Crossed (Matched) [Paperback]

I finally got Crossed in my hands, after a year of waiting and it did not disappoint. I wasn't expecting too much (it is filler after all) but it does really deliver for me. It's not action packed and the characters spend the majority of their time wandering around the same place, but the new characters and events that happen really made me fall in love with story. The new characters are Vick, Eli and Indie (suitably Dystopian sounding names), and they really add a new layer to the story. I particularly liked Indie, whose character develops more throughout the book and she almost felt like a real person to me. Vick is similar in that he also develops through the story and after telling his past to Ky, also becomes like a real person.

The environment itself, is rather barren. This was expected - wandering around the inside of a Canyon was not. Something more desert-like, similar to the Scorch Trials was what I expected but the inside of a Canyon is certainly an interesting idea.

Ky's side of the story is a nice touch as well. I'm not if he feels so familiar because Cassia knows him so well, or because his voice is very similar to that of Cassia's.

I should mention the similarities between this and Scott Westerfeld's Uglies, as that series is a favourite of mine. Cassia, like Tally, believes in what her society is doing and is looking forward to her future, in the societies grasp. Until a stranger (in Cassia's case, Ky, and Tally's case, Shay) turns up and they see the Society for what it is and escape. Somewhere along the way they are separated and have to find each other again. And of course there's a Rebellion wandering somewhere around the middle of nowhere. I hold the hope that this is just a coincidence, however.

I was a huge fan of Matched when it came out last year and have been pining for Crossed ever since. I went into this book with high expectations, the back of the book talks about a rebellion rising and the picture of Cassia breaking out of the bubble made me think things were going to EXPLODE in this sequel but sadly I was left disappointed.

I started this book really confused. It's been a long time since I read Matched, as I'm sure it has been for a lot of people, and I couldn't really remember the ending. With a lot of books this isn't really an issue as authors are usually pretty good at re-capping past events. Yeah that didn't happen with this one, and so I spent the first hundred pages kind of confused. Luckily as I read on I managed to figure stuff out on my own and snippets came back to me but if your memory of Matched is a bit fuzzy like mine was I would really recommend re-reading Matched before starting Crossed.

Crossed is told from both Cassia and Ky's perspective which I think had both its pro's and con's. In Matched I really liked both Ky and Xander but if I had to pick one I'd probably of gone with Xander. This book really gives us a chance to get to know Ky better and I was really touched by the parts where we see Cassia through his eyes. However I didn't think that Ally Condie did a good job at making Cassia and Ky's voices distinctive from one another. Despite stating their names at the beginning of each chapter their voices were so similar that I had to constantly flick back to see whose perspective I was supposed to be reading from because there was no distinction between them other than a name stated at the beginning of each chapter.

There were some things I did like about this book. I really liked the introduction of some new and interesting characters particularly Eli and Indie. I also liked getting to know Ky better and watching Cassia develop from Society Cassia in to Rebel Cassia. I can't take away from the fact that Ally Condie is an extremely talented writer who writes some incredibly moving and beautiful scenes but unfortunately a dual narrative clearly isn't her strong point and I really hope she tells the last book from just Cassia's perspective.

When I got to the end of the book the first thing that came to mind was- is that it? This whole book is basically Cassia wondering around some canyons. There's no answers, no action and the book ends right where Matched left off and leaves us none the wiser regarding anything really.

Crossed for me was a really pointless book. Absolutely nothing happened plot wise. This is a book entirely based on character development. I hate to say this but I was bored and when I finished reading I felt like this book was a huge waste of my time mostly because I didn't learn anything different that I didn't already know from having read Matched. This is a bit of a circle book where the author takes us on this great long journey just to end up back where we started. I was disappointed with this one but as there's only one book left in the series I will still be checking it out and hope that Ally Condie will finally give us some answers.

Who would I recommend it to? Anybody who read the first book. Even if you didn't enjoy it, because this sequel is better than the first book.

Review; I'm having problems with the love triangle. I don't think there's really any need for it to be honest. Other than that I enjoyed this book a lot more than the first. There was more going on.
I think that's the main reason I liked this book more. Because there was more going on. Cassia's character changed slightly, as expected after the things she went through. But I'm still not really a fan of her character. Xavier seems suspicious to me. And Ky is still one of my favourite characters although I wish he put his foot down in some places.
I like the poetry theme. You don't see a lot of poetry these days, so that was nice.
Honestly I don't have much to say about this series. I thought I would enjoy it a lot more than I did. I think I'll be reading the last book more out of obligation and slight curiosity. I wish I loved this series as much as I thought I would, but unfortunately I don't.