Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy (Gallagher Girls, 2)

In case you missed the first book of Carter's series, "I'd tell you I Love You, but Then I'd Have to Kill You," Cammie Morgan is not your typical teenager attending a selective school. The Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women is a training ground for future spies and her mother just happens to be the head mistress. In "Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy," Cammie is returning to school from Winter break, post breakup with first boyfriend and CIA interrogation to determine whether any critical secrets had been leaked to said "Subject." Cammie and her friends may have thought that boy-related drama was over, but when the Gallagher mansion becomes the home to a visiting school, everything changes - need I mention that Blackthorne Institute is a previously unheard of spy school for boys? Their entrance leads to a series of challenges and adventures that give the girls a run for their money.

I tore through the first book in this series and Carter's second book was equally fast-paced. However, maybe the novelty of the premise had worn off, but I found this second attempt a little lackluster. It relied too much on clichés - she creates a modern, spy reproduction of the "do you trust me?" scene from the movie, "Titanic." I found these strong, intelligent girls so charming in the first book that seemed to give a new face to the idea of girl power. Yet Cammie and co. always seemed a step or two behind the boys in painfully obvious ways, ways that seem to create faults in the foundation of the previous book. I kept finding myself saying, "Come on, you're better than that!" I am disappointed though not always surprised when sequels fail to live up to the expectations set by a successful first attempt, but I truly though that Carter could have squeezed a little more from the "girl spy school" stone.

Plot Sketch: Cammie is at it again. This time, she's got a bigger problem than love on her hands... she's got to pass her CoveOps pop quiz. The Gallagher Girls are headed to Washington DC with a mission. Get to the Ruby Slippers without being tailed by a certain time. Do it. Now. She thinks she's accomplished the mission, but in reality, she's spilled all of her mission details to her tail, a cute boy in a baseball cap who offered to walk with her. This failure introduces you to the mysterious Zach, and offers up an important question to the girls. Could there indeed be a spy school for boys? They get back to the Academy and start doing spy work of their own to find out, and the rest of the story unfolds from there.

Verdict: I Heart It! Loved the first installment, I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have To Kill You even more than I hearted this one. There were some points in this book where I went, "C'mon now girls, I thought you were supposed to be spies. You're JUST NOW figuring this out?" But it's still a great book and it's still a fun read. I'd say it's got a bit of your typical second book awkwardness going on for it wherein the author tries to establish a potential for more stories while staying true to the world they've created in the first installment. I didn't giggle nearly as much as I did in the first one, but like I said before, it's still worth your time.

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Disappointed

The author does a great job of getting the reader into the various story lines. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it as have my granddaughers.

I actually liked this one even better than the first! While I really enjoyed getting to know Cammie in the first Gallagher Girls book, I found the secondary characters to really shine here.

SPOILERS BELOW!

The book starts off with Cammie and her friends having another Covert Ops assignment where they have to try and avoid being seen by some other unknown spies. Cammie thinks she's done well, and even takes time to flirt with some cute boys, until she finds out that the boys are the spies and they're from a rival school! Oops!

Cammie and her friends return to school a little worse for the wear, and suddenly have to solve another mystery - why is there a wing of their school closed? Why are the teachers lying about it?

Zach, the new love interest for Cammie, is SO much more fun and interesting than Josh. While Cammie is still pining away for Josh, she can't help but be intrigued by Zach (and neither could I!).

Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy reads a lot like the first book - meaning it's quick and easy and cute and fun. I'm definitely going to be continuing on with this series

The first Gallagher Girls book surprised me - in a good way. Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy brought me back to the world of intrigue, covert operations, and the group of girls that would be great friends.

Cammie and her friends are back for another semester at Gallagher Academy, and true to form there is never a dull moment at school. Cammie, Bex, Liz, and Macey quickly stumble across a secret Cammie's mom and Mr. Solomon are hiding. In true spy fashion, a little detective work reveals that Gallagher Academy will be playing host to several students from another school - an all-boys school. And one of these students seems to have an interest in Cammie. After her previous experience with boys, Cammie is determined to keep her distance, but at a boarding school that is easier said than done. As if the addition of boys isn't enough for Cammie and her friends to deal with, there seems to be a much more sinister plot that could undermine the foundation of the Gallagher Academy. Can Cammie and her friends save the day?

It was so much fun to be back in the world of spies with Cammie and her friends. While the first Gallagher Girls book focused on life outside the school (or Cammie's attempt at having one), this book was dedicated to life inside the school. The classes were more intense and the schemes were more daring when there were being carried out under the noses of trained spies. It is no surprise that there are secrets, like Blackthorne, and the addition of the boys made this book even more fun than the last. No review would be complete without mentioning one boy in particular - Zach. It was hard to get a read on him sometimes, but after all, he is a spy. His interactions with Cammie were by turns sweet and maddening, but I definitely hope that we see more of him in the future. I don't want to say much more than this and give anything away because...well...where's the fun in that? Being a spy is all about secrets...

All of the things that I admired in the first book, like the realness of the world and the way the girls came to life, held just as true in this book. Once again I loved the classes and all of the high-tech gadgetry, and even Mr. Solomon is starting to grow on me. Once again this proved to be a quick, fun read and the perfect escape for a summer day.

The beauty of starting a series so late is that I don't have long waits in between every book. I am looking forward to reading Don't Judge a Girl By Her Cover!

Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy was better by I'd Tell You I Love You But Then I'd Have to Kill You, by far. As in the previous book, Cammie's problems are centered around boys--or in this case, one boy in particular--and she deals with them in a relatively straightforward, enjoyable manner, all the while entertaining the reader with a realistically-teen, often humorous voice. However, unlike the previous book, this one reveals more (in my opinion) of the spy side of things (we learn of lie detectors, how to avoid being followed, and get hints at what might be going on outside the little bubble that is Gallagher Academy); and in the area of plot development, it digs a little deeper than book one, and is all the better for it. Hopefully this the beginning of a trend, and Gallagher Girls 3 will see some real spy action and maybe get Cammie out into the world a little more.

This is a great series for early teen and older teen girls. Strong female characters, adventure, danger, love...they are a great read!

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Good condition