Crossed -- Ally Condie
Author: Ally Condie
Format: Hardcover ($17.99, Dutton)
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.
Review:
"Crossed, Crossed, mighty crossed,Do not go gentle into that good night,
When I have crossed the bar.
Across the waves and to the shore,
I climb into the dark for you
Are you waiting in the stars for me?"
-Hayden Casey
Crossed seems to revolve heavily around poetry, so I took every poem in the book and took a line from each and put them all together for you. Well, except for that first line. I made that one up all on my own. Don't you like it?
</bad joke>
As was the case in Matched, the writing in Crossed is top-notch, lyrical and beautiful and poetic and delicious. I just want to eat it, like it's a big cake full of poetry, except the poetry is candy because poetry is written on paper and I'm pretty darn sure no one wants to eat paper inside their cake.
Like Matched as well, Crossed has virtually no plot and virtually no conflict, but here's what you need to know, guys: it's okay. It's okay for these books to be running low on the technical stuff. It's almost like this book and Matched are in a genre all on their own. Even though the plot and stuff run dry, the writing quenches your thirst like no other and makes the books worthy of reading.
In Crossed, both Cassia and Ky are outside of the Society, and at the end, the whole book is kind of pointless, but I'm not going to get into too much detail about that; don't want to ruin it for you, but whatevs. The plot is steady for people who are on adventure, but it's still not as quick as I would've liked for it to be. Lots of it was background information, which filled the reader in on the story a little more, and it made Crossed an enjoyable read.
Lots of people have been saying Crossed is the sophomore slump of the Matched trilogy, but I don't agree. In Crossed, the reader is thrust in on this completely different adventure from what we see happening in Matched, which probably threw some people off. I don't think it's any worse quality than Matched (especially not in the writing aspect. In fact, it's even more lyrical and beautiful than I remember), just completely different, and the reader is left going "OMG what just happened?"
Overall, Crossed is much less intense than Matched, which again probably threw some readers off and left them disappointed. In Matched, there was the big prospective question hanging over the readers' head the whole time: Cassia's Match went wrong. Is she going to choose Xander or Ky? In Crossed, there isn't that much of an issue with the love interest. Ky seems more of her main love interest since 1) he is a narrator, and 2) he plays a main role in the book. Xander isn't mentioned that often in Crossed; he kind of takes the back-burner for a while, and Ky steps up to the forefront. I didn't really mind it; I don't like books where the love triangles are completely in the dark and the main character seems to just choose at random in the end. I like when there is foundation for them, and in Crossed, you get that.
Crossed is a thrilling and adventurous sequel to Matched, and it'll leave you waiting for the third book anxiously. I know I can't wait for it!
***
This review has been brought to you by Mac 'N' Cheese.
(Just kidding.)
Five Owls
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