Review >> Crossed (Matched #2)

Crossed (Matched #2) by Ally Condie - November 1, 2011 - Dutton, Hardcover, 384 pages

Summary: Crossed picks up right where Matched left off. Ky has been captured by the Society and forced to work in the Outer Provinces, where few people have been able to survive for extended periods of time. In order to find out what has become of Ky, Cassia must somehow escape from the clutches of the Society and find her way to the Outer Provinces. However, she is now torn between saving one person, and saving an entire nation with the aid of the Rising.

Review: I loved the premise of the first book in this promising series, but Crossed, like most 2nd books in a trilogy, falls in the zone of the Outer Provinces. There just was not enough story to keep the novel flowing, and even the characters lost my interest this time around. Cassia, who was in a way brainwashed by the Society all of her life, had a much stronger voice in Matched and consistently put herself in danger by going against what the government demanded of its people. That was not the case in Crossed, where we see our heroine loose what little backbone she obtained in the first book and uses up all her energy pining over her lost love in a pathetic, needy way. There were a few interesting storylines that were brought up in Crossed, but failed to have any sort of resolution by the end of the novel. The same is true of the characters- no one grows or changes or makes any sort of intelligent decision concerning the main story arc of the series. What we are left with, my dears, is a cliff hanger that will leave you wanting to read the next book, but with the unfortunate dusty taste of emptyness in your mouth.

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars