This review first appeared on Goodreads. Please note that this review contains a veeeerrrry mild spoiler, which has been hidden on Goodreads. You’ve been warned.
Do you ever crave books?
I did, yesterday. I had just finished an exam that I’d been mildly stressing over for weeks, the house was quiet because my family was at a dr. appointment with my grandpa, and we had no water. (Long story.) I felt like I needed some emotional release, something to get my mind off things. I felt like… Reading.
The type of book that I wanted sprang into my mind. Something light and frivolous, that would make me laugh and absolutely would not make me more productive, smarter, or even make me think too hard. (That last one rules out Agatha Christie. Sorry, Aggie.) So I started scouring my to-read list for some chick lit and found this title. And you know what? It was EXACTLY what I was craving.
Things I loved about this book…
The academy, which is located in a mansion with a million secret passageways. (And if you’re thinking I should have hidden the part about the secret passageways as a spoiler, ummm c’mon it’s a SPY school.)
The characters… I think Macey was my favorite, which kinda surprised me because Bex has a British accent and normally that would tip dump the scales in her favor. Maybe this is because she wasn’t allowed to use it very often?
The writing style… So many one-liners and funny conversations. Also, the fact that I didn’t have to think too hard about anything. (That last one wouldn’t always be a plus, but it was yesterday.)
The moment when… they find that note in Josh’s trash ending with “I love you, Mom.” and it makes Cammie like him even more. I mean, can you get sweeter/cuter than that?
The theme… The Cammie/Josh relationship was interesting in that the author used it to illustrate how they both wanted the lifestyle that the other person had… Josh was looking for excitement and mystery. Cammie wanted to be part of a normal person’s life. In the end, though, I felt like she looked around and realized that she loved her crazy life… Which is a nice takeaway, especially considering that the target audience for this book is middle school girls. <— Also, as I was writing this I realized that I apparently can’t completely turn off the part of my brain that wants to analyze every piece of literature I read. Oh well.
Lest that last paragraph made this book sound too wholesome, I will say that there’s a lot of sneaking/lying, but again, it’s a SPY school so that’s pretty much expected.
Soooo… I’m still trying to decide if/when I’ll have time to read the rest of this series. This book was cute, but I have feeling things are going to get more intriguing! Ahhh! This chick lit stuff can be addictive.
If you’d like to spy on my reading habits, or read my reviews before I post them to the blog, you can find my personal Goodreads page here.
The Adventures of Julianne 