Review of I'd Tell you I Love You But Then I'd Have to Kill You

My review of I'd Tell You I Love You But Then I'd Have to Kill You by Ally Carter is based on a paperback copy of the book that I purchased for myself. The following review is my honest opinion.

Goodreads Summary: "The Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women is a fairly typical all-girls school, that is, if every school taught advanced martial arts in PE, the latest in chemical warfare in science; and students received extra credit for breaking CIA codes computer class. So in truth, Gallagher Academy might claim to be a school for geniuses, but its really a school for spies. Cammie Morgan is a second generation Gallagher Girl, and by her sophomore year she's already 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 one thing the Gallagher Academy hasn't prepared her for is what to do when she falls for 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 his 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, shes beginning her most dangerous mission; she's falling in love."

I'm a sucker for boarding school books; despite being a total homebody going to a boarding school has always been a secret little dream of mine. Would I ever really go to one? Probably not. Is it still fun to daydream about what it would have been like? DUH.

Cammie, otherwise known as The Chameleon, was such a great main character. I loved the balance of her personality; here she was this super genius spy, totally able to blend in wherever she went, yet when it came to having a social life including boys she was clueless. This aspect of her personality just felt so real to me; I mean, come on, it's just common sense that if you had been raised by spy parents to be a spy you wouldn't really know how to deal with "normal" society...you'd probably even crave that normalcy.  And Cammie did.

At its roots this book is the story of a not-so-normal girl trying to reconcile her life with something just a bit, or maybe a lot, more normal one. It was the story of a girl trying to find herself in a world where she feels overshadowed, the kind of coming-of-age story where the girl doesn't completely find herself but she might just be beginning to recognize who she wanted to be...herself.

I had picked this book up for two reasons (1) I really enjoyed Heist Society and (2) I needed a lighter read. What I got was so much better than what I expected. The characters were fun, the plot was intriguing and there was just enough over-the-topness to make it an Ally Carter novel. I'm giving I'd Tell you I Love You But Then I'd Have to Kill You by Ally Carter a four out of five stars review.