Scan barcode
viachu888's review against another edition
2.0
What do I even say about this book that hasn't already been said? It is a failure. It is a failure at dystopia, it is a failure at love, it is a failure in trying to sound pretty, and a failure in writing.
It's great when books are set from multiple POV's. It adds insight and a chance to show character development. Ally Condie has demonstrated very well how NOT to write in multiple views. It was the boy and girl in love, and it should have been great, but, like everything else in this book, failed. Cassia and Ky sound exactly alike, and equally boring. How is a story supposed to evoke emotions if the characters sound so fake and alike they bore you to death? I mean, they're teenagers, I'm a teenager, and I can say that almost no teenager would ever talk like either of them, even in a dystopian society. Total robots who I felt no sympathy for.
The plot was aggravating. It started nowhere near the last book's end, and the whole thing was just a mess of boring nothing. Most of it wasn't relevant, or interesting enough for me to read and not skim through. The first book was a cool concept, I kinda liked it. But these two are so radically different that I could almost say they weren't even part of a series; except for the two occurrences where Cassia points out Ky came up on the card screen thingy.
I feel no need to go on. Maybe if I force myself, I can trudge through the last one, to see if it improves.
It's great when books are set from multiple POV's. It adds insight and a chance to show character development. Ally Condie has demonstrated very well how NOT to write in multiple views. It was the boy and girl in love, and it should have been great, but, like everything else in this book, failed. Cassia and Ky sound exactly alike, and equally boring. How is a story supposed to evoke emotions if the characters sound so fake and alike they bore you to death? I mean, they're teenagers, I'm a teenager, and I can say that almost no teenager would ever talk like either of them, even in a dystopian society. Total robots who I felt no sympathy for.
The plot was aggravating. It started nowhere near the last book's end, and the whole thing was just a mess of boring nothing. Most of it wasn't relevant, or interesting enough for me to read and not skim through. The first book was a cool concept, I kinda liked it. But these two are so radically different that I could almost say they weren't even part of a series; except for the two occurrences where Cassia points out Ky came up on the card screen thingy.
I feel no need to go on. Maybe if I force myself, I can trudge through the last one, to see if it improves.
dezdamona's review against another edition
3.0
It wasn't good as the first one. I was bored at some points to be honest. Nothing was happening. It was so freaking slow. I was a little bit dissapointed. But i bought the last book today, i will read it asap. I hope it is better.
smateer73's review against another edition
2.0
This one was more boring than the first, it definitely dragged at parts, but was still pretty good.
secamimom's review against another edition
3.0
That's it?!? I wasn't happy at all with this book and that makes me very sad.
cobycoyle's review against another edition
3.0
Another enjoyable read. I typically enjoy the first book in a series the most compared to its sequels, and this stands true here. It was a good sequel though, still easy to read. I enjoyed being able to read from both Cassia and Ky's POV's. Despite any small gripes I may have, I'm looking forward to reading Reached.
**SPOILER BELOW**
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
I liked Vick's story line and wish we could have seen more of him. Same with Eli, there was little back story for him and then he just disappeared off with Hunter. I also feel like a lot was left unexplained about the farming society, how they relate to the Rising/Resistance, etc., though I can recognize this will probably be written about more in the third book.
I was irritated, again, with how ridiculously fast and shallow falling in love is in the story. When Cassia told Indie "you're in love with Xander" and she didn't deny it, like she was admitting to it, I kind of just sat there for a minute. To me, she can be in love with the IDEA of Xander/being Matched/being with someone like Xander, but she can't possibly be in love with a person she has never even spoken to or interacted with in any way. If this is what the Ally Condie meant to convey rather than her *actually* being in love with him, than it should have been phrased differently.
**SPOILER BELOW**
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
I liked Vick's story line and wish we could have seen more of him. Same with Eli, there was little back story for him and then he just disappeared off with Hunter. I also feel like a lot was left unexplained about the farming society, how they relate to the Rising/Resistance, etc., though I can recognize this will probably be written about more in the third book.
I was irritated, again, with how ridiculously fast and shallow falling in love is in the story. When Cassia told Indie "you're in love with Xander" and she didn't deny it, like she was admitting to it, I kind of just sat there for a minute. To me, she can be in love with the IDEA of Xander/being Matched/being with someone like Xander, but she can't possibly be in love with a person she has never even spoken to or interacted with in any way. If this is what the Ally Condie meant to convey rather than her *actually* being in love with him, than it should have been phrased differently.
megggg's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
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.