The Gallagher Girls series by Ally Carter

I'd Tell You I Love You But Then I'd Have to Kill You (#1)
Released: August 2008

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 boy who can never know the truth about her?

Cammie may be an elite spy in training, but in her sophomore year, she’s beginning her most dangerous mission yet!

Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy (#2)
Released: November 2008

Cammie Morgan may have a genius IQ and attend the best school in the country, but as she starts the spring semester of her sophomore year there are a lot of things she doesn't know. Like will her ex-boyfriend even remember she exists? And how much trouble did she really get in last semester? And, most of all, exactly why is her mother acting so strangely?

All Cammie wants is a nice, normal semester, but she's about to learn her greatest lesson yet—that when you go to a school for spies, nothing is ever as it seems.




Don't Judge A Girl By Her Cover (#3)
Released: May 2009

Cammie Morgan has a cover for every occasion. Being a spy-in-training, aliases, phony passports and fake ID's are a means of survival. But what happens when the ghosts of her past see through her flawless façade?

This semester, Cammie continues to flirt with danger at Gallagher Academy. When a national political convention turns into a trap, Cammie is forced to lose her cover to save her best friend, Macey – a major political target – from being kidnapped.

But are the kidnappers’ political extremists or something more sinister? And why has Zach, Cammie’s mysterious (and totally h ot) crush, suddenly returned?

With the help of a glamorous ex-Gallagher Girl, Cammie and her friends are determined to hunt down the group that threatens to tear their secret sisterhood apart.

This time it's personal.

Only The Good Spy Young (#4)
Released: June 2010

When Cammie Morgan enrolled at the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women, she knew she was preparing for the dangerous life of a spy. She just didn’t know that life would start during her junior year of high school. But that’s exactly what happened two months ago when Cammie faced off against a mysterious organisation called the Circle of Cavan. Now even Cammie 'The Chameleon' can’t hide.

Danger has followed her to London where she discovers one of her most trusted allies has been labelled a double agent. The Gallagher Girls quickly realise that the Circle’s agents are closer than they’d feared -- maybe even within the Gallagher Academy’s own walls. Cammie and her room-mates must call upon old friends if they want to find the traitor at their beloved school before it's too late...

Book 5 in the Gallagher Girls series is as yet, currently untitled but will be released early 2012.


My Review:
The Gallagher Girls is a fun series about a girls boarding school that is actually a spy school. While it is written for ages eleven and up, I find, being in my twenties, that it is one of my guilty pleasures. The girls have their normal teenage problems but what I think makes a big difference in the series is that it is based on friendship.

Cammie and her three best friends always stick by each other and tackle whatever problem they come across together, whether it be boys, sneaking out of their school, a kidnapping plot or a secret ops mission. They are brave, likeable characters that have their weaknesses; even if they super-spies, it's nice to know they aren't invincible, and that the girls know this and are down-to-earth. The spy school is a great way to have the girls tackling normal teenage problems and while the stories are written light-heartedly, the girls are always faced with serious issues and consequences.

All the titles are lots of fun and entertaining and have up to date pop culture references. I personally feel that each title gets better than its predecessor.

Also by Ally Carter: Heist Society

Heist Society by Ally Carter

Title: Heist Society
Author: Ally Carter

Release Date: 25th February 2010 (Australia)

My Rating: 4/5

When Katarina Bishop was three, her parents took her on a trip to the Louvre...to case it. For her seventh birthday, Katarina and her Uncle Eddie travelled to Austria...to steal the crown jewels. When Kat turned fifteen, she planned a con of her own, scamming her way into the best boarding school in the country, determined to leave the family business behind. Unfortunately, leaving "the life" for a normal life proves harder than she'd expected.

Soon, Kat's friend and former co-conspirator, Hale, appears out of nowhere to bring her back into the world she tried so hard to escape. But he has good reason: a powerful mobster has been robbed of his priceless art collection and wants to retrieve it. Only a master thief could have pulled this job, and Kat's father isn't just on the suspect list, he is the list. Caught between Interpol and a far more deadly enemy, Kat's dad needs her help.

For Kat there is only one solution: track down the paintings and steal them back. So what if it's a spectacularly impossible job? She's got two weeks, a teenage crew, and hopefully just enough talent to pull off the biggest heist in history, or at least her family's (very crooked) history.

I really enjoyed Heist Society, it's fun and has a good amount of suspense to it. It reminds me of Oceans 11 but with teenagers and I would really love for it to become a series. I liked Gallagher Girls but I think Heist Society has just that little bit more substance to it that allows it to be more enjoyable for those of us who are slightly older than the target audience. Ages 11+