Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Title:     United We Spy [Gallagher Girls, book 6]
Author:  Ally Carter
Rating:  ★★★★ 1/2

I hate United We Spy. I hate that it made me cry in the end. I hate that it represents the end of another series that I have come to love so easily. You know a series is awesome if you never, ever want it to end (right, co-Harry Potter fans?).

Cammie Morgan has lost her father and her memory, but in the heart-pounding conclusion to the best-selling Gallagher Girls series, she finds her greatest mission yet. Cammie and her friends finally know why the terrorist organization called the Circle of Cavan has been hunting her. Now the spy girls and Zach must track down the Circle’s elite members to stop them before they implement a master plan that will change Cammie—and her country—forever.

Ally Carter went big with her plans for Gallagher Girls. Even I wasn't able to guess what the Inner Circle was planning. And oh, the twist is just too, too good. It made me love Liz even more.

In United We Spy, Liz is often the one depicted as clumsy, and she's always very nice and sweet, so it came as quite a shock when she was a huge figure in the Inner Circle's plans. I like that more of her talents and abilities were highlighted in the book. It's always Bex and Cammie who gets the most praise, but Liz was finally given her time to shine.

The Gallagher Girls' sixth book has several bombs - both literally and figuratively. However, they caught me unexpectedly not because I didn't realize it, but more because there wasn't much foreshadowing in the previous books. While they were good twists, I felt like they came out of nowhere, especially that bit about Agent Townsend. Oooh juicy!

In the end, Catherine is depicted as crazy. While I do think that she is a crazed person, I didn't think she was clinically crazy. It wasn't very clear for me why she did all those things, and why she targeted the Gallagher Girls. I wish there was a paragraph or two that explains why she was like that; stating she was crazy just didn't do it for me. Also, there were so many times that Cammie felt something in her gut, which later turned out to be correct, but she didn't listen to them. For such a good spy, she is not so in touch with her instincts.

I'm sad that this is the end of my journey with the Gallagher Girls. After reading all their adventures, I don't think I could live in their spy world, but it was fun while the fantasy lasted. I wish there's an epilogue, or that a few years down the road, Ally Carter will spring a surprise on us with an epilogue book that lets us know how things turned out for them. Or maybe this is enough. Maybe ending like that, with a million possibilities left to our imagination, is enough of an ending, and we can imagine all the happy ending variations we could. Oh Liz, Bex, Cammie, Macey, and Zach, I'll miss you, guys.