Author: Ally Condie
Series: Matched
Genres: Y.A, Dystopian, Romance,
Reviewers Note: This review may contain mild spoilers, so please be warned. I read the first two books in the series when they were both released, but it took me 3 years to get round to reading Reached. Whoops!
The final thrilling part of the New York Times bestselling trilogy, REACHED is the sequel to MATCHED and CROSSED by Ally Condie. After leaving the Society and desperately searching for each other - and the Rising - Cassia and Ky have found what they were looking for, but at the cost of losing each other yet again.
But nothing is as predicted, and all too soon the veil lifts and things shift once again . . .
In the gripping conclusion to the bestselling MATCHED trilogy Cassia, Ky, and Xander return to the Society to save the one thing they have been denied for so long: the power to choose.
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My Thoughts:
I've always been a mild fan of the Matched series. I absolutely loved Matched (I believe it was my first dystopian novel, so I was blown away by the concept), but I didn't really enjoyed Crossed. It felt like a filler book before we got to the grand finale - Reached. As I didn't enjoyed Crossed, it took me a couple of years after Reached's release to finally get around to read it, but I'm so pleased I did!
The book kicks off a couple of months after the ending of Crossed. Our three main characters are now working: Cassia is a sorter, Xander is a Society Official, and Ky is a pilot for The Rebellion. Despite the fact Cassia and Xander are working for the Society, they are secretly involved in The Rebellion, doing everything they can to help overthrow the Society and leading the lives they've always wanted.
I really enjoyed having each of the character's tell the story from their P.O.Vs. I don't think it was done very well in Crossed, but now in Reached I feel like Ally Condie has greatly improved. At just over 500 pages long, I was expecting to the book to an action-packed adventure, but Ally has kept the pace of the book slow, so at times it does get quite boring. Cassia is moping around for Ky, and Xander & Ky are both moping around for Cassia. It did feel like Ally was trying to distract us with the love triangle so that we wouldn't notice the biggest plot hole in the book - the overthrowing of the Society.
It was very obvious in the first two books that one of the big moments in the series would be the overthrowing of the Society. With the build up during Crossed and the first act of Reached, I was expecting a huge war. I assumed Ky would be fighting for his life and the Rebellion as a pilot, that there would be bombs, risings - I was basically expecting a Mockingjay style novel. However, it was a complete anti-climax. The Rebellion released a disease, infecting thousands of people. They used this as a way to blackmail the Society, and within a couple of sentences the fight was over. I was really blown away by this, and for that moment alone I knocked off a star for my review.
So, why did I give this 4 stars? Well, despite the huge plot hole, I still really enjoyed the book. I loved the characters, the new romances, and the small plot-twists that were threaded into the rest of the book. I feel like it wrapped up the series really well, and the ending left me feeling all warm and fuzzy. In a few years time I might even re-visit the series, who knows!
My Thoughts: I've always been a mild fan of the Matched series. I absolutely loved Matched (I believe it was my first dystopian novel, so I was blown away by the concept), but I didn't really enjoyed Crossed. It felt like a filler book before we got to the grand finale - Reached. As I didn't enjoyed Crossed, it took me a couple of years after Reached's release to finally get around to read it, but I'm so pleased I did!
The book kicks off a couple of months after the ending of Crossed. Our three main characters are now working: Cassia is a sorter, Xander is a Society Official, and Ky is a pilot for The Rebellion. Despite the fact Cassia and Xander are working for the Society, they are secretly involved in The Rebellion, doing everything they can to help overthrow the Society and leading the lives they've always wanted.
I really enjoyed having each of the character's tell the story from their P.O.Vs. I don't think it was done very well in Crossed, but now in Reached I feel like Ally Condie has greatly improved. At just over 500 pages long, I was expecting to the book to an action-packed adventure, but Ally has kept the pace of the book slow, so at times it does get quite boring. Cassia is moping around for Ky, and Xander & Ky are both moping around for Cassia. It did feel like Ally was trying to distract us with the love triangle so that we wouldn't notice the biggest plot hole in the book - the overthrowing of the Society.
It was very obvious in the first two books that one of the big moments in the series would be the overthrowing of the Society. With the build up during Crossed and the first act of Reached, I was expecting a huge war. I assumed Ky would be fighting for his life and the Rebellion as a pilot, that there would be bombs, risings - I was basically expecting a Mockingjay style novel. However, it was a complete anti-climax. The Rebellion released a disease, infecting thousands of people. They used this as a way to blackmail the Society, and within a couple of sentences the fight was over. I was really blown away by this, and for that moment alone I knocked off a star for my review.
So, why did I give this 4 stars? Well, despite the huge plot hole, I still really enjoyed the book. I loved the characters, the new romances, and the small plot-twists that were threaded into the rest of the book. I feel like it wrapped up the series really well, and the ending left me feeling all warm and fuzzy. In a few years time I might even re-visit the series, who knows!
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