REVIEW: ‘I’d Tell You I Love You, but then I’d Have to Kill You’ sets up start to great series
“I’d Tell You I Love You, but then I’d Have to Kill You” by Ally Carter begins by introducing you to Cammie Morgan, a girl starting her sophomore year at the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women located in Roseville, Va. To the people of Roseville, the Gallagher Academy is just a school for bored and rich heiresses who have nothing better to do, but the reality is that it’s a school for spies. Many times, Cammie reminds you that the girls are allowed to pursue any career fitting their exceptional education, but when there are classes that are for breaking codes and a Protection and Enforcement class – which is P&E instead of our regular PE – you tend to forget you can do something other than be a spy.
At the beginning of Cammie’s sophomore year, a few surprise changes come to the school. Cammie and her roommates Liz and Rebecca, better known as Bex, have been best friends since their first year at the academy. When Bex shows up late to the Welcome Home Banquet along with a younger, mysterious man named Joe Solomon, Cammie soon discovers the newcomer will be their new Covert Operations teacher.
Soon after, Macey McHenry, daughter of a cosmetic heiress and a senator, is invited to join the school and put into Cammie’s dorm along with Bex and Liz. Not only did the girls have to give up their bean bag corner, they quickly learned Macey was a brat and fit the student stereotype of Gallagher students.
A while later at Joe’s first Covert Operations practice mission, Cammie, Bex and Liz are sent out to do the actual mission. They are sent to find out what drink their teacher likes to have with his funnel cakes. They also need to use codenames, and Cammie’s is pretty critical. She has always been known as “The Chamleon” because she knows how to blend in with what’s around her and not be seen.
As the girls are about to retrieve the information they need, the teacher catches Bex and Liz while they’re tailing him. Cammie stayed hidden in order to still retrieve the information. After the teacher left with Bex and Liz, Cammie went to get the bottle of soda their teacher had put into the trash, but someone notices her.
Josh Abrams, a local Roseville teenager, starts a conversation with Cammie – and in the process she begins to try to find out all she can about him.
Because learning about Josh is a lengthy endeavor, Cammie sneaks out of the school many times and often puts into practice Covert Operations skills to learn more about him. But would it all work out if she had to keep the biggest part about her a secret?
The book is well written and clean. There is only one swear word through the entire six book series. All six books are short and easy to read.
The voice of the book is amazing. Carter manages to sound like an average teenage girl – the personality of Cammie – through the book. In the five following books, the author keeps this consistency while at the same time sounding like a girl wise beyond her years.
This book was not my particular favorite of the series. I felt like
the plot wasn’t all that interesting, but it sets up a lot of background knowledge for the rest of the series that is needed.
Overall, I recommend this book to those looking for an easy read and anyone who wants a series of books to start.