Crossed

Written by Ally Condie

Goodreads Synopsis: 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 Confession: I really enjoyed the first book in this dystopian trilogy, Matched. I was completely drawn in to this world where free will has become a fairy tale. When Cassia leaves in the first book to go after Ky, I was under the impression that she understood what she was leaving behind, and she was okay with that. Xander, her family, her friends--she cared for them, but needed Ky to feel complete. Which I was all for. Regardless of what the "Matching" pool said, it's made clear that Ky is her soulmate.

And yet, here we go again with Xander. There was so much about Crossed that I liked, from the scenes in the wilderness to the new characters introduced along the way. I loved the dual-narration of this sequel and found Ky's voice authentic and moving. Seeing inside his head was the key to making this a complete and whole story. Despite the barren landscape and occasional lags in plot, there was a lot of depth to this continuation of Cassia and Ky's story. But then a "secret" is revealed about Xander that changes the whole game. And for me, not in a good way. What makes this trilogy so good is that it's built around not a love triangle, but a choice: Cassia's choice between Xander and Ky isn't superficial; it represents a choice between the life she's expected to lead, and the life she wants to lead. Xander is the warm, comfortable, Society life; Ky is rebellion. Now, after the secret, it's back to being just a choice between two boys, not the two sides of herself. And, with that, I think this trilogy loses a little something.

Recommendation: I am not jumping off this bandwagon--not in the least. I'm still excited to see how this story ends, how Condie brings some form of resolution to a very complicated situation. However, I wish the need for a love triangle wasn't pushed so hard in this book. I like Ky, a lot. I like him and Cassia together, and despite what we discover about Xander (which, for some reason, I have a hard time believing), I still believe Ky and Cassia are meant to be together. And I don't appreciate a monkey wrench being thrown into their situation just for the sake of it. They're both such damaged and complex characters, and they have no problem getting in the way of their own relationship. There's obviously much to uncover about the two of them, much that they still hide from each other--that's the more interesting obstacle to their love. Not another person.

Rating: 4/5

367 pages, published by Dutton Juvenile (Nov. 1, 2011)

Matched

Written by Ally Condie

Goodreads Synopsis: Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate...until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black.
The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to live with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow.

My Confession: This book was creepy cool. I was drawn in by the cover, which is both beautiful and eerie. I wasn't entirely sure what this story was about, despite the synopsis. And for a good majority of the book, you're left a little clueless about all the rules of this new-age society. There's no long-winded explanations (which is nice), and we as readers are tossed into this dystopian world and expected to fend for ourselves, not unlike the displaced citizens of said society. As a reader, I hate being hand-held through a book that breaks the rules and creates new ones; that being said, it took me a little too long to grasp the concepts that Condie was trying to make me accept as fact. Now, don't get me wrong, once you get past the beginning and actually learn what this society expects of and does to its citizens, the read can't get fascinating enough. It's positively oppressing. Think Big Brother times a million. It's brutal. And I absolutely loved it.

I loved the overarching plot that followed Cassia as she tries to figure out her feelings for her Match and lifelong best friend Xander while grappling with the mysterious and forbidden passion she feels for Ky, the boy who might have been her Match had it not been for a glitch in the system. There is no clear winner in this love triangle, and as the story progresses and the feelings grow, I started getting anxious knowing that there could be no happy ending here. Not in this society, not with those rules. There was a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach realizing that no matter what, Cassia couldn't be with who she really wanted. The lack of free will and free choice, especially when it comes to who you're allowed to love, is beyond painful. The cliffhanger of an ending, where Cassia makes a decision between Xander and Ky, is both heartbreaking and exhilarating. The next book promises plenty of action and danger as Cassia flees the Society in search of her love, who has been sent away to his death.

Recommendation: The writing here is pretty fantastic, and I was on the edge of my seat the entire time I was reading this. I could not put it down. The slow burn of desire that flickers between Ky and Cassia is just so good. And Xander? So adorable. It's hard to root against any one person in this book, probably because their environment is so absurd. Do I believe that this Society is an accurate (or at least believable) imagining of what our own society could become in the next century? I don't think so. But, just for those three-hundred-plus pages, I didn't have to believe it--I was there too.

Rating: 4.6/5

366 pages, published by Dutton (Nov. 30, 2010)