― Ally Carter, Out of Sight, Out of Time

When I started the Gallagher Girl books, I was entertained but not exactly fulfilled. They felt like young, fun books that straddled the line between Middle Grade and Young Adult.

But as the characters have matured, so have the content and the writing. These have turned serious, meaty books that deal with a lot more than just teenage shenanigans. The change was gradual and it was only in Out of Sight, Out of Time that I really felt it come through. Needless to say, I am a big fan!

Out of Sight, Out of Time is by far my favourite in the series. The novel opens with an amnesiac Cammie being tended to by Austrian nuns – so right from the start I knew I was going to be in for a treat. You’d think the amnesia trope would be too cliché to handle, but instead it gave the book an overarching mystery that I really enjoyed. What happened to Cammie? How did she suddenly become a bad-ass warrior? What did Bex and Zach get up to while Cammie was away? ALL THE QUESTIONS.

Not only did Ally Carter deliver a fantastic mystery, she wrapped it up in a kick-ass ending. This book had me salivating for the next (I managed to delay the satisfaction of starting that one… by 2 whole days).

Bottom line? If you gave up on the Gallagher series during the first few books, please reconsider! They get plottier and more awesome as they go on.

http://deadbookdarling.com/2014/12/review-out-of-sight-out-of-time-by-ally-carter.html

Review to come.

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 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 low 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.

I'm a huge Zammie (Zach and Cammie) shipper and I felt like they needed their own fanmix.