Review: I’d Tell You I Love You but Then I’d Have to Kill You

I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You by Ally Carter
Series: Gallagher Girls #1
Genres: Young Adult
Published by Disney-Hyperion on May 1st 2006
Also by this author: Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy, My True Love Gave To Me, Don't Judge a Girl by Her Cover, Only the Good Spy Young, All Fall Down, Out of Sight, Out of Time, United We Spy, See How They Run, Take the Key and Lock Her Up, Not If I Save You First, The Blonde Identity
Format: Audiobook Source: Library
Goodreads •

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.

You know I don’t like to reread books. However, when I realized that the final two books in the Gallagher Girls series had somehow slipped past me, I knew I needed to revisit the other books before finishing the series. I remembered that they were fun, quick reads; I figured why not try out the audio version of all the books? So far, so good! The books are just as cute and fun as I remember. I love the characters. Cammie, our MC, is the daughter of the Gallagher Academy headmistress. She’s known as the chameleon because she can blend into any situation; she’s pretty much the epitome of an average plain jane….. except for the fact that all Gallagher Girls are spies in training. I loved listening to all of the spy stuff that the girls would learn, and how Cammie applied it to her personal covert operations mission. Cammie and her friends (Bex, the British badass, and Liz, the country girl klutz) have a great friendship. All of the Gallagher Girls have an extremely loyal sisterhood, which was so cute. When Cammie meets a cute boy in the town one day, Bex and Liz help her learn more about him using their spy tools. Macy, the spoiled rich girl that just started at Gallagher, brings her knowledge of boys and normal prep schools. Armed with this information, Cammie starts seeing her new boyfriend, Josh, as much as she can… and has to lie about her real life. The book balances between Cammie’s life in the Gallagher Academy and the “normal life” she is secretly craving with Josh. The forbidden romance aspect was kind of cute and I remember swooning a lot when I read this the first time.

The narrator of this audiobook nearly killed me. She made Cammie sound like she was 11 years old instead of a sophomore in high school. I get that these girls are maybe a little less mature in a traditional sense because they’re not exposed to boys or regular schools, but come on. She’s not a baby. Whiny narrators are the bane of my existence. Overall this made the book seem a little more immature than I remembered. Granted, I was 15 when I first started the series, so I was about the same age as these girls, but I don’t know. Maybe I just don’t remember what it was like to be that age anymore! The romance seemed a little rushed, or maybe just not as fleshed out as I’m used to. I feel like there were only a handful of times the two of them actually got together.

Overall, this book was definitely as good as I remembered. It gave me all of those first love swoons I haven’t had since I was exactly Cammie’s age. The book can seem a little immature at times (but again, maybe that was just the narrator affecting the story for me), but it is an otherwise extremely enjoyable read. I’m excited to get going on the rest of the series and reminisce. I have to say, I’m pretty surprised about how little I remembered from my first read! I kind of expected to be bored at times and remember the entire plot. I’m glad I was able to listen to this one with fresh ears and prep for the final two books!

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