Book Review- Crossed by Ally Condie

Title: Crossed

 Author: Ally Condie

Series:  Matched #2

Published:  1^st November 2011

Length: 367 pages

Warnings: Violence, romance 12+

Source: Spinebreakers

Other info: I reviewed the first book in the series, Matched, here. Book three should be coming later this year.

Summary : 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: I enjoyed this a bit more than Matched. But considering I didn't really enjoy Matched, it's not saying much.

It's simply a continuation of Matched, where Cassia lost Ky and started trying to find him in the Outer Provinces. Meanwhile, a rebellion is rising, which will most likely engulf them both.

I still maintain that Cassia's society is a rather nice place to be, and that there was nothing wrong with Xander. But, for the sake of plot development, she ran after him. Oh well.

The plot to this doesn't seem to go very far in the second installment of the series. We get Cassia meeting Ky again, and a few more characters, and we also find a revolution rising. But not that much actually...happens. It's just dragging on...and on...and on... Some of the things that happened just didn't seem that interesting. I really hope that the rebellion in the final book will be big, and leave us thinking a lot, because otherwise this series will have been quite boring.

I loved the double point of view. Cassia, by the end of book one, was quite annoying, and Ky's perspective was an interesting addition. I hope we'll see a bit more of him in the next book.

The main characters I never really cared for. While I really want to see what will happen to them, and how their society will turn out, it didn't matter to me if they died at any point.

I really felt for the minor characters, though. Maybe it says something about Ally's writing, but I loved the characters we met in Crossed and only have  a small part in the general storyline a lot more than the characters we knew from the start.

I don't know.

The writing is good, and as I said, I really liked the fact Ky got to narrate the story too. But I did have issues with the fact that the perspective changed without repeated indication. Ok, if you're going for a one-sit read, you're fine. But if you put it down mid-chapter, and then go back... Due to not much difference between narratives,  I got halfway through a chapter before realising that Ky was talking, then had to re-read it with Ky in my head. 

Despite this, I'd still like to see what happens at the end of the series.

Overall:  Strength 2 tea to what I hope is suffering from second-book-syndrome, which will give us an amazing finale.

Links: Goodreads | Authorwebsite |