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A review by emilyusuallyreading
Crossed by Ally Condie
3.0
What I Liked
A lot of YA fiction has the female character bound so tightly to her romantic interest that he is the only reason she still tries to survive. At one point in the book, Ky says, "I don't fool myself that I hold her together--she does that on her own." Thank you, Ally Condie. Thank you. Cassia is a strong, independent woman and I appreciate that. (For the moment, I'll ignore the final part of that sentence, which said, "but holding her keeps me from flying apart." Baby steps.)
Another quote from the book I enjoyed: "When you first love, you look blind and you see it all as the glorious, beloved whole, or a beautiful sum of beautiful parts. But when you see the one you love as pieces, as whys--why he walks like this, why he closes his eyes like that--you can love those parts, too, and it's a love at once more complicated and more complete."
I love Ky. I understand his resistance to sharing all of his story with anyone, even the people he loves most. Not just because he's the mysterious love interest, but because it's a difficult thing to share the hardest places of your past... and it isn't always necessary.
What I Didn't Like
Love triangles. I hate them, I hate them, I hate them, I hate them. Why do they exist? In Matched it was bearable; in Crossed it's not. It doesn't make sense when the protagonist is thinking, "Woe is me, I just can't decide between these two beautiful boys," because that isn't how love works. My frustration with this ridiculous love triangle is almost the entire reason why I gave this book 3 stars instead of 5. So. Dumb.
The plot worked better than in Matched, but it was slower and a little boring at times. There were way too many flashbacks of things that the reader already was supposed to know. Why delve into every single one of Cassia's memories through Ky's eyes? We already know what happened; we don't need to experience them a second time.
By the end of the second book, there is still no context to this trilogy. I don't quite understand the war going on... or most of the setting/background of this world, for that matter. Hopefully it's all going to be explained in the third book, but I'm not sure that it will. My biggest questions are:
- Who is the enemy? (Are the drones that are fighting in the Outer Regions supposed to be from the Rising, the Society, or from an entirely different enemy?)
- What world is left outside of the Society? (The story takes place largely in Utah... but the earth is significantly more vast than Utah.)
- What exactly is the Society? (I had this question after reading Matched too. I'm still no closer to knowing about a leader, government structure, background, etc.)
The Ending
A lot of YA fiction has the female character bound so tightly to her romantic interest that he is the only reason she still tries to survive. At one point in the book, Ky says, "I don't fool myself that I hold her together--she does that on her own." Thank you, Ally Condie. Thank you. Cassia is a strong, independent woman and I appreciate that. (For the moment, I'll ignore the final part of that sentence, which said, "but holding her keeps me from flying apart." Baby steps.)
Another quote from the book I enjoyed: "When you first love, you look blind and you see it all as the glorious, beloved whole, or a beautiful sum of beautiful parts. But when you see the one you love as pieces, as whys--why he walks like this, why he closes his eyes like that--you can love those parts, too, and it's a love at once more complicated and more complete."
I love Ky. I understand his resistance to sharing all of his story with anyone, even the people he loves most. Not just because he's the mysterious love interest, but because it's a difficult thing to share the hardest places of your past... and it isn't always necessary.
Spoiler
I think I'm more like Ky than like Cassia, and her frustration with Ky's distance at times reminded me of things my friends have said to me.What I Didn't Like
Love triangles. I hate them, I hate them, I hate them, I hate them. Why do they exist? In Matched it was bearable; in Crossed it's not. It doesn't make sense when the protagonist is thinking, "Woe is me, I just can't decide between these two beautiful boys," because that isn't how love works.
Spoiler
In Matched Cassia was placed with Xander by her government but she chose Ky on her own. That love triangle worked. Now that she feels the need to go back and forth between Ky and Xander (She straight-up said in the narrative, "I want both."), the book's love is quickly turning shallow and brittle.Spoiler
Cassia spent 3 months in a work camp, intentionally had herself sent to war-torn Outer Regions, ran 30 miles across a desert, and separated herself from everyone she knew for Ky... and yet her heart is still torn.The plot worked better than in Matched, but it was slower and a little boring at times. There were way too many flashbacks of things that the reader already was supposed to know. Why delve into every single one of Cassia's memories through Ky's eyes? We already know what happened; we don't need to experience them a second time.
By the end of the second book, there is still no context to this trilogy. I don't quite understand the war going on... or most of the setting/background of this world, for that matter. Hopefully it's all going to be explained in the third book, but I'm not sure that it will. My biggest questions are:
- Who is the enemy? (Are the drones that are fighting in the Outer Regions supposed to be from the Rising, the Society, or from an entirely different enemy?)
- What world is left outside of the Society? (The story takes place largely in Utah... but the earth is significantly more vast than Utah.)
- What exactly is the Society? (I had this question after reading Matched too. I'm still no closer to knowing about a leader, government structure, background, etc.)
The Ending