BOOK REVIEW: Only the Good Spy Young by Ally Carter

WARNING: May contain spoilers for those who have not yet read the first three books in the series. Reviews of those can be found here:

I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have To Kill You

Cross My Heart And Hope To Spy

Don't Judge A Girl By Her Cover

Only The Good Spy Young begins during the winter break and Cammie is staying in London with her best friend, Bex, and her MI6 spy parents. At the end of Don't Judge A Girl By Her Cover (book three) we found out that The Circle of Cavan was in fact after Cammie, not Macey as we had first thought. Noone knows why they're after Cammie but since the several attempted kidnapping incidents in book three she's been assigned her own security personnel that follow her everywhere. One day when Cammie, Bex and her parents are ice-skating around the Tower of London, she sees Zac. Zac has been popping up unannounced where Cammie is for a while now, though we still don't know how or why. He disappears before answering any of Cammie's questions as usual but he does reveal that he was supposed to meet Joe Solomon, Cammie's CoveOps teacher, but he failed to show up - a bad sign. Just as Cammie is returning her skates, the lights suddenly go out and she is grabbed by someone. It turns out that this someone is Mr Solomon, much to Cammie's surprise. He seems crazed and keeps trying to warn Cammie of something, but she doesn't really understand what he's saying. Bex's parents eventually catch up to Mr Solomon and Cammie and are treating Mr Solomon like a threat, which confuses both Bex and Cammie. It is revealed that Joe Solomon does is in fact a double agent working for The Circle of Cavan, but things still don't add up. The story really gets going once they return to Gallagher Academy and Cammie and her friends start trying to figure out who they can and cannot trust and nothing is as it seems.

I would say that Only The Good Spy Young is definitely the most exciting in terms of plot. This book is filled with action and there are so many plot twists along the way. This book contains the most mystery as suspense as things are starting to come to a head. We have more information about the Circle of Cavan and what the threat is, though we still don't know why and that's what keeps you reading. I was disappointed that there wasn't more romance in this novel but it was brilliant nonetheless. As I said above, Zac continually pops up where Cammie is and it is starting to getting annoying as we don't really know much about who he is or what he's doing. By the end of the novel, Zac's story is a lot clearer and he is part of one of the biggest plot twists in the novel and I think his character will be sticking around.

As with book three, this book is less humorous than I would've liked as the plot has gotten a lot darker and more serious. The missions that Cammie and her friends embark on are not tests, but the real thing and the stakes are high. Cammie has really developed as a character and thinks for herself, instead of relying so heavily on her friends. This is the most serious of all the books as most situations are life or death, but they're not over the top or too silly. There have been a few moments whilst reading this series that I have rolled my eyes at the ridiculous, but stereotypical, spy equipment that has been used, but thankfully there wasn't too much of that in this novel. I feel like the circle of characters in this series is getting smaller and smaller as time goes on as it really starts to focus on Cammie and the threats that are posed to her but I didn't mind this. I actually think this is a good thing because it means that the books aren't full of useless waffle that you don't really need to know about that aren't relevant to the plot. I think the main characters were properly established in this novel and I'm pretty certain of who will be appearing in the subsequent books.

Only The Good Spy Young ends on the biggest cliffhanger yet and I'm so exciting to read Out Of Sight, Out Of Time. I thought that this series only had five books in it but then I found out there's a book six coming out late 2013/early 2014! If Out of Sight Out of Time ends on a major cliffhanger then I don't know how I'm going to survive until then. There are just so many things going on Only The Good Spy Young, in a good way, and my heart was pounding for Cammie during several moments. The story is really starting to come together now and this series really is going from strength to strength.

Who's read the next book in the series? Worth looking forward to? Let me know!