Review: United We Spy by Ally Carter

September 30, 2013 / 9 Comments / Review, Uncategorized

United We Spy (Gallagher Girls #6)
Author: Ally Carter (website | twitter)

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion Books
Source: Pre-ordered from Chapters-Indigo

Format: Hardcover, 296 pages
Publication Date: September 17, 2013
My rating: 4.25 out of 5 stars

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.

Review:

I’m doing a different kind of review for United We Spy because this is the very last book in the six-book, wildly popular Gallagher Girls series, and to try to summarize the plot at this point is like the time I was out of town when the Lost finale came out, and I ended up watching it with four other people who had never seen the show, and they kept asking questions during the show, and basically it just ended with me saying, “NO, it is not possible to summarize in five sentences” and “NO, I can’t tell you why there’s a smoke monster, there just is!” (also, “I’m having all the feels here, please stop talking!”)

Instead, I’m going to write this review with a lot more of my own reactions and feelings, and as if the audience has already read books 1-5, because, let’s be honest, no one who is reads this review is looking to read the final book without at least some prior knowledge of the books. Also, I’m in total book mourning that this series is over, and it’s taken me a week to get to this…and I think this is the only way I can do it.

United We Spy is a fitting end to the incredibly addictive Gallagher Girls series. I think a comparison of United We Spy to the last Harry Potter is apt, because, just like Harry, in this final installment of GG, we know who the enemy is, we know who and what they’re after (or DO WE?), and we know that Cammie and her friends need to take them down. What’s interesting is how we get there – and Ally Carter completely delivers.

I really thought that there would be very few surprises left – I knew there would be some reveals, but I didn’t expect how deeply Cammie and her friends are entwined in the plot. To me, the entire story, from book 1 to book 6 completely tied together. Threads and characters from EVERY BOOK show up AND MATTER in this book (which is why I really, really can’t summarize things). There were characters that I forgot about that came back, and the plotting is sheer genius. On top of that, we get Cammie’s struggle to figure out whether she’s a child or an adult, her fear of the future, and what she’s going to do when she graduates, as – it’s both an ending to the mythology, and an ending for the characters, and it just fits together beautifully.

It’s a complete testament to Ally’s writing that I never doubted for a second that that was the way things should go, or that certain characters behaved the way they did. If I had one complaint, it would be that the VERY ending is just a tad bit sappy, and the writing does feel a bit sentimental and obvious. But I’m absolutely willing to allow the author that much. After six books and years of work, she has won the right to be a little bit emotional at the end.

To me, the best part of the book is that it’s not only as heart-pounding as the rest of the books (although, personally, I found Don’t Judge a Girl By Her Cover and Out of Sight, Out of Time more thrilling than the rest), but it circles back to so many moments that I’d forgotten about and reaffirms the Gallagher Academy belief in how much girls are underestimated, and how much better we are when we work together.

Bonuses:

Boarding School (and Graduation!): This goes for the entire series, but it was especially bittersweet for me to see the Gallagher Academy one last time, with all of the cool classes, the 10,000 different languages spoken at lunch, the roommates, the lower levels…

Kick-Ass Girls and Girl Power: Again, this goes for the entire series, but as I mentioned before, I feel like this last book reinforced the awesomesauceness of the girls in the series…and girls in general. We can save the world! =p

Hot Boys: ZACH. A lot of kissing. That’s pretty much all I can say about THAT.

The Final Word:

You’ll laugh, you’ll cry…most of all, you’ll be very satisfied with UNITED WE SPY. It’s definitely a series ender for fans. If you’ve read books 1-5 in the Gallagher Girls series, you should definitely, DEFINITELY pick up this final novel. It’s not the most unpredictable book, but man, is it a good ending – an ending that we deserve, and an ending that reminds us just how much power girls have to change and influence the world.

Are you a Gallagher Girl? Have you read UNITED WE SPY yet? Are you into action YA? How do you feel about the ends of major series – are you a basket case like me? Sound off in the comments!


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9 responses to “Review: United We Spy by Ally Carter

  1. I was really impressed that all the characters/everything from book 1-6 was somehow tied into the ending. It was just so clever!! This series got better and better with every book and I'm so sad to see it go!! For once I was actually satisfied with the ending of a book – something that rarely happens! Have you read Ally Carter's Heist Society series? That's pretty good too 🙂
    Great review!

    Laura @ What's Hot?

  2. i haven't read this series yet but i had my eyes on it a few times in a way i'm glad now that teh series is finished because i can have a better idea of it as a whole and i'm sure we do get the ending ( hate unfinished series) the fact you tell me the ending is good is a major factor to make me try to see if it available near me

    thank you

  3. One of the greatest books I've read!! I love this very much and I totally agree with what you said about this book having just about everything awesome. I would really miss Cammie, Zach and the gang. Nice review! 🙂

  4. This book was so adorable!! I was distraught when it was over… ;( I loved the characters and the silly plot line that was so addictive. This book was a bit darker than the others. I'm glad they all got their happily ever afters though. Great review!! 🙂

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