Review – Crossed (Matched, Book 2) by Ally Condie (3/5 stars)

Reading level: Young Adult
Genre: Dystopia
Size: 367 pages
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
Release Date: November 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0525423652
Stand Alone or Series: 2nd book in the Matched trilogy
Source: Bought
Rating: 3/5 stars

I really, really enjoyed Matched and was eager to read Crossed. Crossed was a bit disappointing, there just isn’t much that happens in this book. It kind of came off as a necessary transition to book 3. I still enjoyed reading it, but was disappointed that it didn’t grab my attention like the first book.

Cassia has gotten herself reclassified to the Outer Provinces so that she can search for Ky. Ky struggles to survive as he is placed in a wartime situation with other Aberrations. Ky and Cassia both escape their situations and struggle towards each other and towards the rumored rebellion.

My above description is pretty much what happens in the whole book. Cassia and Ky are in bad situations and escape separately with different companions. The story switches between Ky and Cassia’s viewpoints. Cassia basically chases Ky in a series of near misses for a good portion of the book. This is frustrating because there is that whole, “oh, if she had just been a little quicker she would have found him” thing going on. When they finally do meet up there are so many secrets between them that relationship felt a bit flat to me. Ky and Cassia constantly preach that they can’t live without each other but when it comes to what really drives them towards their goals they have completely different ideas about what to do.

Xander is in the story very little, yet has more impact on the story in the end than Ky does. Xander has a big secret which is revealed to the reader late in the book.

This whole book is basically the story of how Cassia and Ky escape the society and hunt down the rebellion. Seems like a good basis but so much of the book is spent with them trudging around trying to decide what to do. A number of new characters are introduced as well; they are interesting characters but are never filled out all that well.

All the complaining aside. I still really did enjoy Condie’s way with words; she has some beautiful writing and beautiful descriptions in this book…it is all just very deliberately paced. I really do enjoy Cassia as a character as well; she has a drive and a brightness to her that draws me in.

Secrets about the Society are revealed but despite this I still feel like more questions were created than answered. This again left me with a feeling of not much happening by the end of the book. The ending itself left me feeling a bit empty as well; it was just so anti-climatic.

Overall this was an okay book. The writing is beautiful and some of the descriptions absolutely wonderful; Cassia is a great character. We learn more background on Ky, meet some new characters, and learn more about the Society. Despite all of this I felt the story progressed slowly, didn’t answer many questions, and that not much happened. The ending was anti-climatic and although I finished the book, the whole thing kind of left me with a “Huh, so what” feeling in the end. This seemed like a necessary transition book and in the end I feel like we didn’t make much ground in this story. I will read the final book because I am curious to see what happens, but I was disappointed that this book didn’t suck me in like Matched did.

This book went towards the following reading challenges:
– Dystopia Reading Challenge
– 150+ Books Reading Challenge
– TBR Pile Reading Challenge