Book Review: CROSSED by Ally Condie

Crossed (Matched #2)
Author: Ally Condie
Publication Date: November 1st 2012
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
Genre: YA Dystopian

Summary | Add to TBR

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 Thoughts:

 

Crossed is the next book after Matched by Ally Condie which I loved loved loved. And though I can’t say that I loved this book just the same, I still think it did not disappoint. They’re just different and now I’m wondering how everything will end in book three.

Because in the end you can’t always choose what to keep. 

You can only choose how you let it go. – Ky

Forgetting lets you live without pain for a moment but remembering hits hard. – Cassia

Determined to find Ky, Cassia left Xander and her family in Oria. She was sent in a camp and worked there with other Aberration girls. At the camp, she met a girl named Indie, and together they escape and travel the dangerous Outer Province to find Ky and the Resistance. But Xander has something to tell her… a secret that may change what she thinks about him and about Ky. Intriguing, isn’t it? This kept me reading until I discovered what it was. But of course, I won’t tell. *wink

This book was told in two different POV–Cassia and Ky. Though it would be much better (I think) if Xander’s POV is included, too. Anyway, I love this kind of narrating style because I get to see clearly both minds of the main characters. I get to see more of Ky and how he truly feels about Cassia. There were lots of times that I felt sorry and sad for him for suffering too much. The same thing I felt when Cassia sorted him out in the first book that led him out of the Society. I felt sad for Xander too, but this book gave me the chance to look at him in a different way. I have always loved Ky even from the beginning, but in Crossed, you’ll see that Xander isn’t who you think he is. He has a secret and you need to read this book to find out. I know that I still love Ky for Cassia, but Xander seems perfect for her too.  Okay, so it’s kinda confusing, I love them both now! It’s hard to choose between two good boys.

 

In Crossed, you won’t climb the Hills, but you will be taken to canyons and to the plateaus. You’ll walk under big rocks and cross dangerous plains and poisoned rivers. This book was a whole new experience. You will meet a lot of new and interesting characters and unravel new secrets and mysteries surrounding them and the Society. The main characters are surprising, because you’ll get to see the real them. Ky, Xander, Cassia–they matured, they evolved, they’re different. It was so nice to see how these characters developed and become stronger as the story progresses.

Love has different shades. Like the way I loved Cassia when I thought she’d never love me. The way I loved her on the Hill. The way I love her now that she came into the canyon for me. It’s different. Deeper. I thought I loved her and wanted her before, but as we walk through the canyon together I realize this could be more than a new shade. A whole new color. – Ky

But loving lets you look, and look, and look again. You notice the back of a hand, the turn of a head, the way of a walk. When you first love, you look blind and you see it all as the glorious, beloved whole, or a beautiful sum of beautiful parts. But when you see the one you love as pieces, a whys–why he walks like this, why he closes his eyes like that–you can love those parts, too, and it’s a love at once more complicated and more complete. -Cassia

The story was good though the pacing was a bit slow. There were dragging parts but Ky and Cassia’s love story was good enough to keep me reading in spite of those not-so-exciting parts. And the ending? Let’s just say, you  will want the next book right away because the ending will leave you hanging.

I see a glint in her eye as she looks at me and it makes me smile. hold our breath? She seems to say. Move the earth? We’ve been doing that all along. – Ky

Crossed isn’t as great as the first book, but it is still worth reading. A must-read if you loved Matched. I’m looking forward for the next book.

My Rating:

 

The first book in Matched Series:

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