I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have To Kill You by Ally Carter

Title: I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have To Kill You
Author: Ally Carter
Publisher: Hyperion
Publication Date: April 1, 2007
Number of Pages: 284

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The Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women is a fairly typical all-girls school—that is, if every school teaches advanced martial arts in PE, chemistry always consists of the latest in chemical warfare, and everyone breaks CIA codes for extra credit in computer class. So in truth, while the Gallagher Academy might say it's a school for geniuses what they really mean is spies. But what happens when a Gallagher Girl falls for a boy who doesn't have a code name?

Cammie Morgan may be fluent in fourteen languages and capable of killing a man in seven different ways (three of which involve a piece of uncooked spaghetti), but the Gallagher Academy hasn't prepared her for 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, and track him through a mall without him ever being the wiser, but can she have a regular 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 doing something riskier than ever—she's falling in love.

I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have To Kill You is the first book in the Gallagher Girls series. I absolutely adored the second book - Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy - (which I reviewed here), so I decide to read GG1 all over again!

Many spy novels are just about the main character on going on a spy mission and saving the world. There might be a little romance thrown in if the book is for older audience, but that's it. Nothing more. That's why I particularly like this series. Cammie goes to school for spies and her main "mission" is to stalk, I mean, friendly follow the boy that she had fallen in love with. That's a rather new twist that some people might find more realistic than your average spy story. Even if you still like the whole travel-to-Hong-Kong-and-infiltrate-a-group-of-bad-guys idea then there's some of that in the end too.

I said this in my review of GG2 but it is so easy to see that Ally Carter spent a LOT of time editing this book. She used the perfect words, made sure everything was spelled correctly, and unraveled the story at precisely the right time. You'd you shock me if you pointed out a line that didn't make sense or a grammatical error.

Cammie and her friends Bex and Liz are all very different. I think that this was very clever of the author to do because if you couldn't relate to Cammie, then there were two other people with their own opinions that you could agree or disagree with. However, I personally thought that Cammie was not only an easy person to associate with, but she was hilarious at times, too!

Plus, this novel had a very high re-readability factor. You can easily engross yourself in GG1 and find yourself turning the pages madly to read what will happen next just as if you were reading the book for the first time. This is definitely one of those books that you buy and read over and over and over again.

The Bottome Line: I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have To Kill You is very enjoyable and will leave you thinking "I will never judge someone by their appearance again!" For spy and adventure fans. A.