Out of Sight, Out of Time

So this one doesn’t exactly pick up where the last one left off… but it DOES pick up at exactly the moment following the last moment that Cammie remembers from the previous book – when she set out on her own to learn why the Circle was hunting her. Unfortunately for both Cammie and the reader, that was months ago and we have no idea what has happened to her in the meantime.

It was actually kind of neat discovering what summer-Cammie had been doing at the same time that present-Cammie herself was learning of it… as well as discovering what present-Cammie is now capable of (dangling a teacher over the railing without knowing that she had even made a mover, for instance).

There were two things that made this book super awesomer than show more the other books. Actually, no, there were three.

First, it surprised me. I mean, it’s not unusual for this series to have double agents, but I still didn’t see it coming!

Second, it took us on a scavenger hunt across the world, what fun! We were in Ireland and Rome and Switzerland just to name three places.

Thirdly, oh I love Joe Solomon so much! Love love love love! (I remember the first few times I had crushes on adult characters in teen movies and novels instead of the main teen love interests… it was shocking, but now when characters like Joe Solomon are involved, it is TOTALLY worth it.)

Oh! And most importantly, yay girls who kick ass! There’s something so encouraging and heartwarming to read books about girls and women who are that smart and strong and who fight for themselves. It always makes for such an amazing story.

This book was so cute! So so cute! Do not want this series to end at all! Am missing it already!

The Bottom Line
Highly recommend this book to people who haven’t started the series yet – especially for those readers who secretly want to learn how to become a spy themselves. ;) show less

The Great Gallagher Girls Reread/Read

I have reached the point where I stop rereading the Gallagher Girls and am simply reading the last two books for the first time. Frankly I cannot remember why I stopped and I curse my laziness.

Cammie wakes up in a convent in Austria, four months after leaving her friends, her mother, her sort-of boyfriend and her school behind in an attempt to keep those she loves safe. The ancient terrorist organisation, the Circle of Cavan, wants something from her. She goes into hiding - only when she wakes up in Austria, injured and weak, she can't remember how she got there. In fact, she can't remember anything after leaving the Gallagher Academy. Where did she go? What did she do? And why won't anyone tell her show more what's going on?

This has been my favourite Gallagher Girls novel to date. Full of action and an intense plotline, I realised that my favourite Gallagher Girls have come a long way from the four girls who conducted surveillance on a boy in town to see if he liked Cammie. In the midst of their senior year, they learn what it's like to become real operatives, rather than just spies-in-training. The problem with that is if you screw up - you're dead.

Through these books, I've felt a connection with Cammie that I didn't quite feel with the other girls (though I love them too!). Maybe it's because we see the world from Cammie's point of view, but I felt so deeply for her through everything she was dealing with. The fear of what she might have said or done in those months she can't remember, the knowledge that she may now be a threat and the feeling that she may still be putting everyone she loves at risk. Add that to the fact that she still doesn't know why the Circle wanted her so badly, and the pressure of senior year at a spy academy - needless to say Cammie has a lot going on. You could feel it getting to her. She's so exhausted by it all and she's barely even started. Yet she's handled herself remarkably well considering the circumstances. She is a beautifully written character who feels very real. Cammie is just someone who can endure.

And it's not over yet. show less

This is the strongest 4 star book of the series. Very well done, with plenty of suspense and action. Full review to come.

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Featuring an intelligent and relatable lead in Cameron (Cammie “The Chameleon”) Morgan, Ally Carter's teenage spy series, The Gallagher Girls, has hooked me with its action, humor, fun book titles, and highly entertaining characters. With book five, however, things take a darker and more dangerous turn than ever as Cammie seeks to find out why an ancient terrorist organization is hunting her down. It’s the strongest Gallagher Girls story yet in Out of Sight, Out of Time!

What I Loved

Wow, how things have changed since that first Gallagher Girls story! Kick-a** heroine, Cammie, is no longer show more just spying on a cute local boy to see if he is perfect boyfriend material. Now she is trying to piece together what really happened when she wakes up with a host of injuries and no memory of her summer adventures. Cammie has grown up over the last few books, facing all kinds of danger and coming out triumphant, but she is on the shakiest ground she has ever crossed in Out Of Sight, Out Of Time. I loved the mystery that is at the heart of this story and how much is revealed as Cammie investigates what happened during her missing months. Everything felt ramped up here, tighter, more urgent, and the pacing was stellar as the story unfolded.

Author Ally Carter is not afraid to provide some real answers as the story progresses, some shocking and some that brought tears to my eyes. We discover traitors where friends are supposed to be, and the surprising secret Cammie didn't even know she carried. I was overjoyed when Macey’s “boyfriend” Preston Winters from Don’t Judge A Girl By Her Cover showed up (he’s such a lovable dork), and I can’t wait to see what happens with him in the next book where it looks like he will play a key role. There are a multitude of major – and minor – reveals here, yet Carter ends things with a torturous cliffhanger that shows there are a LOT of answers still to come.

What I Liked

Cammie picked up a new love interest in the second book of the series, Zach, whom I’ve been struggling with since I was a big Josh fan. I finally connected with him in the last book (which I credit to getting more of his back story and discovering some major secrets he’s been hiding). At this point, I'm comfortable with him as Cammie's boyfriend, and the interactions between Zach and Cammie in this book made me love him even more. He was always too glib and mysterious for me in the past, but between Cross My Heart and Hope To Spy and here, he is much more earnest and honest with Cammie about his feelings. I'm liking it a lot. Chalk up another Zach fan!

Everything was very balanced in this story. There were questions, answers, and more questions. There were big reveals (OMG, the stuff about Cammie’s dad and the traitors in their midst were great!) and small. There was plenty of action, as well as quieter, more intimate scenes to provide a breather from the tension. There were heartbreaking and heartfelt moments. Things started off with a bang when Cammie awoke in the Alpine convent, then pulled back to build the tension gradually as Cammie slowly recovered the memories she had lost. The story was beautifully constructed by Ally Carter and it all led to that killer finale that left me hungering desperately for book six.

What I Didn’t Like

Seriously, I have nothing to complain about with this book. It is well-balanced, exciting, and answers all kinds of questions – while leaving more still to discover. Kudos to Ally Carter!

Conclusion

Author Ally Carter has crafted an action-packed adventure that is stuffed to the seams with secrets, lies and betrayals. Out of Sight, Out of Time takes Cammie, Zach and the rest of the Gallagher Girls crew on a quest to find the missing pieces of Cammie’s memory and ends up providing plenty of answers, even more questions, and a torturous cliffhanger finale. The strongest book yet in Ally Carter’s Gallagher Girls series, Out of Sight, Out of Time is one heck of a ride! show less

I wasn’t expecting a lot out of this book, to be honest. I’ve read the Gallagher Girls books when I was in middle school and part of high school. I’ll be honest; in retrospect, they weren’t exactly stimulating reading. The narration was a bit simple and the major plot twists were a bit tame. I suppose that was because of the nature of the genre; YA, but the G or PG version of something that could be PG-13. Not in terms of risqué, mind you, but in terms of fully taking advantage of all that the YA spy genre could be. Maybe I was spoiled, more used to the action-packed adventures of Alex Rider and the kids from Thieves Like Us. But for whatever reason, I never really considered the Gallagher Girls series to be anything more than show more fluffy escapism, good for a quick read and a giggle or two, but nothing too immersive.When I saw that Out of Sight, Out of Time was published, I thought that I’d give it a quick read for old time’s sake. From the first paragraph, I realized that what I was holding in my hands was something else entirely, a whole new level that I had been wishing for this book series to achieve. We start out the story with the main character, Cammie, waking up in a convent, miles from home, with no idea where she is, what she’s doing there, and what happened in the past few months. All she knows is that she has injuries, a new identity, and a whole new, extremely dangerous skill set that she did not have before.Woah. Now that’s what I’m talking about.I loved the new tone that Ally Carter decided to use in this book. It was darker, naturally, and gave the novel a more mature theme to it. The main character, as well, had a much more nuanced role in the books, having to deal with the aftermath and the mystery of her missing months. Cammie also has to deal with her friends and family, and their reactions to her reappearance after being presumed missing and/or dead for so long. Their reaction isn’t what is expected, instead a wide spectrum of anything from shock and relief to anger and frustration. Cammie’s friends, Bex, Macey, and Liz keep the reader grounded and also provide Cammie with a tie to her “old” self, despite their new jaded outlooks.Other elements of the series, such as the mysterious Circle and the tension between Cammie and handsome/enigmatic love interest Zach, really hit their stride with this book. I also liked the development of some of the adult characters that we didn’t really get to see much of in the past books, such as Cammie’s aunt Abby. And let’s not forget the action! Fast-paced and a bit more “hands on” in their spy approach, which I appreciated as an older reader.Basically, Out of Sight, Out of Time was not at all what I anticipated, despite the fact that I had read the other books in the series… It was so much better! Ms. Carter has really upped her writing game. I’ll be interested in seeing how she manages to follow up on this book. This book was a quick, fun read that only took a few hours to complete. If you haven’t read this book series before, study up and get started on this one. It’s worth it.____For more book reviews, visit my blog The Bookshelf! show less

The last thing Cammie Morgan remembers is leaving the Gallagher Academy to protect her friends and family from the Circle of Cavan-an ancient terrorist organization that has been hunting her for over a year. But when Cammie wakes up in an alpine convent and discovers that months have passed, she must face the fact that her memory is now a black hole. The only traces left of Cammie's summer vacation are the bruises on her body and the dirt under her nails, and all she wants is to go home.

Once she returns to school, however, Cammie realizes that even the Gallagher Academy now holds more questions than answers. Cammie, her friends, and mysterious spy-guy Zach must face their most difficult challenge yet as they travel to the other side of show more the world, hoping to piece together the clues that Cammie left behind. It's a race against time. The Circle is hot on their trail and willing stop at nothing to prevent Cammie from remembering what she did last summer. show less

I really can't believe how emotionally invested I am in this series. For me the books started out as fluffy, cute, light reads. In the last few books, the girls are growing up and learning that while it may be fun and have it's perks, it's not at all easy being a Gallagher Girl.

I was definitely shocked by the direction this book went. I found myself almost depressed for Cammie throughout most of the first half. There were lots of twists and interesting developments that have me craving the next book already. I was definitely impressed by the growth we see in Cammie over the course of the last two books.

Also, may I just say that I love Joe Solomon. I actually really like all the guys in this series. Preston ;) (You gotta love a hot show more nerd!), Zach, and I even have to say Townsend.

Anyway, I really, really, really want the next book now! show less

The Gallagher Girls book series by Ally Carter is about an all-girls school that turns young ladies into spies. I am a Gallagher so this was rather inspiring. The school was founded by a Gallagher, so doesn’t that mean that being a spy runs in my genes. That put aside the series as a whole is very good. It follows a path that every girl has been down and has domineering main character such as Macey and Cammie. Each book has a witty title that gets you hyped for the novel and is usually a great play on word.
The only down fall to the series is in the fifth book: Out of Sight, Out of Time. I had been really excited for this book since the last one had left a bit of a cliffhanger. It was terrible it destroyed the whole series for me. It show more made the characters all seem weak and made the reader more and more confused as they tried to unravel the mysteries of Cammie’s damaged mind.
For starters, the book does not pick up where the last one left off you start with Cammie and a bunch of nuns. I was a little confused by this because I was expecting an awesome finish to that cliffhanger but I was hopeful for a powerful flashback that would explain everything. It never came. As I read more and more of the book my hope continued to diminish. Not only did the reader not know what happened to Cammie, but Cammie didn’t know what happened to Cammie. No one in the entire book knew what had happened or made any attempt to truly find out. Yes, they all made promises and told Cammie to think back and try really, really hard to remember what happened but that didn’t do anything. Zach the love interest gets all weird and disappears for a while and then the focus shifts to Cammie’s dad, who is dead or so we thought.
Here comes the biggest plot twist of all time are you ready because I sure as heck wasn’t. Cammie’s dad isn’t actually dead. Well fan-freaking-tastic; the most unpredictable plot twist ever. And to make it worse not only is he still alive he knows what happened during Cammie’s missing time. So the solution should be that the mom just goes and chats with him, but guess what she can’t. He is really deep undercover and she wouldn’t want to blow it. How on earth was his cover not blown by Cammie chilling with him for almost a year! Also why did he accept a mission where he would have to be undercover for more than sixteen years when he is a newlywed and has a child on the way? Whatever.
Besides all the plot holes the book seems like it was written by someone who was on some powerful painkillers or something; making everything super vague killing all the character development. I am just really disappointed with Ally Carter in this book I expected a lot more. I haven’t finished the series for fear of the last book being as bad as or worse than this one. I really liked the first four books and this one destroyed them for me. What once was my favorite series is now a series I laugh at for being so terrible. show less