What I've Read This Week

What I've Read This Week

Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy (Gallagher Girls 2) by Ally Carter -- Young Adult Fiction

A departure from my usual genres, I picked up this book recommended by my friend Irish at Ticket to Anywhere.

Last semester Cammie Morgan just wanted to be normal. This semester, she wants to be a good spy. After breaking up with her boyfriend, Cammie resumes life at her top-secret boarding school for spies will go back to whatever passes for normal, but she accidentally overhears a secret - Blackthorne or Black Thorn or something like that. Cammie and her friends are determined to find out what it means and utilize their spy training to find out. As if Cammie didn't already have enough to worry about, on a Cove Ops mission she's seen AGAIN but another boy! This time she's content to get rid of him and never see him again because she's determined not to make the same mistake she did with Josh. Cammie is unprepared for what happens next. The one thing they don't teach at Gallagher Academy is how to understand boys! Cammie must learn to trust a boy who is also a spy in order to save her school. I don't want to give too much away but this book is a real page-turner! The basic plot premise bears a strong resemblance to Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, which happens to be one of my favorite books. The boy/girl stuff is cute and so so true and the spy adventures are fun and dazzling. I couldn't put this one down and now I can't wait to find out what happens next!


Don't Judge a Girl by Her Cover (Gallagher Girls 3) by Ally Carter -- Young Adult Fiction

Cammie Morgan joins her friend Macey in Boston where Macey's dad is campaigning for Vice President. Macey's cover as a spoiled little rich girl is nearly blown when she's pestered by the annoying son of the Presidential candidate but boy concerns seem minor when someone tries to kidnap Preston and Macey and it takes all of Cammie's spy training and instincts to get out alive. Their fall semester at Gallagher Academy is marked by major changes when a Secret Service agent joins the school to protect Macey. Cammie worries about her friend's health and safety as well as her usual course work. She also wonders about the boy she met last semester, Zach, and why he's so mysterious. If only someone would invent a way to decode boy-speak! By the end of the semester, one of the Gallagher girls is in grave danger and Cammie has more mysteries to solve. This is a hard book to describe without giving anything away. It's more action packed than the first two and more about the life of spies than normal teenage stuff. I prefer the boy/girl parts to the action but the action sequences kept me turning the pages, trying to figure out clues and wondering what was going to happen next. Even though I'd make a terrible Gallagher girl, I can't wait to find out what happens next!