Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Book Review: I'd Tell You I Love You, but Then I Would Have to Kill You (Mystery)


Bibliography
Carter, Ally. I'd Tell You I Love You, but Then I'd Have to Kill You. New York: Hyperion for Children, 2006. Ebook.
Summary
Cammie Morgan is just like any other 15-year old girl. She has best friends, she worries about what she wears, she has a crush on a boy named Josh, and she attends a school that trains girls to be spies. Due to the secretive nature of her all girls’ school, she is not allowed to tell Josh about what she studies, or that her parents are former spies themselves. She builds a relationship with Josh based on lies, and it is only a matter of time before the lies catch up to her.
Critical Analysis
I’d Tell You I Love You, but Then I’d Have to Kill You would not be classified as a traditional mystery, even though the story is about spies in training. The plot contains suspense, but never leads the reader through a journey of solving a mystery. The biggest mystery the book contains is whether or not Cammie will tell Josh the truth about her life as a spy in training, but this is more conflict resolution. Since this novel is the first in a seven part series, it is almost as if this first novel was all about setting up and giving the framework for future mysteries in the other novels. 
Strengths and Weaknesses
The strength of this novel is that it is the first part of a series. It does engage the readers with the characters and setting of the novel, and leaves some storylines unfinished so the reader wants to read more. Also, the novel is written is an easy-to-read conversational manner, which makes the story interesting and easy to follow. One of the biggest weaknesses of the novel is being able to relate to the main character. Cammie is extremely intelligent, but in a way that can be off-putting to the reader, and her friends are the same way. Honestly, I was more annoyed by the main characters than anything else, but I could easily see young adults enjoying this book.

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