Crossed

By: Ally Condie

Narrated by: Kate Simses, Jack Riccobono

Length: 9 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

The hotly awaited second book in the dystopian Matched trilogy....

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.

©2011 Ally Condie (P)2011 Penguin

Critic reviews

"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)

"...vivid, poetic writing... Condie immerses readers in her characters’ yearnings and hopes.” (Publishers Weekly)

not as good as book 1

The book is not as good as book 1. I'm on to book 3. hopefully it will be better.

Edge of my seat...

If you could sum up Crossed in three words, what would they be?

Where are they?

What did you like best about this story?

The multiple story lines and events being shared simultaneously.

Which character – as performed by Kate Simses and Jack Riccobono – was your favorite?

Jack - he was more passionate in his delivery.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

...a real young love story.

Any additional comments?

I enjoyed the beginning a lot more and have decided to hold off on the final book.Anticipation just isn't there.

Liked it, but not as much as the first book.

Which scene was your favorite?

When Ky and Cassia got to see each other again! I was rooting for them!

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No, I liked it, but not as much as the first.

Any additional comments?

This was a hard one. I really liked Jack Riccobono for Ky, but when he has to do a "Cassia" voice, I was taken out of the story because it was so bad. A boy doing a girl's voice, and not well. I couldn't get past it.

LOVED IT!

I liked the story and it was a great continuation of the first book. Can't wait to get to #3.

Ready for book 3

Would you listen to Crossed again? Why?

no. I liked it but it wasn't one that I loved or would read again

What was one of the most memorable moments of Crossed?

her journey to find Ky

What about Kate Simses and Jack Riccobono ’s performance did you like?

they do a great job with the narration. their voices are good with the roles

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I don't think so

Any additional comments?

I liked this book but it was a little slow...there was action and it wasn't just a filler but it just seemed slower to me

Better Than The First Book

Would you listen to Crossed again? Why?

Ya in the future perhaps, if I have forgotten about it.

What other book might you compare Crossed to and why?

Matched/Crossed is most like the Delirium series of books. Girl fights society for the love of a boy that was not chosen for her by the society. Bother book series than lead into adventure.

What does Kate Simses and Jack Riccobono bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I loved how the audio booked was separated by a male and female voice actor by every other chapter. The male voice covered the boy chapters and same for the lady voice reading the girls chapters. It kept the book feeling new and more on edge.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

A father burying his daughter. I'll let you find out!!!

Any additional comments?

This book was wonderful and I can't wait for the 3rd audio book to come out.

SLow start

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Never! the first book was good but this one feels like she just did not know where she wanted to go with the story so things just kept changing!

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

make it flow better! tell us more about the sosiety and who is running it?! give us more of a back story

What about Kate Simses and Jack Riccobono ’s performance did you like?

I thought that the story was told wounderfully! to bad the story itself could not add up to the preformance!

Could you see Crossed being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

Ya, I guess-it feels like that is why she wrote the book in the first place, just to jump on the new si-fi wagon for teens

Any additional comments?

dont wast youre money

Can't Wait for Book Three

In my review of Matched, I was anxiously anticipating this sequel and was hoping to learn more about The Society, The Rising and Xander in particular (a promising character that I felt was underserved in Matched). Well, I did learn more about some of those things...

I liked Crossed, but it also frustrated me as well. When we last saw our protagonists, Ky was being hauled off to the Outer Provinces by The Society and to certain, eventual death. Cassia decides to somehow follow him no matter what the cost. Xander sadly watches the entire scene unfold, still harboring his love for Cassia despite her inherent idiocy, sorry, I mean tenacity...and Cassia's family is shipped off to do some farming for awhile and learn the errors of their rebellious ways.


So...that brings us to Crossed. Here's what I liked:

I liked (and disliked, see below) that Crossed was told from the perspectives of both Cassia and KY. This technique helped me to like and understand Ky more. (Full disclosure: I'm a budding Xander fan.) They are both in the Outer Provinces and then ultimately on the run, but for a great deal of the book they are apart, searching for each other.

Along the way they pick up some friends and I liked these characters. They are a great addition to the series, especially Indie (you know I like strong female characters who don't put up with BS) and I know we will see more of them in the sequel.

Condie's descriptions are beautiful and you can visualize easily the surroundings of The Carving and The Outer Provinces.

Now here's what I had a problem with:

1. Where the heck's Xander?
He shows up for like a minute, is mysterious and then leaves. I really feel like his character has potential and possibly more depth than Ky given all of theses "secrets" and "mysteries" surrounding him. I again am hoping we see more of him in the third book, how about the next book is from his perspective? That I would be interested to read: "Cassie's breaking my heart, so I gave her a big packet of blue pills. Hope they work..."

2. Speaking of perspectives...
While I liked the idea of both POV's, after a while they both started sounding the same. The only thing that helped me in this regard was that I actually listened to Crossed as an unabridged audio book on Audible and they had a guy and a girl reading each chapter. However, in tone and sappiness, they both sounded alike to me.

3. Enough with the poetry already.
I get how integral these poems are to the story, just not sure if I need to read them again every other chapter until I have them memorized too. Sidenote: I was reading another book last night where a character died and they were looking for the perfect poem for his memorial. Immediately I started reciting Tennyson's "Crossing the Bar" (brainwashed much?) and guess what? That's the exact one they used...

4. The Society sucks at catching people. Or do they?...
I can't decide if Cassia and Ky are still part of some big Society experiment or if The Society is in a recession and they just don't have the manpower and resources to find our motley crew. Cassia and Ky both spend a great deal of time piddling around and very little (or absolutely zero) time actually in danger of being caught. This decreased the suspense and thus my enjoyment of Crossed.

Well...after that diatribe, I guess it looks like I didn't really like Crossed at all, but I did. I think the series overall has promise and Crossed was just a slow Act II. I love Condie's writing style in general and it is a testament to Matched that I even am riled up enough to be a little disappointed in the sequel. I promise, I will be first in line for the third book and there better be more Xander, dang it!

Take The Blue Pill!

Mother-Daughter Review
My Review

This is the second story in the Matched series and picks up where the last one left off. If you did not read the first in this series, I don’t think a lot of things would make sense for you in this story.

This story mostly follows Cassia and Ky as they journey in the outer providences, each hoping to find the other. Along the way, they pick up a few new people that follow along with them and have their own little mysterious back-stories.

I did not enjoy this story as much as the first. The beginning starts out promising with Cassia assigned to a work camp and wondering how to get away and Ky assigned to a farm town to act as a target decoy. The narration skips back and forth between the two as the story develops.

The middle and ending of the books were not as exciting. There are still a lot of things going on that the author hasn’t revealed, but action wise, the book was moving like a stream of fudge rather than a chocolate waterfall. I would rate this book at 3 stars.

Lily’s Review
The main conflict in this story is that there is a three way love triangle between Xander, Ky, and Cassia. More than that is that Ky, the one that Cassia really, really, loves is going off to die. So Cassia did what most people would do, she goes to the Outer Providences to find Ky and find the “Rising”.

In the beginning of the story Cassia is at a camp doing work, but she only went there to find Ky, which is somewhere in the Outer Providences. She then gets sent off to a camp like the one Ky is at, to go die. Ky is at a camp with about one hundred people to be bait for the ships that fly around killing them all, they call themselves decoys. The Capital tells them if they stay there for six months that they wont be Aberrations anymore, nobody lives that long in the camps. Almost every night in the camps there are bombings. Ky and another person named Vic have stayed there the longest, only twelve weeks. Ky and Vic run away from the camp with Eli, a boy that was at the camp. They ran to the Carvings.

What I liked about this book was that there was a lot of action, like when people were getting blown up. What I HATED about this book was that they killed one of my favorite characters. I hated that part. I didn’t like the parts when they were in the Carvings. They just walked and walked for a long time and didn’t really do anything. Over all I liked this book, I would give it a 4 out of 5 stars.


The Narration Review
This autobook was narrated by Kate Simes and Jack Riccobono. Kate Simes also narrated the first book in this series. I still think she sounds very young for the part of Cassia, but it doesn’t distract too much from the story. Jack Riccobono sounded about the correct age for the Ky portion of the narration. They complimented each other very nicely in the telling of the story from both points of view.

**Note**
Combined rating = 3.5 stars

Book One Was Better

Book one was better than this one... but, it sets up a good story line for the third book. I personally prefer one narrator and the back and forth narration for me was not enjoyable. I did like this book and do look forward to the third in the series.