Review: Crossed

Crossed (Matched #2)
Ally Condie
Dystopia


The Society chooses everything. 
The books you read. 
The music you listen to. 
The person you love. 
Yet for Cassia the rules have changed. Ky has been taken and she will sacrifice everything to find him. 
And when Cassia discovers Ky has escaped to the wild frontiers beyond the Society there is hope.
But on the edge of society nothing is as it seems...
A rebellion is rising.
And a tangled web of lies and double-crosses could destroy everything.

I read Matched before I started blogging, so no review to link you to. Basically, the first time I read it like four years ago I was like nice, but.... blah. I recently reread Matched so I could read Crossed and I really liked it! I wasn't able to pinpoint why exactly, but I think it's because being older now I don't expect the booms and bangs as much and a quieter struggle seems more realistic to me. The first time I, like everyone else, thought not enough happened. 

Structurally speaking, the Matched trilogy is a bit like The Hunger Games to me- Book 1: Girl gets personal reason to despise government. Book 2: How Girl makes her way to the rebellion. Book 3: Rebellion. Of course, this is only structure-wise, and obviously I haven't read Reached (book #3) yet but that's what it looks like it's gonna be. 

So! A lot more happens in Crossed. More interesting characters are introduced (something I thought Matched was lacking in) and more ground is covered, literally and figuratively. Ky's POV is introduced which I thought would be more fun than it was. He sounded a lot like Cassia, but we learned more about him and his past, which is good. Pacing was not- because of both POVs, it was almost like we rehashed everything twice. 

There were no major surprises that are coming to mind now, but Indie made for quite an unpredictable character (even though I didn't like her much). 

About the love triangle: Alas, no modern YA series seems to be complete without it (*sarcasm*). First time I read Matched years ago I was Team Ky. My last reading of it made me firmly Team Xander, and I remained on that side all throughout Crossed no matter how much I love Ky. 

In my experience with love triangles, there's usually one who the book is kinda telling you will be The Chosen One, and the other who you really love but you know won't be it. (e.g Edward and Jacob, Jace and Simon) In Matched, it seemed to me like we were being pushed toward Ky, and in Crossed the author did a 180 and started dancing for Xander. This really didn't bother me because it made it an even fight. I have a feeling Xander will be The One, for reasons I will not disclose so as not to spoil you(;

Rating: 3.5 stars

Love,
Esty