#4: Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy by Ally Carter
I love this series. It’s probably one of my favorites, and the author Ally Carter is one of my favorite bloggers. While reading Cross My Heart I was struck by the many similarities between it and Harry Potter and Goblet of Fire, which is not necessarily a criticism, but…it was a little strange. There’s a Grand Hall, a beginning-of-the-year dinner (probs a common tradition in boarding schools), a mansion with secret passage ways, a withholding font of infinite wisdom (Rachel in this series, obvs Dumbledore in HP), another school that comes for an extended visit, and even a special ball! All with the Gallagher Girl twist, of course. Anyways. I have to say, I enjoyed this book a lot, because Cammie is a nice but rational yet sympathetic main character and her life is never dull, and Carter’s writing is great, but the whole Zach/Josh dichotomy reminds me a lot of the whole Jess/Dean dichotomy from Gilmore Girls and WE ALL KNOW WHERE I FALL WITH THAT ARGUMENT. I mean, I just don’t understand the nice girl falling for the guy who is basically a jerk to her all the time. This is Ally Carter, and she’s a really thoughtful writer, so obvs Zach has some redeeming qualities, but I’m skeptical about him and Cammie as a romantic couple. It just doesn’t ring true to me. Now, the tough, flinty girl/raw angry mean bad boy thing, THAT I understand. Veronica and Logan, Blair and Chuck…gimme more! But not when the girl is good and nice and normal like Cammie. Then I just don’t understand what she sees in the guy who never says a kind word to her. Maybe that’s just me.
