I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You (Gallagher Girls) [Paperback]

Welcome to The Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women, an all-girls school located just outside of Roseville, Virginia. Anyone looking at this elite private boarding school would see just what The Gallagher Academy wants you to see--a preppy school for privileged girls, complete with a guardhouse and stone wall to keep the curious away from their precious charges. And they'd be right, of course, and yet they would be so very, very wrong!

Because The Gallagher Academy isn't exactly what it appears to be. It's an elite school, that's for sure, and the only boys who grace its grounds are the male teachers. After that, though, the similarities between The Gallagher Academy and every other elite boarding school in the world ends. Instead of math and reading, English and horseback-riding, the girls who attend this school take courses in Covert Operations, Ancient Languages, Countries of the World, Culture and Assimilation, and Protection and Enforcement. The Gallagher Academy is, in a word, a school for spies.

Cammie Morgan is a second-generation Gallagher girl--her mother, who also attended the school, is now the headmistress. Her two best friends, Liz and Bex, are both super-smart, and the best spies-in-training she knows (except for Liz's lack of coordination, but that's another story). Cammie has spent most of her life inside the walls of The Gallagher Academy, and now that another semester is starting, complete with new CoveOps teacher, hunky Joe Solomon, she's really looking forward to the new school year.

But then things start to get a little out of control. Mr. Solomon seems to know all about Cammie's missing-and-presumed-dead father. She meets a boy in town, Josh, who finally sees her, really sees her, like no one else ever has. After all, she didn't get her nickname, "the chameleon," for nothing. But now Cammie is balancing on a dangerous ledge--knowing that no one outside of the gates of The Gallagher Academy can ever know who she truly is, and wanting nothing more than to spill all of her secrets to Josh.

As lies tangle with truths, as first love duels with obligation, Cammie will need to learn exactly what it means to be a spy, her mother's daughter, and a young girl falling in love.

I'D TELL YOU I LOVE YOU, BUT THEN I'D HAVE TO KILL YOU is a wonderful, laugh-out-loud, action-adventure extravaganza. Filled with plenty of cool gadgets, intriguing teachers, and heart-pounding first-love moments to keep the reader interested, you won't be able to put this book down once you start. A true winner, and I definitely can't wait for a sequel!

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I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have To Kill You is the first book I have read by Ally Carter, and so far, she has really impressed me! The book is mainly set in an American private school, Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women. All of the people who live in the town of Roseville (the town the Academy is in) automatically believe the girls who go there are posh snobs who don't really know anything and are just there because they CAN. But, oh how wrong are they. What they don't know is that the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women is actually a school to train upcoming SPIES! The Gallagher Girls (as they are known) are known in history (well, secretly - it's a secret that one Gallagher Girl invented duct tape) as they have been around for 100 years - learning at school a variety of things such as martial arts, advanced encryption, 14 different languages and, in Sophomore year, they start Covert Operations (field work, etc.).

Sounds hard? Well Cammie, her good friends Bex and Liz and their new roommate Macey have to learn spy stuff every day in school. Whilst being pretty secluded inside their ivy-covered walls.

On their first Covert Operations Mission, Cammie, who is called The Chameleon at school (which is actually a compliment if you go to spy school - perhaps not so much at a normal high school), is spotted by a normal boy, Josh, who goes to Roseville High School. However, Cammie isn't experienced with boys, and what with her being a spy in training, how is she going to be able to balance her relationship with him whilst doing well at spy school?

As the blurb says: Sure, she can tap his phone, hack into his computer, and track him through a mall without him ever being the wiser, but can she have a normal relationship with a boy who can never know the truth about her?

I thought this book was very well written! I really liked the fact that it was based around teenage (they are 15 or 16 year olds, I think) spies, as books and films about spies usually entertain me a lot if they are well done! And the fact that they are teenagers means I can easily relate to them and it makes it more realistic (if you can be realistic in a book about spies). The relationship between Josh and Cammie is pretty realistic too, as most YA books have relationships which aren't true to real life, except whilst reading this I felt it was a pretty normal relationship you could have (apart from the fact that she is a spy, but yeah xD) if you are a teenager.

Overall, I think this book was really interesting and it also had some action in it too. It was well-written and it kept me wanting to find out what happened next. The characters were easy to relate to and I could easily imagine the places the character(s) was/were in with the descriptions.

I really want to find out what happens to Cammie and her friends in the next two novels, Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy, and Don't Judge a Girl by her Cover, the next books in the series.

Rating - 5 Stars

I have given IWTYILYBTIWHTKY 5 Stars as even though some parts were quite cliche (as it is hard to not be cliche in YA novels now) the book really impressed me when it was original and I think it deserves 5 Stars!

This one made me laugh. I liked the School and the whole idea behind it - and I really like the main characters. Cammie was fun and witty and I enjoyed having the story told from her point of view. Her friends Liz, Bex and Macey were great fun too! Especially Bex - she was my favourite and I loved her driving! Josh was interesting but the romance between him and Cammie only had my passing interest. I enjoyed the 'spy' stuff much more.

I admit it's a bit silly at times but I got the impression it wasn't supposed to be taken too seriously. The action scenes were my favourite part - and I liked how they were injected with humour. The final action scene had me laughing out loud.

This is going to be a guilty pleasure of mine. For some reason I feel as if I shouldn't have liked it but I did. I really did - and I can't wait for the next in the series!