Crossed

Crossed deviated from the tried and true false utopia set up in Matched. I really like the canyon as it was an interesting and unique choice for the setting of a decent chunk of Crossed. Getting to see both the main characters' pov's also made it more interesting than had it stayed a singular pov story. All in all, this book was a good transitional book between Matched and Reached!

**3.4 still repetitive

I'm really intrigued by the world that has been created here. But the actual story and characters are just too unbelievable and frustrating for me to finish this book. So many things don't make any sense to me, here some examples:

Why does Cassia insist on destroying all her valuable artefacts? Can she really not hide or trade them?

Why must she use Xander to get to Ky? I get that she wants love instead of her best friend, but then just let him go easy instead of using him achieve the opposite of his goals, very mean since he is just lovely.

And if Ky is so damn smart then how did he end up in this dangerous situation? Why did he send himself to a place he knew he would likely never get out of alive and crush his remaining family's hopes and dreams in the meantime?

Please let me know if logical answers to these questions are given later, then I might just pick up the books again ;)

Resenha do blog Sincerando.com, escrita por Sarah Sindorf

ATENÇÃO: Esse livro é o segundo livro de uma série, cujo primeiro livro é Destino. Essa resenha terá spoilers do primeiro livro, e não é recomendada para quem não leu o mesmo.

“Não entre docemente naquela boa noite,A velhice deve arder e delirar ao fim do seu dia;Revolte-se, revolte-se contra o apagar da luz.”

No último livro, Cassia começa a se revoltar e Ky é levado bruscamente da Sociedade de madrugada, desaparecendo em rumo às Províncias Exteriores, ao que parece ser a morte certa. Nesse volume Cassia parte à sua procura, e acaba descobrindo que ele conseguiu fugir para os Cânions da região. Apesar de ser boa a notícia de que Ky não está morto, ela traz um novo perigo: não se sabe de ninguém que tenha entrado nos cânions e voltado. Continuando sua busca, Cassia encontra sinais de uma vida fora da sociedade e uma rebelião se formando, e as coisas nem sempre são o que parecem ser.

Deixando a Cassia chata no livro anterior, aqui vemos uma personagem mais amadurecida, mais consciente de suas decisões. Fiquei muito feliz de ver essa transição, que foi feita de forma natural, nada forçado. Ky também nos mostra um outro lado e alguns detalhes de seu passado são revelados. Novos personagens são introduzidos (e amados) e Xander consegue surpreender em alguns momentos.

Esse livro foi bem mais reflexivo do que o outro, explorando a força e vulnerabilidades dos personagens. Apesar de focar em parte a vida fora da Sociedade, também nos mostra o quão longos são seus braços e quão pesadas suas influências. Conhecemos mais sobre as Anomalias e Aberrações, como surgem e como são tratadas.

Sinais de uma rebelião começam a aparecer, e os personagens dividem suas opiniões quanto a ela. Foi bom ver argumentos formados e embasados, ao invés de um simples: não gosto e pronto. O livro continua sólido e bem estruturado, e a história continua intrigante, com um toque de mistério. Assim como o anterior, traz uma sensação de como somos sortudos.

Devorei esse livro muito rapidamente, e adorei a capa, tem muito a ver com a história. A diagramação ficou muito bem feita. Uma coisa que fez muita diferença nesse livro foi a mudança de narrador; ao invés de ser narrado somente por Cassia, os capítulos são intercalados entre ela e Ky, o que traz uma visão totalmente diferente do enredo.

Link da resenha: http://www.sincerando.com/2013/11/travessia.html

The upside to this book was that we got to see things from Ky's point of view. We learned more about who he was and what he's seen.

The downside is that is was just kind of boring.

Think about this: we've come to a place where children are being taken out to the desert and killed. They have no hope, but three try to escape into a huge canyon (reminiscent of the Grand Canyon). Constantly on the look out for the Society who will either capture them to return them to the ‘villages' or kill them outright.

That sounds exciting, does it not? Yet somehow, Condie was able to make it incredibly slow and boring. She made it less about the action and what they were all trying to do and more about too awkwardly in love kids trying to figure out how to be awkwardly in love. Maybe this is the truth in her book. Most YA books center around two teenagers who desperately love each other and nothing else matters. Their love is cement. Here Cassia and Ky don't truly understand how to love each other except to make sure they find themselves together. They are probably more realistic teens than any others I've read.

Cassia is still a worthy protagonist. She's still so naive, but not in a weak way. She wants to trust in the Rising so much, that this is what she was born for, that it will change everything. She trusts that she loves Ky, but that she also loves Xander. She questions the path she has chosen, but doesn't whine about the hardships she's facing. Instead, she tackles them head on and still remains optimistic and radiant. That in itself, a strong & capable female lead, is worth reading this series.

But that doesn't save the book from being ultimately quite snooze worthy. I'm hoping with Reached we will get something worth ending.

*3.5 STARS. Full review to come.

A predictable follow-up to [b:Matched 7735333 Matched Ally Condie http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1311704885s/7735333.jpg 9631645]. Follows the general young adult dystopia trilogy format: 1st book is world building, 2nd book is joining the resistance, 3rd book is a battle to overthrow the government. In this installment, Cassia runs away from her work placement and spends the whole book on the move looking for various people and establishments.

Boring boring boring. I don't know why I read this. At least Matched had some plot. Glad this was a fast read, so I didn't waste a lot of time.

Audio read.

This book picks up right where Matched ended. Cassia is disillusioned by the Society that claims to have all of their best interests in the forefront. She realizes that the Society have the opposite in mind and have very specific goals which do not involve the welfare of its citizens. Ky has been sent to a work camp which is really a war zone where he is to pretend he is a farmer and is bombed every night. Cassia in her attempt to find Ky asks her parents to send her to work detail, a punishment for out of control teens, in hopes of running into Ky. Long story short they do find one another and engage on a journey to find The Rising, individuals who are in war with the Society. We do see Zander in this book and new characters are introduced in this book such as Eli the thirteen year old orphan who has been sent to the war zone, Indie a rebel teen, Vick who fell in love with an Aboration, and Hunter a farmer who was part of the Rising but stayed behind to care for his dying daughter.

This book was different in that it was told from both Cassia's and Ky's perspectives. Each chapter alternating between the two. I liked this aspect of the book. The story is still an interesting one but I liked the first book much better than the second. Although there were parts to the book that added to the mystery of the Society and helped develop the story further, they came far and inbetween and overall the book dragged. The majority of the words were repeats from the first book and just didn't add anything more to this book. I did find myself saying “let's get on with it already”. Unfortunately, because Cassia and Ky were constantly on the move it was hard for them to really sit down and talk. Cassia felt that Ky was keeping parts of him to himself and in his point of view he admitted to doing so because to give all of himself would be ammunition and even though he trusted Cassia it was hard to get out of that habit. Remember Ky has always been an outsider, not really wanted but tolerated because the Society felt they owed the Markham family a son due to the loss of their only child.

In the end Cassia, Ky, and Indie reach The Rising. Ky doesn't trust The Rising and frankly neither do I. Cassia is a Rising informant who has been placed right back into The Society. Ky and Indie are pilots in training. Cassia and Ky are apart once more.

We will see what happens in the next installment of the series which is meant to be the last. I am curious to see how the author wraps this up and if she will do it as nicely and intriguing as it all began.

I loved this book, not quite as much as the first one... I'm still biting my nails waiting for the next one.

Was a great book to listen to in the car. A good continuation of the Matched story. I enjoyed hearing Ky's side of the story as well and enjoyed the new characters introduced. Still not a big fan of all the teenage love triangle (square?) stuff but it is better than some books I've read (Twilight anyone?).

It was the cover that compelled me to buy and then read Matched. Not all covers deliver, but this one did. Of course, Matched closed with a cliffhanger, so I was driven to read the sequel, Crossed. This week I finished it.

Crossing is told in alternating points-of-view, one chapter told by Ky followed by one chapter told by Cassia. Cassia is off to the Outer Provinces in search of Ky. When she arrives, she learns that Ky has left for the canyons. Again she sets out in search of him. When they finally reunite, things don't go as well as they had hoped and the book ends with the two estranged.

Not quite as good as Matched (something I almost always find with sequels), but close enough to recommend this story to those who liked Matched.