Cross my Heart and Hope to Spy by Ally Carter

title: Cross my Heart and Hope to Spy
written by: Ally Carter
series: Gallagher girls #2
genres: Young Adult, contemporary fiction
page count: 236
publication date: October 2nd, 2007
publisher: Hyperion
rating: 3/5

Cammie Morgan is back, and it's clear that her life hasn't calmed down since the events of I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You. At first, giddy anticipation is in the air. Gallagher Academy, Cammie's elite spy school, is hosting a visit from a covert training center for boys. Soon after the boys' arrival, though, everything goes dangerously awry when a series of security breaches are discovered at the academy. Worse yet, teenage agent-in-training Cammie is being blamed for the penetration. With the school's top-secret status at risk, the Gallagher Girls have to work quickly to save their beloved school.

I have no idea why I keep on reading this series. I guess it's just something that really makes me like the whole concept of a spy school and everything. Cross my Heart and Hope to Spy again has a very long title, just like 'I'd tell you I love you but then I'd have to kill you'. I really like the long titles, after seeing all those one-word titles, but perhaps they are just too long, because it is just a mouthful of words to say. 

Gallagher academy opens its doors again as this novel starts. Cammie has grown to a kind of celebrity at her own school, because of her boyfriend drama over the last year. And there is something happening on her school. Because of her curiosity Cammie finds out what's happening - Gallagher Academy is hosting a visit from a school like Gallagher Academy, only for boys! And the boy drama continues.

Cammie has changed a little bit over the course of the second book in the series, but she is still the same ignorant - yet kick butt - girl as she was in the first book. So no enormous character changes. I -obviously - love character changes, and I would have loved to have some more character changes in this novel. Still, Cammie is a great and very strong character I really love to read about, as are her 3 friends Macey, Liz and Bex.

The plot of this book was pretty interesting, but not one of the things I will remember forever. It just didn't have the 'wow' factor for me. And that is not very bad, because there are very few books that have that 'wow' factor. I just would have liked the plot to be a little more fast-paced and a little less filler chapters, if you know what I mean. 

Altogether I liked this novel, and I will give the next installment in this series a shot (I already did, actually...). Gallagher Academy is an interesting school, although I prefer Hogwarts. I just keep on comparing those schools for no apparant reason. I give this book 3 stars!

other novels in this series I have reviewed:

I'd tell you I love you but then I'd have to kill you

Love and ice cream,

Mar

(it's so hot in the Netherlands right now, so the ice cream was very appropiate)

I'd tell you I love you, but then I'd have to kill you by Ally Carter

book: I'd tell you I love you, but then I'd have to kill you
written by: Ally Carter
series? Gallagher Girls #1
genres: young adult, romance, chicklit
pages: 284
own / library / netgalley
publication date: April 25th, 2006
publisher: Disney-Hyperion press


note: Thanks to Disney-Hiperion press and Netgalley for giving me the oppotunity to read this exiting book with an amazing but awfully long title. It had been on my TBR list for a very long time.

the book:
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 review: 

This book is epic! Cammie Morgan is the teenage girl version of James Bond, or whatever awesome spy there is out there. She is super smart, can do about everything she wants. But what does she do? Fall in love, of course. The one and only thing she doesn't know everything about. The one thing that will put her into a series of awkward positions.

The Gallagher academy seems like this boarding school for rich girls. But nothing is like it appears to be. People from town think that every girl from Gallagher academy is spoiled, and that they all are daddy's girls. In some way, they are right. The girls from Gallagher academy are not normal... 

Cammie is a great character, or at least she is for about 90%. She is a genius, she has friends and a great sense of humor. But her love at the first sight really annoys me... *sigh* She turns into such a stupid little girl when she falls in love. Nothing matters to her anymore. And that while her whole relationship consists of lies. How can you lie to the person you love? To me it just seems impossible. Not that I never lie, just that I can't lie to the people I love most. Maybe it's just me, but still... And yes, I know that she was educated to be able to lie, like a spy. But whatever.
The pace was perfect, as was the writing style. Ally Carter didn't lose my interest once while I was reading this book! The plot is very intersting. A boarding school for geniuses that are going-to-be spies. Girls that can speak 14 languages, including Swahili :o And of course, a forbidden love...
I think the title is perfect for this book, only, it is so long :o I'd tell you I love you, but then I'd have to kill you. Seriously, it might be the longes title I've ever seen. *now I'm exaggerating... just a little :)* and the cover looks amazing and goes with the book very well!
I can't say how much I regret not picking up this book earlier. I really needed a book like this 2 years ago, so that I'd have never read Twilight... *sorry if you like Twilight...*


This book is full of humorous dialogues, action and girliness. A very interesting and funny book I'd recommend to every teenage girl that loves to read!


rating: 
4 stars


xo Mar