Review: United We Spy by Ally Carter

United We Spy (Gallagher Girls #6) by Ally Carter
Publisher: Orchard Books
Released: September 5th 2013
My Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5
Find it on Goodreads

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. (from Goodreads)

United We Spy was a brilliant conclusion to the Gallagher Girls series, and though I really enjoyed reading it, it kind of made me a little bit sad, because I had to say goodbye to one of my favourite series. I'm really going to miss Gallagher Academy and Cammie and Zach and Macey and Bex and Liz and I really don't know what I'm going to do now it's over. I guess on to waiting for Heist Society #4 and Embassy Row #1!

Like Out of Sight, Out of Time, United We Spy was darker than the other books in the series, and a lot of things happened that made me really scared for the characters at times. Cammie was changed by her experiences in the last book, and really wanted to stop the Circle and Catherine once and for all. She had lost a lot, but not her determination, and I so wanted her to finally be able to live in peace. But before that could happen, she had to figure out what was going on and where the Circle would strike next. Zach was there for her to rely on, and I really loved their relationship in this book. The humour was a bit softer, and there was a more serious tone to things, but still they understood each other and had each other's backs, and really, I couldn't ask for much more.

Preston was back in United We Spy, and poor guy! He was forced to suffer a lot of things, some of which were funny, some of which were just horrible, and I felt bad for him. He didn't know what was going on - he had helped Cammie a lot when she needed it, and now she was trying to return the favour, even if Preston didn't understand why he needed help. I liked reading about him and Macey too - Macey really cared about Preston and was the first one to suggest helping him. And though she couldn't have managed it without everyone, she probably would have gone off by herself to go after Preston if she had to.

Plot-wise, there was a lot I didn't expect but I did kind of guess the ending, though I think it was really well done and especially loved the way a certain childhood song played its part. There was also one revelation that I really didn't see coming, which I thought was quite an excellent twist. I'm not sure how I felt about Cammie's mum and Joe, considering Joe used to be Cammie's dad's best friend, but it was something that had been hinted at a lot and that I knew was going to happen eventually. I also would have liked to have seen Josh again for one last time, because even though I really liked the epilogue, I felt like it would have been nice to sort of end things where they started, to compare how the characters changed over the course of the series. But one of my favourite parts of this book was definitely Liz's speech at graduation. You could tell how emotional she was while reading it, and it was just really heartfelt and lovely. I felt like it was a perfect speech to end their time at Gallagher Academy, and I don't think anyone but Liz could have pulled it off.

Overall, I really enjoyed United We Spy, and I can't recommend this series enough. I'm sad to see it go, and I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one!