Review- Crossed (Matched #2) by Ally Condie

Title: Crossed

Author: Ally Condie

Series: 2nd (Matched)

Pages: 384

Published: November 1, 2011 by Dutton Junvenille

ISBN: 9780525423652

Source: Around The World Tours

 

Description: 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. 

I Give This ...

When I finished this book, I honestly didn't know how I felt about it as a whole.  Writing this review, I'm still not sure.  It's not that it was a disappointment.  I think so much of it fell flat for me.  It wasn't what I was expecting at all.

Cassia is determined, and really I like that about her.  But, I think sometimes it makes her blind to what is really going on around her.  I admired that she would go to such great lengths to find Ky.  She endures a lot and treated well beneath her station in this society.  But, then she doesn't want to be treated any differently than the people she works with.  I also think it is a way of punishing herself for sorting Ky to this life in the first place.  But, there is a part of me that isn't sure she's really in love with Ky.  I feel like she's more in love with the idea of him and what he represents.  He's her chance to buck the system.  And if following him to the ends of society is what she had to do to get that, then she will do it.  But, what does Ky have to do to keep her attention?  I don't think she was tuned in to his feelings as well as she should have been.

I found that I liked Ky quite a bit more in this story.  He may be bitter, but it's not overwhelmingly so.  He's trying to survive and hold on to the hope that he might see Cassia again one day.  I liked that he found people to trust in, and it was sad when society once again found a way to reap those people from him.  I also felt like we learned a lot more about his past.  This is what made him become more real for me.

Despite all this, I still like Xander the most.  I think he will go to any length to keep Cassia safe, even when she doesn't realize that he is the one pulling the strings.  He's willing to sit back and watch her come to him.  There's just something about him that I love.  Especially when we learn the truth about what he has been hiding from everyone.

It's the plot and ending that got to me the most.  I never felt like the story was really going anywhere.  Even when Cassia and Ky find each other, it felt anticlimatic.  There's very little action and lots of  information to process.  It has a very middle book of the series feel to it.  Plus the ending was just off.  I think I would have liked a cliffhanger more than what we actually get.  We go through all this trouble to trace the rumor of uprising, and this was all we got?  I felt cheated of a real ending.

I'm still curious as to how this might play out.  And of course who Cassia might actually choose in the end.  So, I'll read the next one in the series!