Reviews

Crossed by Ally Condie

heathercottledillon's review against another edition

3.0

I was not super-impressed with "Matched," but I was interested enough in the characters and the story to see what happened next. I just wasn't exactly dying for the sequel to arrive. It basically met my expectations. I thought it was a fun, entertaining read, but nothing earth-shattering. I enjoy reading about the crazy dystopian thing the Society has going on, but it's a pretty classic setup without much to keep it fresh. Ky and Cassia weren't as interesting to me this time around, for some reason, but I like a few of the new characters who come on the scene. The ending feels a little rushed, but I overall I liked what happened and where the series is going.

eesh25's review against another edition

2.0

Crossed is the sequel to Matched. The one that a lot of people found disappointing. I agree with those "lot of people".

In the end of the last book, Ky was taken by The Society and placed in the Outer Provinces, where he would probably die. Cassia decided that she wasn't okay with that and swore to find him. In this book, we follow the both of them navigating new lands while a rebellion against The Society seems to be brewing.

And that, my friends, is a good plot. If only the book was as good. Unfortunately, it doesn't live up to its predecessor. You see, the best parts about Matched were the world, the writing and the fact that the love-triangle wasn't dragged. In this book, we already know the world and the writing doesn't match up to what the author is trying to achieve.

Matched was a pretty soft read. A large part of it was focused on the romance so the poetic writing made sense. But there is a time and a place for poetry, and a freaking rebellion ain't it.

There was no fervor to the book, something that's necessary for a revolt. There was no grit that you'd expect from a book which has people dehydrating, being shot, starved or bombed to death. It was like Luna Lovegood narrating a tragedy. And it was boring; though that could be credited to the extremely slow pace and the lack of anything happening.

As for the love-triangle that I thought we were done with... It's back. And I don't know if I've said this enough, but I fucking hate love triangles! Especially ones that are unnecessarily dragged to death. Like this one. It had no reason, sense and place in the book and only served to make me dislike Cassia, who already wasn't getting many points with her naivety, happy ignorance and I'm-totally-right syndrome. And then when she blatantly admit to wanting both Ky and Xander all for herself, I wanted to stab her. The whole deal was irritating, exhausting and fucking stupid.

Next we have the plot. Wasn't much there to be honest. This was another bridge book. Meaning the second book in a trilogy that serves no purpose other that to get us to the third one. Except, in this case, I'm not even sure that I'm reading the third one, Reached.

I mean, I don't care about what will happen, I have no attachment to the characters and from the reviews I've read of Reached, I won't be missing much from skipping it.

Now, I'm sure that from my review so far, it seems that there's nothing good about the book. That's not true. The writing is still good even if it doesn't fit the plot as well. The new things we find out about the world are cool. I'm curious about a character that was introduced, Indie, and the ending was okay. It's just that most of the important stuff got shoved back to focus on the poetry and it was infuriating. Cassia, why don't you focus on the people who are fucking dying?!

Overall, I'm glad to be done reading this one. And the third one probably won't happen.

lotusgreenleaf's review against another edition

4.0

Not as good as the first book, still a fun read tho.

hannahnana73's review against another edition

5.0

This has been one of my study breaks and ngl it made me want to just forget about exams and enjoy the world of Ky and Cassia

groovyjenni's review against another edition

3.0

I felt like this book dragged some. The first book was more engaging and had better world building. This was a long time for Ky and Cassia to get together, a long time to reach the Carving, just was really long. I wanted things to move quicker. I think that Ally Condie has a really poetic tone throughout. I enjoyed it to an extent but it could have pulled back on some of the sections. I need to read the last one to see how it all ends. It's still very vague with who is who and hopefully everything in the last book will answer my questions.

areadingrosekc's review against another edition

adventurous sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.75

Loved the first book in the series. This one felt very slow. 

heatherb0828's review against another edition

5.0

Great!

Can't wait for book 3! Starting it now! You must read book 1 to get this one but it's great

bookph1le's review against another edition

4.0

Though I didn't think it was as good as the first book, I did like this one. It's a lot slower moving, heavier on character development and lighter on action sequences, but I didn't think this was a bad thing. It was interesting to see inside Ky's head and to get to know him a little better, but there are still a lot of unanswered questions. I'll be interested to see how the third installment goes. The ending left me thinking that it may be more action packed than this book was.

robinhood2000's review against another edition

2.0

Updated review:

I read this a while back, I would agree with the comments. The society is never explained and the story is loose, nothing important ever happens to the characters. Will bump this down to two stars because it was ok.

Earlier review:

The story is pretty simple but still enjoyable. Feels like a spin on the hunger games but with less tension put on the characters, oh and a love triangle of course. Still worth the read though.

khaelalevey's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0