Guest Post from Special K: Crossed by Ally Condie

Published: November 1, 2011
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
Pages: 367
Copy: Library
Summary: GoodReads

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.

Crossed fell into that “Book Two” hole - it’s a way to deliver information we need for the series, and how we get from the exciting beginnings in Book One all the way over to the roll up to the big finale of Book Three (or Four or Five...).  Ms. Condie still gives us a stab at a story, and she introduces some interesting characters while we’re on that journey - but that’s really what this book is, a journey.
We left Cassia in Matched as she set out to find Ky - which got my hopes up that this would be a Two Towers (cheer for me, LOTR fans!)-esque epic journey to get to the final destination/battle. And while it makes a valiant effort, it fell a little flat for me.

It rolls in nicely after the first book. The writing is well done. The setting is a little lack lustre, but I don’t actually fault the author for that, since it’s appropriate. But, that’s all it really is - nice. However, Crossed has one redeeming quality.

Cassia experiences some real growth at the end of the novel. We finally see her moving forward (in character development...clearly she’s been moving forward in a physical place sense), and we are definitely left with some interesting questions at the end. We’re kept guessing, and waiting, and we won’t know until the next instalment where this is going. Cassia begins to emerge as a strong female role, while still playing to the love-triangle that we learn might be more than a love-triangle.

Overall, middle of the road for Crossed. But we were bound to read it because Matched was great, and it does an awesome job setting up for Matched #3.

A big thank you from Christinabean and myself to Special K for stepping into the breach these last few weeks and giving us some amazing reviews.  While I still want to read all the titles, I think I can put them a little further back on my TBR list for now.