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

Cammie Morgan goes to a special school called the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women, an all girls school that teaches the skills necessary to create spies. Cammie is known as The Chameleon because of her ability to blend into any environment, making her difficult to detect. When on her first covert op, she is spotted by a local boy named Josh, Cammie fears that he might be an operative planted in the town to infiltrate her school. She and her friends go on a covert operation of their own to find out more about Josh, but the more Cammie learns, the more she realizes that she likes him more than she should.

I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You is the first book in the Gallagher Girls series and does a good job show more of introducing the Gallagher Academy and the characters that will inhabit the series. Cammie's character is well developed as the story's protagonist and we learn some information about her roommates and teachers who are little more than supporting characters in this story. Some of the incidents and dialogue are a little over the top, which is somewhat understandable since the target audience is middle grade and young adult. However, the death of Cammie's father adds a layer of seriousness to this fun story filled with laugh out loud humor and quirky characters. Overall, I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You is an enjoyable beginning to a promising series. show less

This debut novel launches Cammie Morgan’s spy-school saga with flair. Cammie—genius linguist and covert ops prodigy—faces her toughest mission yet: navigating normal teenage life when she starts falling for Josh, an everyday boy who doesn’t belong in her secret world. Ally Carter’s fast-paced writing, witty chapters, and clever blend of spy action and teenage angst make it irresistible. Students love the mix of code-breaking, undercover missions, and sweet romance—all framed by Cammie’s strong voice and internal struggle. It’s perfect for readers who want a little danger with their drama. The success of later books shows just how hooked readers get after this one!

How cute is this book? Super-spy in training Cammie meets a "regular" boy and she and her friends set out to figure him out and plan dates, Gallagher Girl style.

I honestly like the Gallagher Girls and their teachers. I also like spy-fi and special boarding schools so you knew I'd like this. A fun beginning to a fun series.

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If you are looking for a refreshing Young-Adult read, with college unlike any other - this is the perfect book for you! I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You is the first book from the Gallagher Girl series, where we meet girls that go to a school for spies, and nobody except them, knows it.

The Gallagher Academy is a typical all-girls-school, except, instead of normal subjects, they learn advanced martial arts and chemical warfare studies, they have exams where they need to spy, or go unnoticed, or steal.

We meet Cammie Morgan, who happens to be the headmistress's daughter, and when she goes on a mission and gets noticed by a boy - everything changes and her life is show more suddenly everything but normal. She knows how to kill a man in seven different ways, and she can speak fourteen languages, but when a cute boy comes and says hi - she is definitely not trained for that. What's worst - he thinks she's just an ordinary girl, and she is falling in love with him.

Sure, she can tap his phone, hack into his computer, and track him through town without his ever being the wiser - but can she have a 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, she's beginning her most dangerous mission - falling in love.


I loved the writing style, and I loved something new and refreshing - it is a plot that I haven't read before, and I really enjoyed it. Sometimes when it felt a bit childish, I would remember I am not thirteen anymore, but even now at twenty-one, I got lost into this silly world of spy girls and the drama and love life of Cammie.

I liked Cammie - she is the type of girl that you would love to have as a friend, because she always makes you giggle with her silly comments. I also liked how brave and honest she was - not always honest though… Sometimes, she was too whiney for her own good, and making little things out of nothing, but then again, all teens kind of do that all the time, so it's acceptable.

I loved her friends - they were such a team, and always covering their backs. I loved how, even despite all their differences, they manages to fit right in and have their own impact to the group friendship.

Overall, quite an enjoyable read and I would definitely recommend it to you guys, if you love anything YA, or fantasy, or spy girls, or college related. I enjoyed this book, and I wish I read it way sooner. I can't wait to read the rest of the series as well.

Thank you to my friend and author, Michael Kott, that send me this book after recommending it to me, as Ally Carter is one of his favourite authors, and he enjoyed this book as well. Check out his book Piasa - it is amazing!

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I love spy stuff. My favorite superhero is Black Widow. I grew up watching reruns of the original Charlie’s Angels. I’m obsessed with all things espionage. So happening to come across this book in a lousy old Goodwill that day (I have a whole story for this day btw) seemed to be fate.

I loved it, and I wish so bad that I could attend the Gallagher Academy (despite the fact that I’ve graduated already). Though I wish it was a bit heavier on the espionage, easier on the romance. If there’s gotta be romance, I hope there’s a Mr. and Mrs. Smith-esque feel to it.

Cammie was kinda annoying at first, but I grew to love her. She definitely deserves better than Josh. I want to see Macey developed more, I feel like other than her show more introduction we barely got to see her in this book. Bex and Liz, unfortunately, I could really care less about. I hope they get some good development too, though.

Otherwise, this was great and I can’t wait to see what’s next!

(Goodwill: A man tried to steal a fold out table- more specifically the table that my mom had already taken the tag off to purchase at the register. He tried to physically fight me, my mom, and the store’s manager so he could get out of the store with the table. I don’t know if he was drunk or on drugs or what. Needless to say, the security had to escort him out kicking and screaming. We got our table in the end. That was a wild day.) show less

It’s time to go undercover with book one of Ally Carter’s Gallagher Girls (which also happens to have one of the longest book titles I’ve come across), I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have To Kill You.

What I Loved

Girl Power: …and a LOT of it. Knowing how to rappel off roof-tops, take out enemy combatants (as part of a class final exam), and how to kill with a ketchup bottle, are skills I think every girl should know! It was so cool reading about the Gallagher Academy classes and seeing these highly intelligent teens putting their lessons into action. However, some of them REALLY need those Driver’s Ed classes they’re taking.

Love As A Covert Op: The way Cammie and her friends treated a relationship with Josh as a show more covert operation had me laughing out loud. Completing deep background checks, placing a tracker in his shoe, hacking into his emails, and everything else the girls did to determine if Josh should be treated as the “enemy” or a possible love interest was hysterical. Of course, I’m not condoning this in real life (can you say “stalker”?), but it was sure funny in the context of this story. What was just as humorous was the girls’ reaction when they realized they had been trained for absolutely everything – except dealing with boys.

What I Liked

Josh and Cammie: What a pair – the ordinary boy and the extraordinary girl. I liked the chemistry between these two, and the confusion Cammie felt every time she was around Josh. I think any girl can relate to being discombobulated around a boy she finds adorable, but seeing Cammie acting so professional and cool with her spy skills and then a complete wreck around Josh was hugely entertaining. And when a forklift got involved in a relationship discussion in the exciting finale, I couldn’t stop laughing (I’m STILL laughing about it).

Cammie’s Team: I adored all The Gallagher Girls with their various strengths and quirks. If I had to pick a favorite, though, I’d have to go with Liz, the genius-level klutz of the bunch. Any time she attempted field work (or basically just walked into a room) it was a disaster waiting to happen; that she hasn’t already killed herself or someone else with her lack of coordination is a miracle. Running a close second was Macey McHenry, senator’s daughter and “bad girl,” who was the only one able to speak “boy” and became the team’s consultant on all things romance-wise. Brilliant!

Story Format: Several sections of the book are set up like an official report being submitted by Cammie about her ongoing “operation” involving Josh. Referring to herself and her friends as The Operatives, explaining the mission objective and the steps taken – with humorous asides throughout – was cute and clever. I had to laugh as I read a serious “official” passage and then it switched to Cammie’s internal thoughts. This format was a fun change from more linear narratives and was perfectly appropriate for the tale.

What I Didn’t Like

The Ending: With a quick, throw-away comment from Josh in the final chapter, I get the feeling he and Cammie will not be continuing their relationship in future books – which is a shame. I hope I’m wrong, because I’d really love to follow a relationship between a normal guy and an extraordinary girl trying to make adjustments for those Gallagher Girl assignments. Other than the possibility of no Josh in future installments, however, I can’t complain.

Conclusion

With its mix of action, humor, romance and girl power, Ally Carter has started her Gallagher Girls series off with flair. I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have To Kill You is an extremely entertaining read that takes a teenage spy’s first romantic crush down a VERY interesting path into unknown territory – the suburbs. Fun all the way! show less

I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have To Kill You was a pretty fun read with not as much intensity as James Bond and Indiana Jones, but it definitely has its girlish charms! I think sometimes the spy stuff was laid on a little thick, but some of the spy gear and how the girls overreacted to the "normal" world was pretty entertaining! When you first get used to the Academy, it reminded me a lot of Hogwarts without the magic and ghosts - but perhaps a lot more secret passageways.

The ending seemed to rush as the excitement and suspense all rolled into each other as the Gallagher Girls embarked on their CoveOps finals and Cammie decides if Josh should know that she is actually not a "normal" home-schooled, cat-loving girl who likes to show more pass notes via a loose brick on the wall.

I really liked how the girls would apply their spy skills to scouting Josh out and figuring out if he liked Cammie. It was pretty amusing to see them try to decipher "boy talk," and certainly any girl can relate to that, spy or not. show less