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

Don't Judge a Girl by Her Cover

Ally Carter

When Cammie “The Chameleon” Morgan visits her roommate Macey in Boston, she thinks she’s in for an exciting end to her summer break. After all, she’s there to watch Macey’s father accept the nomination for vice president of the United States. But when you go to the world’s best school (for spies), “exciting” and “deadly” are never far apart. Cammie and Macey soon find themselves trapped in a kidnappers’ plot, with only their espionage skills to save them.

As her junior year begins, Cammie can’t shake the memory of what happened in Boston, and even the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women doesn’t feel like the safe haven it once did. Shocking secrets and old flames seem to lurk around every one of the mansion’s corners as Cammie and her friends struggle to answer the questions, Who is after Macey? And how can the Gallagher Girls keep her safe?

Soon Cammie is joining Bex and Liz as Macey’s private security team on the campaign trail. The girls must use their spy training at every turn as the stakes are raised, and Cammie gets closer and closer to the shocking truth….

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I think this is the most important book in the series so far and I like how it focuses more on friendship and the spy side of Cammie's life and not her love life like the past two books have.   One thing I didn't realize back when I was younger and read this book that I realize now and appreciate is Macey and Cammie's friendship.  I love Bex and Liz but Cammie and Macey's relationship seems much more special and unique than with Bex and Liz. Cammie was the first one to help Macey study and catch up in the last book and she is the one who was able to bond with her over the summer.  Cammie really seems to understand, relate, and care for Macey just a tad more than the other two.   I really liked how whatever the girls were learning in class connected with the story and filled in a few missing pieces.    I liked how the plot focused more on Macey than Cammie and goodness WHAT A PLOT TWIST! That ending was crazy.

Pages: 272

Happy reading!                                                                                                                                                                                  Baylee

Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy - Ally Carter (Gallagher Girls #2)

 Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy

Ally Carter

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.

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Yay we have made it to the second book! 

It was just as well written as the first book and there are so many questions about small details in the book that I have and really want answered.   It was interesting to see how the first time I read it I liked Zach but now I didn't!  He was so irritating and I hated not know if he was actually being honest or not!  Just like it annoyed Cammie so job well done Ally Carter.   Early on in the book they fly to the National Mall for a class assignment and I just really wanted to smack Cammie because it was so obvious what was going on but everyone makes mistakes, even Gallagher Girls.   I really liked how the big action scene is at the end (just like the first book) because I find myself losing interest when books have the climax like 3/4 of the way in and the rest just seems like filler.

Overall it's a fun and light read and I would really recommend reading it if you read the first one.

SUPER DUPER SPOILER AHEAD!!!!

I was SO dissapointed/irritated that Dr. Steve stealing the disk was fake!  I really wanted it to be true because that plotline would be awesome (Having a traitor) and I wanted the girls to save the day and not just pass a test.  So does that mean all of the code blacks were fake? What would Mr. Solomon have done if one of the girls had killed one of the guards? I know that's not really how they do it (they like to knock them out) but if push comes to shove you know the girls know hundreds of ways to kill a man (just with their bare hands)

Pages: 236

Happy reading!

Baylee

I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You - Ally Carter (Gallagher Girls #1)

I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You

Ally Carter

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.

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The first official Read-a-thon post! I'm so excited! This has been amazing so far (and it's only the first week!) and I can't wait until we get to the other books!

I fell in love with this book all over again!  I forgot how much I enjoyed it the first (and second... and third) time.  There is a reason this has been my favorite book since Middle school (I think that's when I read it but goodness that seems so long ago)

I can never put into words how much I enjoyed every second of this book! There weren't any boring or slow parts and each part really fit in and there wasn't really any filler. The book is supposed to be Cammie's first covert operations report and it feels as if it actually was written by a fifteen year old! I Just love Carter's writing style and sense of humor and she really seems to connect with girls.  I love the little glimpse we get into the life of a spy like 'When you're on a plane home from Istanbul and you have a nuclear warhead in a hatbox the last thing you want to do it write a report about it' it seems like the paperwork would be the hardest/most irritating part! but doesn't everybody hate paperwork?   All of the characters are very relatable and I found I could relate to every one of them in some way, even the little side characters like Tina Walters and Anna Fetterman (Tina's probably my favorite! or maybe Anna... I can never decide).  It seemed like Josh and I have the same mom! But my mother doesn't make 18 different kind of banana bread and make me sample them all.  It was definitely interesting to see how my opinions and views have changed since I first read it so many years ago and I think I appreciate and enjoy the book more now then I did back then!   I think this would be a great book for an adult who doesn't read too much YA but wants to dabble a little bit and I really enjoyed experiencing Cammie's first crush and her first date (and kiss!) with her and I think other older readers will enjoy that too.

I just love this book so much!

Pages: 284

Happy reading!

Baylee

Gallagher Girl Read-a-thon!

So to start off the read-a-thon I thought I would make a post about the GG series. This is a series very near and dear to me ever since I started reading it back in the summer of '08 (I believe) when there were only two books in the series and I CANNOT wait for the new book coming out in just a little more than a month (I will be getting the B&N hardcover so I will get the little extra epilogue) and her newest series about an ambassador's granddaughter.

It's funny how when you look at my books it's like a gradient of how worn or as I like to say loved they are based on how old they are. Most of them are more loved around the corner and edges but some of the pages are bent and folded in places too but I have try to take care of them like I do with all of my books.

I actually love the British covers more than the American cover because the British covers are like pieces of the uniform whereas the American cover is different colors to show it's a different book (there's a few more differences than that but that's the easiest way to put it.)

I even made a bookmark in celebration of the RAT and I picked yellow and blue since the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women badge (patch?) is blue. So this is the bookmark I will be using for the RAT. You may not know I believe the bookmark you use is just as important as the actual book (and I love them just as much too!)



I am a big fan of Ally Carter's books and I have read all of her YA books (I'm hoping to find her adult books at used book stores since they are no longer printed) and I even met her once at a book signing and she signed my book and I got a few pictures but she signed HS 2 since it was actually the day the book came out but I can make another post with all of the details and little stories that I took back from that day (Ally is a lot prettier in person!)

Be sure to check out Books As You Know It since they are the lovely hosts of the RAT

Please take note that due to a family emergency my reviews may be a few days late so please be patient.


Happy reading!
Baylee

Summer Getaways - Peggy Darty, Nancy J. Farrier, Marilou H. Flinkman, Gail Sattler

Summer Getaways 

Peggy Darty, Nancy J. Farrier, Marilou H. Flinkman, Gail Sattler

(Sorry i can't find a bigger picture ANYWHERE)

Four inspirational stories of love set during vacation getaways in contemporary times. Authors Peggy Darty, Nancy Farrier, Marilou Flinkman, and Gail Sattler weave enchanting tales that you will want to take along on your own getaway.

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Overall, It's an okay book. All the stories seemed to go the same way, not to mention the characters in every story have a lot of similarities. All of these stories 

just moved way too fast and I know there could only be so many pages/chapters but I think they rushed things a little too much. Spring in Paris and Sudden Showers seemed to be most natural and not as rushed as the other two.

Spring in Paris

I was not impressed. Without giving away the details I think some of her choices were unsafe especially for a younger woman alone in a foreign country.

The Rock Wall

I really like how the characters were on a bike tour of England I thought it was unique and different (you don't read about biking everyday!) but I found the book to be just a little to cliche for me with the character who is the cliche 'jealous girlfriend' who sabotages the girl she thinks is trying to steal her boyfriend but really the girl is innocent in her intentions and she is the childhood friend that moved away and the guy starts to like her and realizes what kind of person his girlfriend (the woman he was going to propose to on the trip) really is. It gets really cliche and predictable at the end. If you can get passed the cliches the story was pretty great. 

The River Runners

This was another one that I thought was a little different  I didn't think it was very realistic based on the fact that the main character talks about God while rafting. Unless you worked for a christian based company you would get fired/reprimanded pretty quick. So I thought this book was okay at first but they had known each other TWO weeks and he was already mentioning moving close to where the main character lived. If you didn't think that was soon enough just a few days later he was asking the main characters uncle if he could marry her! They met TWO WEEKS ago! I was not very impressed with this one.

Sudden Showers

I had issues in just the first few pages. First he calls her Miss (he doesn't know if she is married or not so the author should have used Ms.) and then he walks her home, now I don't really want to put my own personal opinion in this review (though I know I already have) but I would not want a man who is a stranger to walk me home and learn where I live there are some really creepy people out there nowadays. I liked the idea of sightseeing and vacationing in your own town so I enjoyed this story a lot.

Pages: 346