Crossed by Ally Condie

Rules Are Different Outside The Society 
Chasing down an uncertain future, Cassia makes her way to the Outer Provinces in pursuit of Ky--taken by the Society to his sure death--only to find that he has escaped into the majestic, but treacherous, canyons. On this wild frontier are glimmers of a different life and the enthralling promise of a rebellion. But even as Cassia sacrifices every thing to reunite with Ky, ingenious surprises from Xander may change the game once again. Narrated from both Cassia's and Ky's point of view, this hotly anticipated sequel to Matched will take them both to the edge of Society, where nothing is as expected and crosses and double crosses make their path more twisted than ever.

Even though I hadn't heard to many great things about Crossed, I still decided to pick it up and decide for myself. I did enjoy Matched, so why would Crossed be any different? And besides, with such a pretty cover that matches Matched? I just wanted to have it. Unfortunately, Crossed was a huge dissapointment.


Ky is send to the Outer Provinces to fight the Enemy. From there he escapes to the canyons. Cassia, who is determined to find Ky, gets relocated to the Border Provinces. From there on out, she tries to find Ky. 


While I liked Ally Condie's writing style in Matched, I couldn't appreciate it in Crossed, because it didn't match the story. That is one of my major complaints. Cassia and Ky are in the Outer Provinces, a rough wasteland, and they are at war. But Ally Condie still maintained the poetical style of Matched, while it should have been rougher. 


I also couldn't connect with Cassia and Ky at all. They have so much bigger things to think about, but all they could think about is each other. Cassia didn't really think so much of her parents. Sometimes a little about Bram, but not much. This seemed a little unrealistic to me. Especially Cassia annoyed me a lot. 


The characters introduced in Crossed were okay. I liked Eli, but the others didn't do much for me. And even though you get inside Ky's head in Crossed and we don't see too much of Xander, this book totally made me team Xander. 


Then there is the Enemy. Who is the Enemy? By the end of this book I still had no idea. Maybe this was explained in Matched and I just forget, but I can't remember. Hopefully Ally Condie will explain this in Reached. 


If you ask me, this book could have been 250 pages shorter. If you read Matched and you are determined to finish the trilogy, like me, then I would give Crossed a try. Otherwise I wouldn't be bothered.


2 out of 5 stars.