Review: Crossed by Allie Condie (Matched #2)

Title: Crossed
Author: Allie Condie
Series: Matched
Book #: 2
Pages: 384
Reading Level: YA
Book Rating: 
Goodreads Rating: 3.75
Published: Nov 1st, 2011
by Dutton Juvenile

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

Taschima's POV:

Crossed possesses all the beautiful writing, and amazing characters of the first book. The words pull you in; they are like a spell that makes you want to keep on reading forever. Yet, the pace wasn't right. It took a while to get from point A to point B, and the constant walking that happened through the novel makes for an unsatisfying second book that seems to have catched the terrible disease of "second bookness". It's definitely a bridge between books, necessary though because it answers some questions left over from the first book.

Cassie is a strong female character. Her development since book 1 is inspiring. After her eyes were opened on the first book she is determined to do something about this terrible society that prevents it's people from living their lives as they desire. On the last book she was separated from Ky, and so she goes after him by any means necessary. Finding him is her only goal (though by the end of the book it's not her only goal). Ky on the other hand has always known about the dark side of the society, and he was just trying to live his life without issue until Cassia stepped in his life. He fell in love, something that was prohibited by the Society. After this things got extremely complicated, they tried to make a plan to escape, but Ky was captured before they got a chance to execute the plan. Now on Crossed Ky is trying to survive day to day in a war camp on the outskirts of the Society. Waiting daily for a loop hole so he can escape, and go back to her.

Again, beautiful writing. Allie Condie has a gift all right. Characters that are so fantastic it's hard to look away. But, it didn't keep me at the edge of my seat as Matched did. You know what I think, the whole journey to and fro could have easily been a novella. Like what Julie Kagawa did with Winter's Passage. The only thing is that the whole reunion between Ky and Cassia seemed like it needed to be in the big book, but I still think it would have done good being a novella.

Both Cassia's and Ky's POV bring good material to the table. I specially like Cassia's POV. She has grown up so much! Ky, lovely Ky, pissed me off at points in the book. Keeping things from Cassia he shouldn't be keeping. Oh and Xander wasn't completely left behind. There is some information revealed in this novel that might just had changed my mind about Xander's character. Depending on what will happened in Matched #3 will determined if I'm in team Ky or Xander (right now is mostly Team Ky... 80% Ky, 20% Xander).

Not all books can be equally as awesome as it's previous one, true. Still this one gave us a solid base for the next book to stand on. I think the third book (Matched #3) will be mind blowing. Why? Because of how the things were left off on Crossed. Can't wait till November 2012!

PS; I confuse Matched with Delirium all the time xD It's just so similar!!