Book Review: "Crossed"

Crossed

by Ally Condie

Goodreads Summary: 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.

Review: I enjoyed the first book of the series, Matched, quite a bit.  The setting that Condie creates in intriguing and makes for good discussion: in a world where Society dictates every part of your life and takes away all choices because they say they know what's good for you, how far would you go to break free of that?  If they say it's perfect, is it really perfect?  Would you be content living in a world where everything - where you live, what you wear, what you eat, where you work, who you're married to, how many children you have, when you die - is dictated, yet it supposedly gives you the contentment of life that you need?

With Crossed, Condie continues Cassia and Ky's love story.  Unfortunately, I feel like the entire book could be summed up as "not much happens".  Not many, if any, questions are answered, more questions are introduced, and the entire book felt like a bridge for the third book.  Not to mention, the alternating voices between Cassia and Ky (something new in this book) made it fairly confusing at times to read.  Fortunately, I still liked the book because Condie has a wonderful, lyrical way of writing that is a joy to read.  And, although this is quite shallow of me, I love the cover art of the books (the third one is in red!). 

I would recommend both the first and second book for anyone who enjoys dystopian novels.  Be aware though, this isn't action filled like The Hunger Games or Divergent; instead, it's mostly a love story.

Overall Rating: 3/5