Review : Crossed
Crossed by Ally Condie
Pages : 367
Genre : YA, Dystopia, Science-Fiction
Series : Matched, Book 2
My Rating : 
What it’s about :
Cassia will do anything to reunite with Ky, the love too soon taken from her life by the Society. Following his trace into the canyons, Cassia meets new allies and new enemies as she focuses on her simple plan : once she finds Ky, they’ll join the Rising and fights against the Society. But before she reaches the rebellion, Cassia will learn that even the ones the closest to her may have some surprises of their own…
My Thoughts :
I’ve mentioned already on this blog how for a while, I wasn’t sure I wanted to read Crossed, even though I said I would in my review of its predecessor Matched. I will spare you the long story of how I changed my mind 20 times and ended up reading it anyway – and with a teeny tiny bit of excitement, to be honest.
So, was Crossed fun to read?
Somewhat. I did get through it, and I read most of it in a day. It was an easy read, the pages turning quickly as time flew by. Condie’s writing was generally pleasant, although some of her prose sends my eyes on a rolling carnival. But that’s okay, because these excessively flourished sentences are sprinkled along the chapters rather than being the core of her writing. I can live with that, and I know other readers will absolutely love it.
Where her writing fails, though, is in having a dual narrative. I couldn’t tell Ky from Cassia. It wasn’t too bad when they were each on their own with different people, but once they reunited, I couldn’t differentiate the two. If I picked up the book in the middle of a chapter, I had to turn a few pages back to see who was talking.
Plus, I wasn’t a fan of Ky to begin with. He is tortured, and dramatic, and not my kind of guy. I prefer Xander much more, but he was almost absent from this book. (I heard he was the one narrating with Cassia in the next book though, so I’m looking forward to that.) On the other hand, I like the new additions to the cast, mainly Indie. She was an intriguing character, one of the things that kept me reading.
I will say that this book really felt like the “middle book”, the journey between the Big Event that started it all and the Big Event that will conclude it. For a while, I felt like all they were doing was walk, walk, walk and not much else. I feel that Reached will probably be more exciting and more of a page turner, and I’m fairly certain, now that I am two books into the series, that I will be reading it. I think.
Maybe?
Probably.
Series Reading Order :
- Matched
- Crossed
- Reached (coming November 2012)
8 responses to “Review : Crossed”
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Reading now
You said it!
Best of 2012!
infiniteshelf.wordpress.com 
The second books do tend to lag in trilogies. My favourite authors are the ones that manage to write fantastic second books….
Reblogged this on Book Rave.
I didn’t know that the last book was named yet. I’m so behind.
I honestly cant’ remember which one is Ky and Xander. I didn’t pick up on the fact that the two narrations sounded the same, but in thinking back, I agree with you on that. I really liked the first book, probably particularly because of the personal connection, but Crossed didn’t work for me. I still plan to read the third though.
Writing from different points of view can be tricky and it really hurts a book when it’s not done well. I’m not sure about this series.
I tried the first book in this series on audio, and just couldn’t get into it. It’s a shame too, because the premise was so interesting, but I found the writing to be very flat, and the plot moved so slowly! I do have this second installment, and my daughter has read them both. She wasn’t too crazy about them either. Thanks for your honest take on this one!
I was more than excited to read Crossed… but yeah… it sort of fell a little flat. I enjoyed it. It was pleasant. Will I rave about it like I did Matched? No.
It’s funny that you mention that you like Xander so much more than Ky. This seems to be the general consensus. Xander is just so much more likable than Ky!
The journey book. Great way to put it. I really do look forward to reading it.
I felt similarly about Crossed. It seemed like something we had to get through to reach the final book. It was interesting to learn more about Ky, but there wasn’t enough going on to keep me hooked. I’m sure the last book in this series will be action packed!