Review: Crossed by Ally Condie

Crossed by Ally Condie
Released: November 1, 2011

My Rating: 3.5 stars

     I LOVED Matched and the world that was created by Ally Condie and was anxiously awaiting the next book in her trilogy.  Crossed is not as fast paced as Matched.  What I have enjoyed most about Crossed is learning more about Cassia, Ky, Xander along with a couple new characters.  Ally still writes a beautiful story set in an equally beautiful and dangerous world.  Crossed follows Cassia and Ky as they each try to find a way back to each other.  I think it is important for Cassia to experience the different challenges and choices she makes as it helps her to develop a deeper understanding of what it means to love.  Crossed is about sacrifices made on different levels by all the characters, some are seen in the novel and some are just brought up in back stories. 

      I’ll admit that I was all for Ky after the first book, but am very curious to see how the revelations about Xander play out in the third book.  Crossed met my need for more of Ky and Cassia’s story, but presented more questions about Xander, Indie (a new character in Crossed), and the Rising.  I enjoyed the use of poems throughout Crossed.  They seem to make the journey of the characters even more personal.  If you are a fan of Matched, you will enjoy Crossed and finding out a little more about your favorite characters, but don’t expect a lot of breath holding action.  If anything, Crossed piqued my interest in how Ally Condie will wrap up this beautiful trilogy.

 You can find out more about Ally Condie and The Matched Trilogy here:
GoodReads
Twitter
Ally's Website
The Matched Trilogy 
The Matched Department fan site
 

My Friday Reads

Life has a way of interupting reading time, but I'm still squeezing it in!  Reading is a great escape!  Since I haven't been able to sit down and write full reviews of books I've finished, I decided I would do a little mini review about the books I'm currently reading. 

Crossed by Ally Condie

I happened to come across Matched last year before I started this blog and immediately fell in love with it.  I then convinced my librarian and several students to read it and of course, they loved it to!  I've been waiting for Crossed for a while and even more so after I saw this cover last spring.  With that being said, I'm not rushing to finish Crossed, because then I"ll have to wait that much longer for the final installment.  Cassia has embarked on a dangerous journey to find Ky and along the way is finding out more about Xander.  I'll admit I was totally Team Ky after Matched, but I am a little intrigued about the new information on Xander that I have discovered this far.  While Crossed isn't action packed, I am really enjoying falling back in the world Ally Condie has created. 

May B.  by Caroline Starr Rose

I was very excited to be graded a copy of May B. via NetGalley.  This is my first book to read, at least that I remember, that is written in verse.  I wasn't sure what to expect since I do love reading how authors set up their worlds in detail, but I am quite enjoying May B.  The world is still easy to imagine with the short concise descriptions.  I think the verse writing also leaves a little to the imagination, which I think is fun.  As I read, I'm also thinking of several students who are reluctant to read chapter books because they do not like a lot of words on one page and while I haven't seen a print copy of this book, I can think of many who will love how this one is set up.  I'm looking forward to discovering more about the remarkable 

May B.  From what I've read so far, May B. is a girl that many could relate to in different ways. 

IMM

In My Mailbox is a meme hosted by The Story Siren and gives you a chance to share the great books you have received in the past week (or in my case, two weeks).




My IMM this week actually covers the last two weeks or so.  Life got a little crazy for me last weekend and it seems to be getting closer to normal now.

For review via NetGalley I received:

 

Thanks to Random House Children's Books for:

May B. a Novel by Caroline Starr Rose

The Gathering Storm by Robin Bridges

From my Spooky Swap buddy I received:

I was The Kill Zone winner and added these two signed books to my collection:

Born at Midnight (Shadow Falls #1) by CC Hunter

Awake at Dawn (Shadow Falls #2) by CC Hunter






 
I also won a signed ARC of The Mapmaker and the Ghost by Sarvenaz Tash

And the wonderful girls at Sash & Em added the November book I've been most excited about to my collection:

Trailer Thursday

Normally I like to embed the trailer here, but since this trailer is exclusively on EW, you will have to click on the image below and visit their site. 

I'm SO VERY excited to read CROSSED, the sequel to MATCHED!  

If you haven't read MATCHED yet I HIGHLY recommed that you go pick it up TODAY!!