Title: Crossed
Author: Ally Condie
Publisher: Dutton
Pub. Date: November 1, 2011
Summary (from 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.
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.
My Thoughts: I liked Matched better than Crossed, but this series is definitely not for me. I'll probably get the third book from the library when it comes out because I am not at all capable of not reading a series all the way through, no matter how bad it may be.
After reading two books in this series, I can safely say that it is completely unoriginal, a poor ripoff of two great dystopian novels. When I read Matched, it was The Giver; When I read Crossed, it was the first book in the Uglies Series. The whole Matched series is really just the author's poor mash-up of the two books. I felt there were many plot holes and that the whole book was really just underdeveloped. I didn't understand what was going on in the last chapter at all, nor did I understand SPOILER (highlight to view) how Indie figured out Xander's secret and fell in love with him without having even met him. I didn't really like the characters or how everyone seemed to be able to figure everything out exactly right all the time. All the guys in this story were just super romantic and it made me sick. These were teen-aged guys, right? Seriously. I couldn't believe a seventeen year old boy would do some of the things Vick and Ky did because of their girlfriends (who they hadn't even been dating that long, BTW). Maybe some guys are really like that, but I find it hard to believe that all the ones Cassia knows are. They seemed exactly like girls to me. When they entered the Carving, I couldn't understand how they all managed to run through the whole canyon in like one day with hardly any water or food. It just didn't make much sense to me.
Ky and Cassia's POVs were very hard to distinguish between and I often found myself thinking that I was reading from Cassia's when I was actually reading from Ky's and vise-versa. They could have been the same person, really, the only difference was the places they were at and the people they were with.
Gosh, and the writing! Probably the most annoying part of this book was the fact that the author had no idea what correct English is at all. She would write a sentence and the end it in the middle and then add the end as a next sentence. There is no need for this! I'm okay if there are one or two of those in a book, but Condie does it ALL THE TIME and it annoys me to no end.
One thing I hate is ripoffs and that's exactly what this book is. It annoys me that books like these get so much hype when they really aren't at all good or original. I can't believe how any book in this series could be a New York Times Best Seller, yet Matched was one (and maybe Crossed too, I don't know.).
After reading two books in this series, I can safely say that it is completely unoriginal, a poor ripoff of two great dystopian novels. When I read Matched, it was The Giver; When I read Crossed, it was the first book in the Uglies Series. The whole Matched series is really just the author's poor mash-up of the two books. I felt there were many plot holes and that the whole book was really just underdeveloped. I didn't understand what was going on in the last chapter at all, nor did I understand SPOILER (highlight to view) how Indie figured out Xander's secret and fell in love with him without having even met him. I didn't really like the characters or how everyone seemed to be able to figure everything out exactly right all the time. All the guys in this story were just super romantic and it made me sick. These were teen-aged guys, right? Seriously. I couldn't believe a seventeen year old boy would do some of the things Vick and Ky did because of their girlfriends (who they hadn't even been dating that long, BTW). Maybe some guys are really like that, but I find it hard to believe that all the ones Cassia knows are. They seemed exactly like girls to me. When they entered the Carving, I couldn't understand how they all managed to run through the whole canyon in like one day with hardly any water or food. It just didn't make much sense to me.
Ky and Cassia's POVs were very hard to distinguish between and I often found myself thinking that I was reading from Cassia's when I was actually reading from Ky's and vise-versa. They could have been the same person, really, the only difference was the places they were at and the people they were with.
Gosh, and the writing! Probably the most annoying part of this book was the fact that the author had no idea what correct English is at all. She would write a sentence and the end it in the middle and then add the end as a next sentence. There is no need for this! I'm okay if there are one or two of those in a book, but Condie does it ALL THE TIME and it annoys me to no end.
One thing I hate is ripoffs and that's exactly what this book is. It annoys me that books like these get so much hype when they really aren't at all good or original. I can't believe how any book in this series could be a New York Times Best Seller, yet Matched was one (and maybe Crossed too, I don't know.).
