Review: Crossed - Ally Condie

Crossed by Ally Condie

Series: Matched Trilogy #2

Genre: YA, dystopian, romance

Published on November 1, 2011

Published by Dutton Childrens

Pages: 367

Read From: 8.27.12 - 8.28.12












SYNOPSIS

Chasing down an uncertain future, Cassia makes her way to the Outer Provinces in pursuit of Ky - taken by the Society to his sure death - only to find that he has escaped into the majestic, but treacherous, canyons. On this wild frontier are glimmers of a different life and the enthralling promise of a rebellion. But even as Cassia sacrifices everything to reunite with Ky, ingenious surprises from Xander may change the game once again.

Review

Cover Blurb: I do like how each cover follows a specific theme; Matched had Cassia stuck in a green bubble; now she’s breaking out of a blue one, and Reached has her emerging from a red one. It’s neat.

What I Liked: Characters are all good still. The romantic aspect is upped a bit more in this installment, and Ky and Cassia experience a bit of tension in their relationship. This would bother me, except Ky and Cassia resolve their problems pretty quickly and get on with their mission.

What I Disliked: Most of the problems reside with believability, the plot’s pace, and the ending.

Believability: I said in my review of Matched that the totalitarian government was one of the more convincing ones I’ve read about in today’s dystopian novels. I take back my words after reading Crossed. The labor camps were completely unrealistic. Conditions were not nearly harsh enough, they were allowed to receive letters, and they got hot water and soap, real food, nice living conditions, and visitors. Has the Author ever read about labor camps? And then there was the group of rebels - the Rising. They accept Cassia and her group into their fold very quickly, with only one cautionary screening and questioning session, and then they send them off on missions! They have to be history’s easiest rebellion to infiltrate if that’s all the screening they do.

Writing Style: I liked how each chapter alternated between Cassia and Ky’s narration. I still don’t like the present-tense, but it fits this story well enough. The plot, I thought, moved along way too slowly. As a second book in a planned trilogy, Crossed should have had a faster pace than Matched. More should have happened, there should have been a sense of urgency. There just should have been more. But instead it felt like the same relaxed pace of Book One, and I got a little bored.

Content: None.

Conclusion: It really felt rushed. The Author spends the majority of the book with Cassia trying to find Ky. Couldn’t she have hurried that part up a bit, and spent more time on their journey to find the Rising (who were remarkably easy to get to, by the way) - and then a few more chapters on when they meet the rebels? It seriously felt like the Author was running up against a deadline, didn’t have time to cover all that she wanted to, and so just kind of wrapped it up as orderly and quickly as she could. I hope Reached offers a better plot.

Recommended Audience: Readers who are looking for a less-gritty, more wholesome dystopian novel. Girl-read, any age.

Others in This Trilogy:

1)Matched

2)Crossed

3)Reached