By: Ally Condie
Reported by: Julianna Helms
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.
-Summary from Goodreads
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.
-Summary from Goodreads
Crossed...where to begin?
Ally Condie writes beautifully. Her characters are wonderful, and she has constructed a plot that may begin at The Giver, but certainly exceeds it.
I really liked Crossed. I did. It was actually better than I expected, but... it didn't leave me with the WOW factor Matched did. When I finished Matched, I was just overwhelmed with this feeling of anxiety and ache as if I was Cassia, but, Crossed just didn't do that to me. The story had a good pace and high stakes, but its ending fell short. It just wasn't memorable--I had to skim through some things again before writing this review because I forgot a bunch of events.
There are new characters introduced in Crossed, and secrets are revealed. I think these will definitely lead to an edge-of-your-seat last book (I'm guessing it's called Sorted!). The new characters certainly added tension to the book, but the secrets... (remember here that it's EXTREMELY hard to get a twist past me, as I usually guess it waaaaay early on) I already suspected them, so it wasn't like, groundbreaking when I found out. But that's just me! You might find them to add more stakes to the story.
All in all, I think Crossed was a good sequel. It met my expectations and delivered a gripping plot. There was room for improvement, and questions we still need answers to, which I think will make a great conclusion to the trilogy. Give it a try... you just may find yourself double-crossed.
