Author: Ally Condie
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
Publication Date: November 2011
Reading Level: 13 and up
Synopsis: (from Goodreads) –
The hotly awaited second book in the dystopian Matched trilogy
In search of a future that may not exist and faced with the decision of who to share it with, Cassia journeys to the Outer Provinces in pursuit of Ky - taken by the Society to his certain death - only to find that he has escaped, leaving a series of clues in his wake.
Cassia's quest leads her to question much of what she holds dear, even as she finds glimmers of a different life across the border. But as Cassia nears resolve and certainty about her future with Ky, an invitation for rebellion, an unexpected betrayal, and a surprise visit from Xander - who may hold the key to the uprising and, still, to Cassia's heart - change the game once again. Nothing is as expected on the edge of Society, where crosses and double crosses make the path more twisted than ever.
My Review:
Remember how my review of "Matched" was an undying love letter to Ally Condie and her masterful work of YA fiction? Remember how I was super-duper excited for the second installment? Well - I'm still excited about this series, but I do have a few things to say about it.
When giving my rating on Goodreads for this one, I sincerely wished there was a way to give a ½ star rating between levels. Because “Crossed” was really good, but it has the unenviable job of being the second book in a trilogy. “Matched” was fantastic – like, blow-everything-out-of-the-water brilliant and I loved every minute of it. “Crossed” was excellent in its own right, but I think “Matched” was slightly better. This is not a dig against "Crossed," by any means - I loved it! But I loved "Matched" just a teensy bit more.
I was correct in my prediction that “Crossed” would be a bit more action-oriented than “Matched” was. This book takes Cassia and Ky into
One thing I want to make special mention of is the switch between Cassia’s and Ky’s first-person POVs between chapters. I only make note of it because I only noticed my enjoyment of it because I took on the NaNoWriMo challenge and I’m trying to work this technique into my own novel, so I’m pleased to see it work well in an actual published work (there is hope!) I’ve always, always enjoyed stories written in first-person and it almost seems like they’re easier to write. But there’s always something going on elsewhere in the story that, as an author, you feel like it’s important for the reader to know but your character doesn’t know it quite yet. So, I liked that Condie just flat out said “Dear Reader, you get Ky's POV in one chapter and Cassia's in the next.” Both characters deal with their own uncertainty about the other (Is Ky still alive? Is Cassia out there looking for Ky?), but the reader knows that it’s going to work out (or, at least you hope it will) because you know what the other one is doing. My only complaint (and this comes from me reading the Nook version and I wonder if there were headers in the printed version that avoided this problem) is that when Ky and Cassia meet up, the back-and-forth first-person gets confusing and I’m not always sure who’s speaking. But it’s a minor thing – something that someone reading the hard-copy might not have had an issue with.
The only thing that gives me pause about this is that it felt like it ended too quickly. Maybe I’m used to gigantic blow ups and insane cliffhangers at the end of the second part of my trilogies, but there wasn’t much of that. There were a few things that (I won’t mention because of SPOILERS) take Cassia and Ky and the rest off into points unknown and set up the third book, but it felt like there should have been more. I’m sure there are going to be plenty of CRAP JUST GOT REAL moments in book 3 because there were so many in “Matched,” but just not as many in “Crossed.”
Bottom Line: “Crossed” is a good enough follow-up to “Matched” and I’m eagerly awaiting the end of the series.
