Crossed by Ally Condie
Genre: Dystopian, Romance
Published by: Speak
Pages: 367
Format: Paperback
Rating: ★★
Series: Matched (#1) | Reached (#3)
Where to Find: Goodreads | Amazon

The second book in the ‘Matched’ series starts with Ky digging a grave. Not exactly the happiest way to begin, but I rolled with it. I was also going to roll with the fact there were two perspectives. Both Ky and Cassia got their say: in the end, I preferred neither. (That’s probably a good thing.) (At least I could tell them apart, unlike Four and Tris in Allegiant.)

The rebellion has well and truly kicked off. The transition between ‘Matched’ and ‘Crossed’ was not as smooth as I would have liked, but we were caught up with what had happened pretty quickly. Not much to complain about their. However, as the book progressed, issues started to arise.

First, Cassia and Ky were trying to find a way back to each other. This seemed a lot easier than I thought it would be and they were reunited 200 pages in. I didn’t really understand the landscapes their groups were travelling through – thank goodness there was a map at the beginning!

Some things, although not a lot, were revealed about Xander. (Psst, he’s part of the rebellion!) I was pleased to see that he wasn’t trying to battle Ky for Cassia’s love, but we still have one book left. I bet you three chocolate coins the love triangle plot will rear it’s cliched head within ‘Reached’.

I understand why the book was called ‘Crossed’. There was a lot of crossing over landscapes to be done. There were caverns and canyons and rivers and desserts. Kind of ‘Fire and Flood’-y, without the intense survival skills. The one thing Cassia did have to survive was the elusive blue pill (hence the blue cover.) After the menacing motive of the red pill was revealed, I had my suspicions about blue. (Even though Percy Jackson has taught me that anything blue is amazing.) It turns out, the blue pill is poison, just like the food they feed to old people. Two pills will kill you. Excellent.

Basically, the end goal of this book was to join the Rebellion. Another ‘Delirium’ trilogy parallel emerged when we discovered Cassia was going to have to infiltrate the Society from the inside in ‘Reached’. I look forward to it. But, it took them 370 pages to find the Rebellion. I can’t even explain went on in the middle of the book, I felt kind of lost as I skimmed through the pages. Some of the events just seemed completely irrelevant. What was the purpose of that cave with all the tissue samples? Why did they have to go there?! I don’t know, it was all just general confusion.

Overall, I liked ‘Matched’ better, hence why I give ‘Crossed’ only 2 stars. Even with this rating, I’m intrigued to know how it all ends – it feels like the first two books in the series were really just building up to this finale. I’ve got some expectations! Is that a good thing?