Review: I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You by Ally Carter

I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You (Gallagher Girls #1) by Ally Carter
Publisher: Hyperion
Release date: May 2006 (original US hardback)
Rating: 4/5

Goodreads description:

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.

My thoughts:

Ally Carter writes scarily accurately as a teenage girl. I felt immediately like Cammie was 15, and real, and would compare her narration to that of Georgia Nicholson in the Louise Rennison books, both in terms of age-authenticity and in that level of quirky humourous narration. Unfortunately, this made me feel a *bit* old. It's fairly rare for YA to do that to me, but when I first started reading this I felt every bit of the 7 years I have on Cammie age wise. Fortunately, that feeling disappated after several chapters, but it did leave me feeling this was more of a series for teenagers than it was YA...if that makes sense.  

I felt the same way about the other book characters, they all had awesome personality traits and quirks  and all acted/spoke like typical teenage girls which I liked. The idea of a spy school was pretty awesome, and I liked hearing about all their classes. I think Bex was my favourite, and not just cause she was British ;) her humour and acting skills were pretty damn awesome.

The plot was excellent, with plenty of action and cute moments and hilarity. My only issue (aside from the one above) was that I got fed up with all the Gallagher Girls references and how they invented like, EVERYTHING. It reminded me of another book that does something similar, but I can't rememeber what it was. I caught myself rolling my eyes and thinking "yeah, yeah" whenever it happened.I loved the level of drama in this book, all the near misses and frantic action, it was pretty cool. I loved how normal Joshua was, and that that was his main appeal, and his and Cammie's relationship was pretty cute. I love how they all had a crush on their teacher...that's pretty much how it was at my school too ;) I loved how it was told in hindight and in the form of a report, that was pretty cool.



This was a thoroughly enjoyable read, and one I never would have read if it weren't on Netgalley. I will definitely be continuing with this newfound and super-fun series. 

I reviewed this for netgalley, so the cover image is the american one. The UK release is published by Orchard books, and the cover is: