Not If I Save You First by Ally Carter

Jul 31, 2018 Cristina Monica rated it really liked it

Recommended to Cristina Monica by: jessica

Shelves: adventure, survival, friends-to-lovers

Ally Carter is back, baby!

Alright, so she never actually ‘‘left,’’ but I can’t help but feel super excited when the author of one of my all time favourite series – The Gallagher Girls – publishes a new book.

Even if said book is a standalone, which is unlike Ally Carter. She’s known for her mystery series for teenagers, but she isn’t exactly known for writing one-shot stories. So part of me does wander why she didn’t make this a series.

But I’m okay with her decision. As much as I enjoyed reading ...more

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Jun 15, 2018 jessica rated it liked it · review of another edition

this was quite a short book, so i will keep my review brief, as well. this was good for what it was - it was a quick, enjoyable survival story filled with action, adventure, and romance. whilst it had its highs (exciting premise, easy writing, decent pacing), it also has some lows (shallow character depth, some unrealistic moments). even though i didnt think this was perfect, i would still recommend it to anyone looking for an effortless, entertaining story!

3 stars

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May 03, 2018 Carol (Bookaria) rated it really liked it

Shelves: favorites, 2018, young-adult, romance, fiction, top-2018

This is a cute and adventurous YA story and I really enjoyed it.

Six years ago, Maddie, the daughter of a secret-service agent, and Logan, the son of the President of the United States were both ten and best friends. Then, something happened and Maddie moved to Alaska with her father.

Fast-forward six years and Maddie is still in Alaska. She has been living with her father, home-schooled, and learning survival skills. All gets disrupted when Logan is sent to Alaska to spend some time with them an ...more

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Oct 04, 2019 Grace rated it really liked it

4.5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
This was such a sweet and easy read.
Maddie was a girly girl who can survive in the worst possible wilderness situation. I know it doesn’t sound as badass as you would think, but this book put a new spin on being your best self without compromising who you are.
Maddie grew up being best friends with the son of the president of the United States but an unfortunate event split them apart, when they found each other, their friendship wasn’t as rosy as it was in the past. It took a life a ...more

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May 12, 2018 Kat rated it really liked it

Shelves: library-2

This was a cute escape novel where Maddie, daughter of a secret service agent, and Logan, son of the president, are off in Alaska, when Logan is suddenly threatened, and Maddie’s survival smarts must save them both. Easy-to-follow plot, and perfect if you’re looking for something light and easy. I enjoyed Maddie’s sass, and bedazzling 😊.

Please excuse typos/name misspellings. Entered on screen reader.

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Jun 13, 2018 Trina (Between Chapters) rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2018, contemporary, romance, young-adult, audiobooks, standalones

Just what I wanted from that synopsis!

A cute, quick read that you'll probably enjoy if you like survival stories. There is also a good dose of friends-to-hate-to-attraction.

Only downside was that Maddie could be super annoying. She was acting that way on purpose, but let's just say she excelled at it.

Content warning: Russian terrorists, being taken hostage, falling, violence, injury, survival in wintry wilderness.

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Aug 29, 2017 charlotte, (½ of readsrainbow) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: hate-to-love, fave-tropes, ya-or-mg-lit, review-copies, 4-stars, favourites, favourite-characters, mystery-thriller, favourite-authors

Galley provided by publisher

I'd be the first to admit that I wasn't all that impressed by the last book Ally Carter released. I would even go so far as to say that I was a bit disappointed. This one, on the other hand, is a welcome return to how good her previous output had been.

Maddy Manchester is the daughter of the (former) head of the Secret Service. Following the attempted kidnap of the First Lady, Maddy's father moves them to the wilderness of Alaska, cut off from human civilisation, for r Galley provided by publisher

I'd be the first to admit that I wasn't all that impressed by the last book Ally Carter released. I would even go so far as to say that I was a bit disappointed. This one, on the other hand, is a welcome return to how good her previous output had been.

Maddy Manchester is the daughter of the (former) head of the Secret Service. Following the attempted kidnap of the First Lady, Maddy's father moves them to the wilderness of Alaska, cut off from human civilisation, for reasons unknown. In doing this, she leaves behind her best friend Logan, the son of the President. Six years later, Logan is sent to Alaska following a string of misdemeanours to find Maddy completely changed from the girl he knew, and hating his guts.

What follows is typical Ally Carter. And it's great.

I have to say, Maddy Manchester might be one of my favourite Carter heroines. After Kat Bishop, of course, but I might even go so far as to say she's better than Cammie Morgan. I loved her so much, even despite the slight "not like other girls" thing going on at the start (which, maybe fair enough, I wouldn't know many girls who could survive alone in Alaska myself, let alone throw a hatchet with accuracy into a tree trunk so). I think one of the problems I had with Embassy Row was that I didn't really connect with Grace that much, or even like her really, in the way I had with Cammie and Kat. Maddy is a lot more like those two, and it's like returning to something familiar (imagine thinking I wouldn't die for Maddy Manchester).

Normally, I also really like the love interests. However, the thing that slightly irritated me about Logan was that he never seemed to realise how capable Maddy was, not even really at the end. It was all him being like "no, Maddy, don't do this!!" like this isn't a completely different Maddy than the one he knew aged 10. There's also the whole thing where whenever one of the bad guys so much as looks at Maddy, he pretty much jumps them and starts yelling "don't even look at her!!", like, my dude, chill. I know your masculinity has been impugned on and you want to make up for it because Maddy is clearly more capable than you could ever wish to be but please. Just chill.

There was also the small matter of the twist at the end being a little out there, but I kind of expect that with Ally Carter so, while a bit strange, it wasn't like it brought me out of the story any. ...more

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Apr 14, 2018 Chris Horsefield rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Enjoyable teenage/YA tale full of action, suspense and some great, sharp narrative. All the boxes are ticked here for a good, no nonsense escapist read with decent characters and great location. It's a fast paced read following the story of Logan and Maddie on the run in cold Alaska from Russian agents.
Overall I enjoyed as I like Ally Carter and her teen spy books. But it was not fantastic, just a good read.

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Nov 17, 2018 Aqsa (On Hiatus) rated it liked it · review of another edition

Recommended to Aqsa (On Hiatus) by: Brianna

Shelves: favorites, recommended-to-me

3.5 Stars

Dear Logan,
Remember when we were friends?
I do. But sometimes, honestly, I’d give anything to forget.
Maddie

Maddie and Logan were best friends when they were 10 but due to some incident, they were separated from each other. Maddie didn’t forget her best friend and kept writing him letters for quite a while but she never got an answer, so she finally stopped and forgot about the boy she thought was her friend until one day she met him again.

You can probably guess the incident when ...more

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Mar 08, 2020 Tucker (TuckerTheReader) rated it really liked it

Shelves: thriller, romance, 4-stars, young-adult

I read this book for school which will probably surprise most because this is not an academic book. It's a long story but basically, my school does this thing called service-learning projects. This year our project was to read a book and then send a copy to an eighth grader along with a letter. I won't go into it here but I hated the project for many reasons.

Onto the actual review.

I tried to read this a lloooonngggg time ago but couldn't get into it. This time, I had a much easier time. This was ...more

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Mar 31, 2018 Adah Udechukwu rated it really liked it

The novel was good. The synopsis (...the part with the president and special forces) raised my expectations. I expected more action, guns, bombs and so on. An Alaskan forest as the main setting took the pizzazz out the novel.

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Oct 26, 2018 Fafa's Book Corner added it

Mini review:

Trigger warning: Attempt at kidnapping, blood, and gun violence up until the point I read.

DNF

As a long time Ally Carter fan I was looking forward to this book! I didn't like her other series and was hoping to enjoy this standalone. Unfortunately I didn't.

It saddens me to say that I've outgrown Ally Carter. Upon starting this book I found the writing style not for my tastes. Somewhere between MG and YA. The romance wasn't enjoyable either. Nor did I like any off the characters.

Overal ...more

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Jun 13, 2018 Suzanne rated it liked it · review of another edition

Cute, quick read. More or less it was a story of friendship that gets lost and gained to move to love. Kind of found Maddie to be a bit obvious sometimes but overall an enjoyable read about two friends who get thrown back together after growing apart. However, they were thrown back together in Alaska which adds to the story for me because I love reading books based in Alaska.

My quick and simple overall: cute YA friendship book.

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Jun 02, 2018 Beth rated it it was ok

Shelves: reviewed

This is entertaining, and quippy, and a standalone. My immediate reaction was three stars. It's the best thing Ally Carter has written in years.

And then I started, you know, actually thinking about the story, and its inherent political implications, and none of it makes any sense to me. I'm knocking off a star for that.

Every single way in which you could possibly be spoiled is behind this spoiler cut.

(view spoiler) This is entertaining, and quippy, and a standalone. My immediate reaction was three stars. It's the best thing Ally Carter has written in years.

And then I started, you know, actually thinking about the story, and its inherent political implications, and none of it makes any sense to me. I'm knocking off a star for that.

Every single way in which you could possibly be spoiled is behind this spoiler cut.

(view spoiler)

I'm sure I'm being overly persnickety. But goodness: if you're going to write a book involving politics, keep an eye out for political implications. And cliches. ...more

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Jun 17, 2018 ☆★Tinja★✮ A Court of Pizza and Laziness rated it really liked it

Shelves: characters-i-wanna-slap, contemporary-and-realistic-fiction, assassins-thieves-spies, drama-llama-loves-drama, kick-ass-heroine, romance, includes-annoying-characters, young-adult, adventure, action

Mmmhhmm 3.5 stars? It definitely wasn't perfect but I liked much more than All Fall Down.
It was entertaining and full of action.

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Apr 19, 2018 Maddie rated it liked it

Shelves: arcs, stand-alones

For a standalone, this somehow managed to capture all of Ally Carter's strengths from her previous series! Political intrigue, high-stakes survival and hidden backstories, 'Not If I Save You First' would be a great starting point for people that wanted to discover Ally's books, without being intimidated by a whole series.

This felt the most real and gritty of her books, with people having guns shoved in their faces or rolling off cliffs left, right and centre. Of course, I had to suspend my disb ...more

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May 07, 2020 Alaina rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2020-ng, audiobook, fiction, young-adult, may-2020, romance, april-2020, contemporary

Not sure why I keep waiting so long to dive into books that I fall in love with. This book is no different and I should be kicking myself for waiting 2 years to dive into it.

Not If I Save You First was an adventure I will probably never forget. In it, you will meet Maddie and Logan. They were the best of the friends when they were little but things drastically changed when an unexpected event occurs.

It kind of seemed like she moved to Alaska overnight with her dad. She was so little and didn't ...more

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Jun 11, 2018 Nadia rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 5-stars, favorites, 2018-reads

I didn't expect this to be that good. I absolutely loved it! The pace was perfect for me. I never got bored and was sitting on the edge of my seat the whole time while reading it.

I wasn't a huge fan of the characters at first, but the more I read, the more I loved the characters. Maddie is the type of character you shouldn't underestimate. She may seem girly (and she is), but she won't hesitate to protect herself and the people she cares about.

I also really liked Logan. I wasn't a huge fan of h ...more

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Oct 10, 2018 Daiane rated it it was ok

Shelves: badass-chick, assassins, friends-to-love, crime, disappointed, chick-lit, meh, contemporary, im-a-spy

Actual Rating: 2,5

Too much whinning and even though it had some surprises it still had some boring parts and not a lot really happens. Some parts are not well developed either and things that happens are sometimes really childish... Like... Really....

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Apr 15, 2018 Mandy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: library-books, read-in-2018

This is the story of Maddie Manchester, who is the daughter of the man who was in charge of protecting the president. Until that is, he got shot foiling a kidnap attempt by the Russians. Maddie, who saw her father wounded was with the president's son, Logan, and he was also injured.
Fast forward six years and Maddie and her father now live in Alaska. She lives a solitary life but has become very good at surviving in the wilderness, and making the most of what she has around her.
Then Logan turns u ...more

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Mar 13, 2020 Katiria rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites-books

I've been having this book on my radar ever since I first heard about it when it came out back in 2018. I thought I had other books by Ally Carter in my kindle tbr, but when I check on my Goodreads tbr list. I realize I don't have any of her previous books on any of my tbr shelves which surprise me because I could have sworn I had some of her previous books on my tbr list. So I decided to check out Not If I Save You First in audio on overdrive and I was not disappointed at all listening to this I've been having this book on my radar ever since I first heard about it when it came out back in 2018. I thought I had other books by Ally Carter in my kindle tbr, but when I check on my Goodreads tbr list. I realize I don't have any of her previous books on any of my tbr shelves which surprise me because I could have sworn I had some of her previous books on my tbr list. So I decided to check out Not If I Save You First in audio on overdrive and I was not disappointed at all listening to this amazing book on audio.

This is my first time listening to an Ally Carter book on audio and it will not be my last book that I will read by Ally Carter. Not If I Save You First grab my attention right at the very beginning that while I was excising listening to this audiobook that I sometimes forgot to stop excising on the treadmill or the elliptical machine at the gym because I just wanted to keep on listening to this book. I tell you, Mrs. Ally Carter, plotline and aspect in Not If I Save You First had my full attention throughout the whole audiobook that I loved and enjoyed listening to Not If I Save You First on audio. Some scenes had me on the edge of my seat, scenes that had my emotions everywhere and scenes that I felt just awful for the main female character Maddie for everything she was going through in Not If I Save You First.

I felt a real connection to Maddie and I wanted to stand by her side and fight alongside with her for everything she was going through in this book you can just feel every heart-pounding and emotional feeling she was expressing in this book that I just wanted to give her a huge hug and shield her from all the hurt and freight she was going through.

But Maddie has shown that she is way stronger and bravery than anybody would have thought she would have been and I so love her strength and bravery. Now the narrator Brittany Pressley is the first time I have heard her narrate a book and I thought she did a phenomenal job at narrating Not If I Save You First and it won't be my last audiobook that I will listen too narrated by Brittany Pressley. Each character's voice she did was utterly fantastic and I could tell which characters she was voicing I did not get confused at all.

Each character that she was voicing had a very distinctive and unique voice that I was just enthralled listening to each character she was voicing I just couldn't get enough of this audiobook. All and all I thoroughly loved and enjoyed reading Not If I Save You First that I can't wait to read more books by Ally Carter and listen to more audiobooks narrated by Brittany Pressley. ...more

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Feb 12, 2019 Angelica rated it it was ok

Shelves: read-2019, release-2018, contemporary, mystery

I don't quite know what to say about this one. It was enjoyable for a few hours of my life, but I also wasn't all that into it. I couldn't seem to get truly invested in these characters. Still, the story is entertaining enough, and the charcters are likable and intelligent. The main issue is that there was no suspense here. There was no danger. I couldn't fully dive into it because, in the end, I knew how it was going to end.

I think if I'd read this a few years ago I might have liked it a bit mo ...more

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Oct 25, 2017 The Candid Cover (Olivia & Lori) rated it really liked it

Shelves: young-adult, 2018-releases

Review to come!

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Jun 16, 2019 Kristy rated it liked it

Shelves: fiction, read-what-you-own, romance, pbs-wishlist, a-real-book-wow, from-pbs, read-in-2019, pbs, ya, scholastic

Maddie and Logan were best friends when they were kids. Granted, it was under slightly unusual circumstances: Logan's dad was President, and Maddie's dad was one of his Secret Service agents. So when something happens that causes Maddie's dad to move the two of them to an isolated cabin in the middle of Alaska, everything in Maddie's life changes. She has no contact with the outside world beyond letters--no Internet, no phone, no anything. Just a tiny cabin, a few library books, and her Dad. Mad ...more

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May 23, 2018 Marla rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobooks

Entertaining, humorous, suspenseful and just a whole lot of fun. I listened to the audiobook which I think was better because the narrator was able to give Maddie a fun personality. Maddie is strong, silly, girlie yet knows how to survive and take down dangerous Russian men. Her Secret Service father has taught her well while living in Alaska for six years. Maddie's father is the head of the Secret Service who protect the president. Logan is the President's son. At 10 they witness Logan's Mom be ...more

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Jun 13, 2018 TheYALibrarian rated it really liked it

Shelves: cutesy-light-read

A quicky read with lots of cuteness and badassery

More review to come...

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Mar 18, 2020 Amber J rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 5-stars-of-2020, 2020-reading-challenge, exploration-middle-earth-challenge

I try to express only my most honest opinion in a spoiler-free way. If you feel anything in my review is a spoiler and is not already hidden in spoiler brackets please let me know. Thank you.

This book was great. I wasn't sure about it when I started but was worth the try. I listened to this one and the narration was pretty good. It was a bit confusing at first. And I don't think the description on the books page really does that book justice at all. Some of the reasoning in the book makes no sen I try to express only my most honest opinion in a spoiler-free way. If you feel anything in my review is a spoiler and is not already hidden in spoiler brackets please let me know. Thank you.

This book was great. I wasn't sure about it when I started but was worth the try. I listened to this one and the narration was pretty good. It was a bit confusing at first. And I don't think the description on the books page really does that book justice at all. Some of the reasoning in the book makes no sense to me, but people do things for senseless reasons all the time lol.

I found my self wanting to do the activities that I do when I listen to my audiobooks because I needed to know what happened next. It was paced well and had a nice plot outside of the ya romance. Logan was a pretty typical character that you find in YA, but Maddy I loved. She was all girly with her love of pink and girly things, but she was fierce and stronger than you would think. I like the it shows girl that you don't have to be one or the other.

I didn't know that Alaska was so dangerous. I don't think most people do. I am not a fan of snow, and in Wisconsin, we get more than I would like already, that and cold, so Alaska never held much interest for me. I'm reconsidering my opinion. I still never want to go there, but I would like to learn more about the state. Sounds more interesting than I thought it would.

This book was my first introduction to Ally Carter, and it was a good one. I can honestly say that I will be following her and probably enjoying even more of her books.

How I choose my rating:
1* Hated it. I had to force myself to finish it.
2** Didn't like it. I didn't hate it but not sure why I finished it other than for some closure.
3*** I liked it. I had some issues with it, but as a whole it was good. I probably won't reread ever, but there is a chance I might finish the series. (If part of one) But if not it's not a huge loss.
4**** I really liked this book. Maybe not a work of genius, but highly entertaining. I might reread this, and I will finish the series. (If part of one) I would recommend to those I know hold interest in this book's content.
5***** I loved this book. I found little to no issues with it at all. I will be rereading this and probably more than once. I will finish the series and reread it multiple times. (If part of one) I will recommend this book to EVERYONE!!!!

...more

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Feb 08, 2020 Katiria rated it really liked it

I've been having this book on my radar ever since I first heard about it when it came out back in 2018. I thought I had other books by Ally Carter in my kindle tbr, but when I check on my Goodreads tbr list. I realize I don't have any of her previous books on any of my tbr shelves which surprise me because I could have sworn I had some of her previous books on my tbr list. So I decided to check out Not If I Save You First in audio on overdrive and I was not disappointed at all listening to this I've been having this book on my radar ever since I first heard about it when it came out back in 2018. I thought I had other books by Ally Carter in my kindle tbr, but when I check on my Goodreads tbr list. I realize I don't have any of her previous books on any of my tbr shelves which surprise me because I could have sworn I had some of her previous books on my tbr list. So I decided to check out Not If I Save You First in audio on overdrive and I was not disappointed at all listening to this amazing book on audio.

This is my first time listening to an Ally Carter book on audio and it will not be my last book that I will read by Ally Carter. Not If I Save You First grab my attention right at the very beginning that while I was excising listening to this audiobook that I sometimes forgot to stop excising on the treadmill or the elliptical machine at the gym because I just wanted to keep on listening to this book. I tell you, Mrs. Ally Carter, plotline and aspect in Not If I Save You First had my full attention throughout the whole audiobook that I loved and enjoyed listening to Not If I Save You First on audio. Some scenes had me on the edge of my seat, scenes that had my emotions everywhere and scenes that I felt just awful for the main female character Maddie for everything she was going through in Not If I Save You First.

I felt a real connection to Maddie and I wanted to stand by her side and fight alongside with her for everything she was going through in this book you can just feel every heart-pounding and emotional feeling she was expressing in this book that I just wanted to give her a huge hug and shield her from all the hurt and freight she was going through.

But Maddie has shown that she is way stronger and bravery than anybody would have thought she would have been and I so love her strength and bravery. Now the narrator Brittany Pressley is the first time I have heard her narrate a book and I thought she did a phenomenal job at narrating Not If I Save You First and it won't be my last audiobook that I will listen too narrated by Brittany Pressley. Each character's voice she did was utterly fantastic and I could tell which characters she was voicing I did not get confused at all.

Each character that she was voicing had a very distinctive and unique voice that I was just enthralled listening to each character she was voicing I just couldn't get enough of this audiobook. All and all I thoroughly loved and enjoyed reading Not If I Save You First that I can't wait to read more books by Ally Carter and listen to more audiobooks narrated by Brittany Pressley. ...more

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Apr 18, 2018 Tricia Mingerink rated it really liked it

Ally Carter is the queen of teen thriller/spy/heist novels. So far I've liked every book of hers I've read (though Heist Society is by far my favorite).

While this one has some of the same political and thriller elements as many of her other novels, it is mostly a survival story set in Alaska. And in Alaska, there is a lot of things that take grit and determination to survive.

Maddie was by far my favorite character. She's tough, strong, determined, and can throw knives and hatchets with ease. Y ...more

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Feb 25, 2018 Claire is looking for Bloodlines series ARCs rated it really liked it

Shelves: arc-reviews, young-adult, contemporary

~~I may be biased.~~

You know, technically Maddie would've been a perfect Gallagher girl. She's like the combination of Bex and Gracie. And maybe if Logan's father is no longer the president, maybe he could attend the Blackthorne Institute.

FULL (NON-SPOILERY) THOUGHTS IN MY BOOK BLOG. ...more

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