Reached (Matched Trilogy Book 3) [Hardcover]

Ally Condie (Author)

Book Description

Release date: November 13, 2012

Cassia’s journey began with an error, a momentary glitch in the otherwise perfect façade of the Society. After crossing canyons to break free, she waits, silk and paper smuggled against her skin, ready for the final chapter.

The wait is over.

One young woman has raged against those who threaten to keep away what matters most—family, love, choice. Her quiet revolution is about to explode into full-scale rebellion.

With exquisite prose, the emotionally gripping conclusion to the international–bestselling Matched trilogy returns Cassia, Ky, and Xander to the Society to save the one thing they have been denied for so long, the power to choose.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Gr 7 Up-In this gripping and richly satisfying final book in this dystopian series, Cassia, Ky, and Xander recount in alternating chapters how they secretly find themselves working for the Rising, the group that's trying to overthrow the rigid and oppressive Society. In Crossed (Dutton, 2011), Cassia found Ky, the boy she's in love with but who's not her Match, after he disappeared into the Outer Provinces. He is now a pilot with the Rising. Cassia's back in Central working as a human computer algorithm sorting people into their Matches while secretly trading snippets of forbidden poetry with the Archivists and working to create a forum where people can openly share their art. Xander, Cassia's official Match, is an Officer and Physic in the Society, trusted with making sure that babies receive their immunizations but secretly replacing these pills with others that prevent disease and memory loss. When a plague created by the Society spreads out of control, Ky is asked to help fly cures into the impacted cities. The Rising is using this plague to show that they can save the people. Not everyone is immune to the plague and soon a pandemic breaks out, sickening many, including Ky. Unless Cassia, Xander, and Oker, a 90-year-old doctor who escaped being killed by the Society at age 80, can figure out a cure, the Rising will fail and the Provinces will fall apart. Fans who want closure will love this last book in the series that effectively combines action, romance, science, philosophy, and the arts.--Sharon Rawlins, New Jersey State Library, Trentonα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Review

Praise for Reached:

"With reveals seeming to arrive on almost every page, prepare to stay up all night." --Kirkus, starred review

“Unpredictable twists and revelations will leave readers satisfied with the fates of their favorites.” --Publishers Weekly, starred review

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Age Range: 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Juvenile; First Edition edition (November 13, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0525423664
• ISBN-13: 978-0525423669
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.4 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (583 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,854 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ally Condie (www.allycondie.com) is a former high school English teacher who lives with her husband and three sons outside of Salt Lake City, Utah. She loves reading, running, eating, and listening to her husband play guitar.

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

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#16 in Books > Teens

#16 in Books > Teens

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 45 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Ending To An Incredible Trilogy November 13, 2012

By YA Book Queen VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

An excellent ending to an incredible trilogy, REACHED ties everything together in ways you'll never see coming. As with the previous novels, Condie's writing remains fluid, unhurried, and poetic with each line, each page. In REACHED, Condie gives readers a chance to know and learn more about Xander as a new narrator, in addition to Cassia and Ky's points-of-view. All three narrations are strong and each voice is authentic to each character, making it easy to always know who is narrating at any given point. Within the Society, life has changed - and continues to change - drastically for all three characters as a deadly plague spreads and each character comes closer to choosing their future.

Overall, this conclusion to the MATCHED Trilogy is gripping, romantic, exciting, and surprising. Anyone who hesitates reading this trilogy because of the love triangle is missing out, because these books are about more than two young men and a girl struggling to choose between them (in fact, it's quite different from that). These books are about freedom, fighting for what you believe in, and so much more. Condie's writing is evocative and engaging for each point-of-view. All in all, REACHED is an outstanding conclusion that will captivate readers until the very last page.

HIGHLIGHTS: I enjoyed how Condie tied everything together in this novel - a few moments that seemed inconsequential in previous books became extremely important in this story. This story surprised me a few times, and I loved the three distinct points of view - it was nice to finally get to know more about Xander's character. Character growth, especially Cassia's character.

LOWLIGHTS: Very slow going and character-focused, which is to be expected from Condie's writing. However, it felt like it took a very long time to get to the main plot. But, I didn't necessarily mind, since it was nice to focus on the characters.

SOURCE: Received advanced copy for review and am planning on purchasing finished copy (I'm still debating if I should splurge for the lovely Matched Trilogy box set or not).

RATING: 4.5 out of 5

46 of 56 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointingly boring November 20, 2012

By Yoon-Ji

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

[...]

I remember picking up "Matched", the first book of the dystopian trilogy by Allie Condie, at a bookstore on a summer day. I read the first few chapters... and was instantly hooked. A girl living in a society where you're matched with a fiance according to commonalities, and two hotties to boot? We've got a keeper! I devoured the first book, read the second, and finally got to the end of the last...and it sure took a while.

After leaving the Society and finding each other, Cassia and Ky are now part of the Rising on the brink of a rebellion. When the Plague that the Rising used to rise to power spreads uncontrollably, infecting and killing hundreds of people, Cassia, Ky and Xander are faced with a new challenge: of finding a cure to save everyone.

I have to say I was pretty disappointed with the "Reached", especially because I just fell in love with the first book! It was incredibly, incredibly slow. The pace was just plain plodding, and barely anything happened. Thinking back on the plot of the book, I can only think of maybe two really important events, and even they weren't riveting at all. I ended up skimming a lot of the parts because they were mostly just unnecessary and seemed to be there to fill up the space.

Another thing that bummed me out were the boring characters. Sure, I get that Cassia, Ky and Xander were developed as characters mostly in the first two books of the trilogy, but they were just not fun to be with, not one bit. It was interesting to be in Xander's perspective for a change, and I guess the change in him was somewhat more active, but it was still a little boring. I did like, however, the introduction of new characters like Lei, and the more fiery characters like Indie. They added a bit of a twist to the events and shook up the main characters a little, so that was fairly interesting.

Having said this, the language was probably the only thing I really liked about "Reached". Ms. Condie's imagery and the type of flowy, pensive emotion it evokes lends the book a sort of grace, and some parts were nice to read.

Overall, I do have to say I was disappointed with "Reached". It was just so, so, so boring, I had to force my way through till the end of the book. I would probably not recommend reading this, which is actually making me a little sad to type. I'd definitely check out the first book, but from the second book "Crossed" onwards, I'd save myself the time and read the summary online instead.

Rating: 2/5

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars So glad it's over!!! November 18, 2012

By Joya

Format:Hardcover

There was little growth in any of the characters. Maaaabye Indie? And you know what, that's probably because she was the only one with her own distinct voice. All of the rest of the characters spoke with this ridiculous poetic voice that was just unrealistic. If perhaps it was a byproduct of the Society they were raised it in would be believable but that sort of thing was specifically frowned upon in the Society. It really turned out to be just annoying. I found myself rolling my eyes every few lines thinking "oh give me a break!"

As far as the love triangle was concerned (SPOILERS BELOW):
So we spend all this time on this buildup where Cassia and Ky are reunited... and as a matter of fact there's one for Cassia and Xander too, but when they do finally meet NOTHING! NO passion. Just 'hey, look, we're all in the same place again'. So yeah, Cassia and Xander may have been contagious so I can see why initially they were not able to have a passion filled reunion (some inner struggle about it would have been welcome) but as soon as it was clear that Ky was sick what did we get? They walked together. That's pretty much it.

I just don't know what else to say. It was mediocre story as a whole that would have been 3 stars had it been summed up in one book instead of dragged into a trilogy.