Crossed (Matched, # 2)
By: Ally Condie
Published: November 1st 2011 by Dutton Children's
367 pages
Genre: Young Adult, Dystopian, Science Fiction
Source: Borrowed from my local library
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Goodreads description--The Society chooses everything.The books you read.
The music you listen to.
The person you love.Yet for Cassia the rules have changed. Ky has been taken and she will sacrifice everything to find him.
And when Cassia discovers Ky has escaped to the wild frontiers beyond the Society there is hope.
But on the edge of society nothing is as it seems...
A rebellion is rising.
And a tangled web of lies and double-crosses could destroy everything.
So I really enjoyed Matched, right? But it was very similar to Delirium which I liked better. I went into Crossed knowing that a lot of people didn’t enjoy it as much as Matched. Having not read any reviews of Crossed before starting it, I didn’t know WHY people weren’t enjoying it as much. I grabbed this from the library on audiobook because I really enjoyed hearing the writing style of Matched spoken out loud. I thought the narrator, Kate Simses, did a really good job. Having said that, audiobooks can be tricky. I find that I can listen to audiobooks and multitask only when whatever else I’m doing doesn’t require much thought from me—housework, imaging (a mindless work task), cleaning the pool, etc. But that wasn’t really the case when I started Crossed. I apparently needed to devote more brainpower to work than I thought and thus I had some issues with Crossed in the beginning. I had to restart it twice because I had no clue what was going on. And when I finally made it to the 50% mark in the book, I forgot to renew it and it was returned to the library only for me to be put on the waiting list to check it back out. *sigh* Oh well. I finally finished it.
I can see why people weren’t as into Crossed as Matched. Although describing why feels more difficult. I guess because in Matched you have the excitement of first love and a slight tinge of danger and rebellion. But Crossed is out and out rebellion against Society and our relationship between the male and female lead is pretty cemented even if they’re currently physically separated. Like many other dystopians before (or at least that I’ve read before: Requiem, Allegiant, Pawn ), the Matched series appears to be falling into the trap where our heroine seeks to fix a broken society. It’s the broken society that we love to read about. While the fixing of what is broken is important and we need to read about overcoming obstacles, I’m just not really a fan of these worlds that I fall in love with in book 1 turning into an all-out political war. It’s one of the biggest downfalls of the dystopian genre—at least when it comes to a series within the genre.
Cassia and Ky both narrate in Crossed and I’m thankful for the dual narrators in the audiobook version as well. While Cassia and Ky are separated, Cassia thinks about Ky way too frequently for my tastes. He completely dominates her thoughts. Seriously every third sentence mentions him. And one of my biggest frustrations was that Cassia and Ky’s chapters mirrored each other. They would often be thinking the same thoughts at seemingly the same time. And while I know some of that is possible and probably true—couples often do this I’m sure—it was a bit overdone for me. I’m really big on couples having a distinct voice if both are going to narrate. And they did have a distinct voice (especially because two different people did the narration for the audio version), but the thoughts were very similar even to the point of dreaming similar dreams at the same time.
The biggest plus for Crossed was Ally Condie's writing style for me. Like Matched, Crossed is very poetic at times. Here are my *favorite quotes:
-I’m only afraid of dying wrong.
-It is looking at something without being watched, without being told what to see. That’s what the picture has given us.
-Because in the end you can’t always choose what to keep. You can only choose how you let it go.
-It was brave of them to love again.
-And then I reach the plain and wish for nothing but what I have.
-”You need to choose. I don’t think you see either of them clearly.”
-Is this what Ky feels? Like no one wants the whole? That his truth is too heavy to carry?
I had some frustrations with Crossed, and I can definitely understand why people may have enjoyed it less than Matched but it was still a pretty good read listen. Crossed gets 3.5 stars from me. Have you read Crossed? What did you think? Let me know!
*It's extremely difficult to quote from an audiobook. I do my best to get punctuation and all of the words correct. Any mistakes are my fault. If you see any mistakes, please let me know in the comments and I'll update. It's near impossible to get it all right when I can't see it in print.
I remember that I really liked Matched but I don't believe I ever read Crossed. I may have to try to listen to it on audio. I think my library has it. I just had to return Forest of Hands and Teeth for the same reason you mentioned I didn't finish it in time and now I'm on the waiting list...again. Isn't that the worst? I am thankful that I can get them through the library though. Anyway...I am obviously rambling away. Sorry. :) I hate that this one wasn't as enjoyable as Matched. Are you planning to read/listen to Reached?
ReplyDelete"I’m just not really a fan of these worlds that I fall in love with in
ReplyDeletebook 1 turning into an all-out political war. It’s one of the biggest
downfalls of the dystopian genre—at least when it comes to a series
within the genre."
I love how you put this. This is why I think so many dystopian series fall short for me. I usually love the first book as we're introduced to this new world, but then I don't like the other books in the series as much. I wasn't really a fan of Crossed. I found it difficult to get through because I felt like it was dragging. I'll wait to see what you think of Reached before I say anything about that one.
Yeah, I think audiobooks are a great way to get through books I'm not sure about. That way I can multitask. :) I loved The Forest of Hands and Teeth and The Dead-Tossed Waves, but The Dark and Holly Places wasn't my favorite. Sorry you forgot to renew it, but I know what you mean. Thankful for the library also. I don't think my library has Reached on audio so if I proceed then it'll have to be read unless they get the audiobook by the time I get around to it. At this point, I would like to finish the series, but I also don't have high expectations because I think most people thought Reached was the worst in the series. We'll see. Thanks for stopping by and commenting Gin!
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with you on the pacing of Crossed. It was much slower than Matched for me as well. At this point I do intend to read Reached, but it probably won't be any time soon. Thanks for stopping by and commenting Megan!
ReplyDeleteReading your review makes me really curious to see what you'll think of Reached. I enjoyed Matched the best but I thought Crossed was more or less similar in terms of enjoyment. I could understand why you and a lot of other readers enjoyed this one less than Matched but at the same time, I'd enjoyed the change.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean about how dystopians tend to make you fall in love with a world that they then try to change as soon as the sequel comes out. I wish the whole "changing the world" bit ought to wait till the final book in a series, so we could properly enjoy the dysopia! Anyways wonderful review ^^ can't wait to see how you'll do with book 3 :)
I'm not sure when I'll get to Reached. I do plan to read it, but I have so many other books that are already in my possession that take priority right now. But I'm definitely planning to check it out eventually. I agree....IF dystopians MUST change the world that's built in book 1, at least wait until later in the series to do so. Thanks so much for stopping by and commenting Micheline!
ReplyDelete