After leaving Society and desperately searching for the Rising—and each other—Cassia and Ky have found what they were looking for, but at the cost of losing each other yet again: Cassia has been assigned to work for the Rising from within Society, while Ky has been stationed outside its borders. But nothing is as predicted, and all too soon the veil lifts and things shift once again.
In this gripping conclusion to the #1 New York Times-bestselling Matched trilogy, Cassia will reconcile the difficulties of challenging a life too confining, seeking a freedom she never dreamed possible, and honoring a love she cannot live without.
what we thought:
m- this book was ahhh-maa-zzzing. it was, to me, the best one of the whole series. it felt like all of the other books were just leading up to this one. i will say that this book starts off pretty slow and doesn’t really start to pick up the pace until around part 4. the book got so much more intense and intriguing for the last few parts of the book. i also really loved the fact that the book was written in cassia, ky, and xander’s point of view. i think that added a lot more depth to the overall story. being able to see everyone’s take on the same event.
l – kay, so forgive my dramatic tendencies for a second, but this book blew my mind. if you read our review of matched you know that we weren’t crazy enthusiastic, which i regret now. i feel like it took me all this time to really understand and appreciate ally condie’s writing style. from my experience with dystopian and YA in general, i was looking for that fast-paced, edgy writing style that is so frequently seen in action/adventure stories for teens. while i absolutely love that a lot of the time (see divergent or the hunger games, just to name a few) i think that it’s ally condie’s simple, poetic, slow-building storytelling that sets this book apart. my very favorite character in this series is xander, i love the steady, steadfast strength he brings to everything he does. with that in mind, of course i was so happy when we got to see the story through his eyes for the first time. i was concerned at first with there being three perspectives (cassia, ky, xander) because it seemed like a lot, but i was wrong to worry. ally condie expertly weaved the three narratives together seamlessly and i couldn’t see the story being told any other way.
m- i felt the same way at the beginning of the series. i was waiting during matched and crossed for the story to pick up and i wasn’t taking the time to completely fall in love, like i did in reached with ally condie’s writing style. i really want to go back and re-read the whole series and see what things i missed annnd read all of the cute things that xander and ky say about cassia. i am kind of torn between ky and xander. i love xander and how steady, strong, and safe he is but i can’t help but love ky and how unique he is. i seriously keep jumping between them buuuuuuttttttt… if i had to seriously choose one or the other i would choose ky. i just couldn’t help the attraction i felt toward his character. hahaha. (we are getting married in june! jk) i think that this is the first book that lyli and i have ever really been on separate sides of the love triangle. i think that xander is that sweet and adorable lover boy while ky is the bad-boy with a sensitive side and kinda, reallyyy, very very attractive. 😉
l- dibs on bridesmaid! (and xander will see me catch the bouquet.) yes, that’s so funny how we’re on separate male lead teams! haha. i really like ky as well as xander, though. i think by the end of crossed i was resigned to the fact that cassia probably wasn’t going to change her mind about the whole ky/xander thing (even though ally condie keeps it completely open). i just felt like xander was a more endearing character. he took action early on, while ky dragged his feet a bit when it came to joining the rising. xander is a man of action. ❤ masie and i will be formally debating this later, stay tuned! haha. this is killing me not to be able to reveal more about the plot, but this story will SMACK YOU IN THE FACE. like, you don’t see it coming and then whamo! you are officially busy for the next three hours. i was completely fascinated by the way the plot went… i was honestly expecting some old-fashioned rebel/”the man” stand-offs and a few battle scenes, but once again i was completely off. the book took a completely creative and unique turn and i loved every second of it.
m- yes, of course you may be my bridesmaid. (i will be sure to accidentally toss my bouquet in your direction!;)) now we haven’t really talked about cassia. cassia, to me, was kind of aggravating. i felt like in the first three parts of the book she just kept getting on my nerves. i think that in the first three parts i just got kind of bored with her character and what was going on with her. i guess i was on CASSIA OVERLOAD. (or i was just mad at her for stealing ky. :I) haha. when i got to the last few parts in the book i became more interested in her character and what she was doing. the last few parts of the book are like BAM BAM BAM BAM!!! one big thing after another! i was very intrigued i could not put down the book. as lyli said i dont want to give anything away because i want you to read this awesomeness for yourself. 🙂 lyli and i have been talking about the ending of this book and we both think that it was pretty close to perfect. it was the best way, i think, to sum up everything from all three books and close it so perfectly ally condie deserves a round of applause! *applause* *applause* *applause*
l- *claps and cheers* oh, and our texts during the last part of this book were pretty much like this.
“AAAAAAAH!”
“I KNOOOOOOOW! AAAAAAH!”
“AAAAND THIS PART? AND THAT PART?!” ASDFGHJKHJKHG!”
“ASGFDHGJHKJFHDGSGFSHGSJSKJKDLFKFJDHDGDSGSHJFJF!”
true story.
rating! (out of five stars): ***** (five stars that ky will wait among for cassia… sigh…)
would we recommend it? yeah, baby!
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