April Weighs In on the Second Book of Condie's "Matched Trilogy"

Crossed

The hotly awaited second book in the dystopian Matched trilogy

In search of a future that may not exist and faced with the decision of who to share it with, Cassia journeys to the Outer Provinces in pursuit of Ky - taken by the Society to his certain death - only to find that he has escaped, leaving a series of clues in his wake.

Cassia's quest leads her to question much of what she holds dear, even as she finds glimmers of a different life across the border. But as Cassia nears resolve and certainty about her future with Ky, an invitation for rebellion, an unexpected betrayal, and a surprise visit from Xander - who may hold the key to the uprising and, still, to Cassia's heart - change the game once again. Nothing is as expected on the edge of Society, where crosses and double crosses make the path more twisted than ever.

April says:

"It is my literary theory that the second book in any series is about walking.  Just look at The Two Towers by Tolkien--it's ALL walking; it's actually quite amazing a movie was able to be adapted from that schlepping-fest.

Crossed does not deviate from this norm.  The action is quite literally the characters walking from one end of a canyon to the other and then back in again and then out back again, ad nauseum.  However, walking does have a benefit beyond aerobic:  it allows for character development.  Where Matched endeared Cassia to the reader and began to create her as a three-dimensional being, Crossed completes Cassia's character and begins to build up Ky, one of the two sympathetic male characters in Cassia's world.  The walking also affords time for the reader to understand the world the characters live in.

After being separated at the end of the first novel, Cassia and Ky quickly are reunited after some minor challenges and some personal growth.  The chapters jump back and forth between Cassia and Ky, so the reader is giving an eye on the movements of each character.  This narrator flip helps give depth to the characters and also serves the purpose of dialogue for most of the book as Cassia and Ky don't do much talking.

While the Society is more acutely explained in this novel and the threat of the Society discovering the main characters looms, it truly doesn't play a large part in most of the story.  Much like an evil Godot--never showing up.  So despite moments of mini-action, there isn't much going on besides the internal monologue of two teenagers, who believe (for the most part) they are madly in love.

And like any good mid-series book, Crossed answers some questions, but leads to more.  I suspect there are enough fans of the first book to read the second, but be warned that it doesn't have the happy climax of the first book; Crossed seriously drops off the narrative right as the action starts.  Don't take this as a negative review; I'm impatiently waiting for the next serving in this series."