tale with fun characters. Some predictable elements but a great listen overall.

Fun, lighthearted girl series.

I liked this series. Was it the best thing I ever read? No. But it was entertaining enough to read in its entirety. Mindless and easy fun.