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I worked at a bookstore for a long time and I avoided these kinds of books, specifically, I will admit, because of the cutesy covers. Just another frippy, shallow teen book about boys and makeup...
But it's not. It's well-written, well-plotted and, at times, funny, Is it the best book I've ever read? No. Does the heroine get on my nerves sometimes? A bit. But she does have a strong voice and an original point of view. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. A light, breezy, summertime read... Perfect for teenagers.
And I think I would have loved this book if I had read it when I was sixteen. I've just aged out of the demographic a little and somehow, chasing teenage boys just doesn't seem as important. But it's a fun read, nonetheless. Will try the next book in the series and see how it goes ...
But it's not. It's well-written, well-plotted and, at times, funny, Is it the best book I've ever read? No. Does the heroine get on my nerves sometimes? A bit. But she does have a strong voice and an original point of view. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. A light, breezy, summertime read... Perfect for teenagers.
And I think I would have loved this book if I had read it when I was sixteen. I've just aged out of the demographic a little and somehow, chasing teenage boys just doesn't seem as important. But it's a fun read, nonetheless. Will try the next book in the series and see how it goes ...
reread- this was actually quite a fun read but kinda mid compared to the other ones
Cool book.
Great style & humor.
definitely for spy lovers!
Great style & humor.
definitely for spy lovers!
This was really cute!!! I loved the set up of the school and what they do, as well as the relationships in the story. Especially Cammie and her mom. <3 Can't wait to continue with the other books and go further into this world.
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
funny
tense
medium-paced
The good
-While there were some slightly annoying repetitions of the phrase "not like X girls," which, to be fair was a very popular phrase in the early 2000s, I liked how Cammie is proud to be intelligent (a genius, as we're reminded many times throughout the book) and competent, yet holds space for her "softer side." I also appreciated that at the end of the book, her mother clearly states that she holds these same values as well.
-I was very pleasantly surprised at how much I liked Josh as a romantic lead opposite of Cammie, and I think his character aged very well since this was first written in 2006. I think the author successfully wrote him well as a sweet, teenage boy who is very clear on his intentions and is very secure in his masculinity. Always so happy to see a well-rounded, non-toxic romantic interest in a YA novel because unfortunately, this is all too rare.
Points of Improvement (TW: mentions of eating disorders & transphobia)
*
*
*
*
*
-The little one-liners referring to casual transphobia ("Josh might be taking drugs for a sex change operation!" & "maybe [a teacher] will come back as a woman next year") definitely aged badly, and I hope for future editions the author will consider taking these out.
-On a similar vein, one of the FMCs is alluded to be struggling with an eating disorder (or at least an unhealthy relationship with food), but that's also kind of tossed aside in the middle of the book and never really referred to again. I think for a book targeted towards pre-teens and tweens, I think we need to be more careful about references to something that serious.
-Please capitalize the B in Black when referring to Bex!
-Prose-wise, the constant brackets after an incomplete sentence can be quite confusing [e.g., Cammie did this (this is something normal girls don't do) but XXX].
Overall, I think this book is like if the British kid spy series CHERUB by Robert Muchamore and DEBS the movie had a YA child. And as fans of both franchises, I'm here for it! Obviously, I'm no longer the target audience for this book, so some of the prose read a little childish and distracting, but I can definitely see why it had such a strong fanbase in the early 2000s. I just wish I knew about this book when I was a teenager, because I knew I would have loved it so much.
-While there were some slightly annoying repetitions of the phrase "not like X girls," which, to be fair was a very popular phrase in the early 2000s, I liked how Cammie is proud to be intelligent (a genius, as we're reminded many times throughout the book) and competent, yet holds space for her "softer side." I also appreciated that at the end of the book, her mother clearly states that she holds these same values as well.
-I was very pleasantly surprised at how much I liked Josh as a romantic lead opposite of Cammie, and I think his character aged very well since this was first written in 2006. I think the author successfully wrote him well as a sweet, teenage boy who is very clear on his intentions and is very secure in his masculinity. Always so happy to see a well-rounded, non-toxic romantic interest in a YA novel because unfortunately, this is all too rare.
Points of Improvement (TW: mentions of eating disorders & transphobia)
*
*
*
*
*
-The little one-liners referring to casual transphobia ("Josh might be taking drugs for a sex change operation!" & "maybe [a teacher] will come back as a woman next year") definitely aged badly, and I hope for future editions the author will consider taking these out.
-On a similar vein, one of the FMCs is alluded to be struggling with an eating disorder (or at least an unhealthy relationship with food), but that's also kind of tossed aside in the middle of the book and never really referred to again. I think for a book targeted towards pre-teens and tweens, I think we need to be more careful about references to something that serious.
-Please capitalize the B in Black when referring to Bex!
-Prose-wise, the constant brackets after an incomplete sentence can be quite confusing [e.g., Cammie did this (this is something normal girls don't do) but XXX].
Overall, I think this book is like if the British kid spy series CHERUB by Robert Muchamore and DEBS the movie had a YA child. And as fans of both franchises, I'm here for it! Obviously, I'm no longer the target audience for this book, so some of the prose read a little childish and distracting, but I can definitely see why it had such a strong fanbase in the early 2000s. I just wish I knew about this book when I was a teenager, because I knew I would have loved it so much.
This was a really cute read! I read it because my daughter wanted to read it, and I wanted to make sure it would be OK, as it would be her first YA book to read. This was a cute book, I really enjoyed it. I'm even going to check out the rest of the series. :)
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced