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Crossed Hardcover – November 1, 2011
| Ally Condie (Author) Find all the books, read about the author, and more. See search results for this author |
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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.
- Print length384 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- Grade level7 - 12
- Lexile measureHL630L
- Dimensions6.44 x 1.2 x 9.31 inches
- PublisherDutton Books for Young Readers
- Publication dateNovember 1, 2011
- ISBN-109780525423652
- ISBN-13978-0525423652
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Editorial Reviews
Review
“Cassia and Ky grapple with secrets, wilderness and the tumultuous meanings of love in the second installment of this addictive, layered dystopic trilogy… Although two-boys-one-girl triangles run rife in this genre, Condie’s is complicated and particularly human, involving real emotional scars… Both rich and easy to digest, this will leave fans hungry for the third book.” - Kirkus, starred review
“Told in alternating chapters from their points of view, the book gives readers full access to the hearts and minds of two memorable characters. Their needs, love, and internal conflicts are palpable. Their voices are distinct and authentic, and the writing is often poetic.” - School Library Journal
“This is more than just a placeholder between the first and last parts of a trilogy… Condie effectively sets the stage for the final chapter in Cassia’s story by leaving the reader hanging at the end of the book. Matched fans will devour this book and be eager for the concluding one.” - VOYA
“…vivid, poetic writing… Condie immerses readers in her characters’ yearnings and hopes.” - Publishers Weekly
About the Author
allycondie.com
Twitter: @allycondie
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Product details
- ASIN : 0525423656
- Publisher : Dutton Books for Young Readers; First Edition - First Printing (November 1, 2011)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 384 pages
- ISBN-10 : 9780525423652
- ISBN-13 : 978-0525423652
- Reading age : 11+ years, from customers
- Lexile measure : HL630L
- Grade level : 7 - 12
- Item Weight : 0.045 ounces
- Dimensions : 6.44 x 1.2 x 9.31 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #173,472 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Ally Condie is the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling Matched trilogy and its companion novel, The Last Voyage of Poe Blythe. She is also the author of the novel Summerlost, an Edgar Award Finalist for Best Juvenile Mystery, the New York Times bestselling novel Atlantia, and the co-author of the Darkdeep middle grade series. A former English teacher, Ally lives with her family outside of Salt Lake City, Utah. She has an MFA from the Vermont College of Fine Arts, and is the founder and director of the nonprofit WriteOut Foundation.
Customer reviews
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Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonReviewed in the United States on May 22, 2019
Top reviews from the United States
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The character development is the highlight of this series. The slow awakening of their minds is an enthralling tale of discovery. The author manages to capture the struggle one would have to seek freedom in a world where comfort and provision are free. Some have reviewed this book commenting on how "nothing happens". I will not deny this. Not much happens. A lot of the book is self-analysis and walking, but that's the beauty of this novel! It's not action filled like every other dystopian book; this book is meant to be more analytical of the self-discovery of freedom that Cassia goes through. The struggle Ky and Cassia go through to fit in and find what they truly want in a Society that tells them what they should want.
I flew through it. I saw a review that it was not 'Hunger Games' good. Well, I loved the Hunger Games movie but could not get into the book. So everyones opinion is just that...their opinion!
Once I finished Matched in 2 days, I had to get this right away. My only disappointment is the way I feel really ripped off when a Kindle version costs as much as a print version. But...I really wanted to read it.
I am loving it, I am 70% done in one day. I am so grateful for the cloud reader so I can take a peek at work even when I am less busy! I think it is great, I am so glad I ignored some of the more negative reviews of it being boring or not liking that its from 2 POV's. I am just loving it.
Now, my only disappointment is that I have to wait 5 months for the conclusion!
If you liked Matched I think you will really like this book. Just please publishers, keep in mind you are not paying for hardbound or softcover books, shipping, retailers' fees for them to keep inventory, etc. Its an e-version, so please price it accordingly. If my son didnt have to read Matched, I would not have paid so much. I get free Kindle books mostly or try to limit myself to no more than $4.99 so...you would not have had a sale if it was not required by our local regional voc!
ENJOY!
Top reviews from other countries
I found the first half of this book more intriguing than the second half. It opens with Ky in a camp in the outer regions, where he and another boy Vick, are burying bodies of other campers who have been murdered by the enemy. The book then alternates between Ky's experience and Cassia's, who is also in a camp where she is trying to find a way to get to Ky.
I felt I got a bit lost in the middle and towards the end of this story where the action slowed, and a lot of time was spent focussing on more ethereal elements of the story, as the author often alludes to poetry and highlights colours and paintings, which I am never sure the relevance to the story they are supposed to provide.
Maybe, as I am not personally a fan of painted art or poetry, I tend to try to skip over these things, and I did get confused regarding the various canyons, caves, streams and mountains they were climbing. I also kept thinking I was reading Cassia when I was reading Ky, as the two seemed so similar at times.
Anyway, what I will say is this is a original and well written book. and I am looking forward to finding out in the conclusion to the trilogy, who Cassia chooses, and what happens to society and her friends.
For some trilogies you can read the middle book without the firs,t and be completely conversant with what is going on. That is not the case here, I think anyone reading this before Matched is going to be very confused, so I would definitely say if you come across this before it's predecessor, try number one in the series first.
The environment itself, is rather barren. This was expected - wandering around the inside of a Canyon was not. Something more desert-like, similar to the Scorch Trials was what I expected but the inside of a Canyon is certainly an interesting idea.
Ky's side of the story is a nice touch as well. I'm not if he feels so familiar because Cassia knows him so well, or because his voice is very similar to that of Cassia's.
I should mention the similarities between this and Scott Westerfeld's Uglies, as that series is a favourite of mine. Cassia, like Tally, believes in what her society is doing and is looking forward to her future, in the societies grasp. Until a stranger (in Cassia's case, Ky, and Tally's case, Shay) turns up and they see the Society for what it is and escape. Somewhere along the way they are separated and have to find each other again. And of course there's a Rebellion wandering somewhere around the middle of nowhere. I hold the hope that this is just a coincidence, however.
It's not all bad. I like the fact that, whereas Matched is told entirely from Cassia's perspective, here the narrative is shared between Cassia and Ky. I was looking forward to learning more about the character and inner workings of the strong-and-silent Ky: one of the reasons he was interesting (to Cassia and the reader) in Matched was his air of mystery and the promise of deeper knowledge and understanding of the Society, so having half the book told through his eyes is an exciting change.
Unfortunately, Ally Condie doesn't make the most of this opportunity and she fails to develop two distinct voices. I frequently found myself having to flick back (not easy on a Kindle) to the start of a chapter to check who the narrator was - a frustration shared by many other readers, I think. For me, it's not realistic that Ky and Cassia - with their vastly different backgrounds and personalities - would have such similar voices.
The other thing that frustrated me was the lack of any real progress. Crossed ends in almost the exact same place (figuratively speaking) as it starts. Yes, over the course of the book a lot happens to Cassia and Ky, and there are odd twists and turns or interesting revelations. But on the whole, very little happens to actually drive the overall story of the trilogy forwards. Supporting characters come and go, feeling more like props than anything more. And although we glean small fragments of information about the Society, these were not enough to satisfy me. Many of the questions prompted by Matched remain even at the end of Crossed, with even more questions introduced. The differences between Aberrations and Anomalies are not explained, nor who the Farmers and the Enemy are and their respective relationships to the Society and the Resistance; there are also multiple references to the Warming that preceded the Society with no elaboration about what this was or why it precipitated the formation of the Society. I don't mind slow reveals when the reader's position of ignorance is shared by the characters and the story is one of joint discovery; I do mind feeling like the author just isn't bothering to explain things clearly. Bear in mind that I'm also a good ten years older than the young adults this trilogy is aimed at - that's a hard audience to please.
I will read the third book, Reached, when it's released later this year (available to pre-order in hardcover and audiobook format) - more because I'm the kind of person who doesn't leave a book or series halfway through than because I desperately want to know what happens. With any luck, the final instalment will return to the standard of Matched, rather than continuing the vagueness and circularity of Crossed.
This time around we see Cassia and Ky on the hunt for each other and hoping their paths will cross sooner rather than later. Ally Condie's done a fantastic job in my opinion with the narrative in Crossed - it's split between Ky and Cassia. Now, if you found yourself more of a fan of Xander rather than Ky don't be put off because Xander crops up a handful of times too just not with his own first person perspective.
I loved the new characters introduced and to me they seemed to have really distinctive voices and personalities - I can't wait to find out more about them in the next book. But of course the best part has to be Cassia and Ky's developing relationship. One chapter in this book (and just to mention, they are quite short chapters which was great for building tension but doesnt suit everyone) is absolutely heart-wrenching! I read the page over and over just to devour every word that Condie spilled onto the pages which is something that, with Matched, I didn't feel the urge to do despite wanting to read it again.
A couple of reviewers have noted that it might be useful to re-read Matched before giving this a go and I'm inclined to agree to some extent. I finished Matched perhaps six months ago but the concepts weren't particularly fresh in my mind upon starting Crossed - this didn't leave me lacking at all in knowledge because Condie recaps gradually through the first couple of chapters. Her recaps wouldn't be that helpful though if you really couldn't remember much at all as they were pretty brief so if you can't remember what an Anomaly is or the story so far then perhaps a re-read is necessary.
Overall, I thought this book would suffer considerably from what I call middle-book-syndrome but it actually didn't which was a nice surprise. I 100% recommend Crossed and I can't wait for the third instalment in 2012. Happy reading!!
This book was half Cassia's POV and half Ky's, I really liked Ky's narrative. We learn a lot more about his background and how he ended up in Oria as a Markham. Crossed carries on from Matched quite nicely and the story progresses at a nice pace. The good thing about both Cassia and Ky's POV is the back stories come out more, we also get a little bit of background on Xander from Ky as he knows something Cassia doesn't. I especially like that there's some conflict regarding Ky, Cassia and Xander - everything's not as crystal clear as it seems.













