Crossed

Written by Ally Condie

Narrated by Jack Riccobono and Kate Simses

Penguin presents the unabridged, downloadable, audiobook edition of Crossed by Ally Condie, read by Jack Riccobono and Kate Simses.

Rules are different outside the Society.
Chasing down an uncertain future, Cassia makes her way to the Outer Provinces in pursuit of Ky - taken by the Society to his certain death - only to find that he has escaped into the majestic, but treacherous, canyons. On this wild frontier are glimmers of a different life and the enthralling promise of rebellion. But even as Cassia sacrifices everything to reunite with Ky, ingenious surprises from Xander may change the game once again.
Narrated from both Cassia's and Ky's points of view, this hotly anticipated sequel to Matched will take them both to the edge of Society, where nothing is as expected and crosses and double-crosses make their path more twisted than ever . . .

The sensational second book in the series and follow-up to acclaimed international bestseller, Matched.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin UK Audio
• Release date: Nov 26, 2015
• ISBN: 9780141370668

Ally Condie

Ally Condie is the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling Matched trilogy. A former English teacher, she lives with her husband and four children outside of Salt Lake City, Utah, and is the founder of the non-profit WriteOut Foundation.

Reviews for Crossed

[howifeelaboutbooks · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Crossed is the second installment of Condie's "Matched" trilogy; I won't say it's a bad book because there are many beautiful sentences to be found, but that's all of the merit I could see in this book. It's a typical #2 place holder - I imagine the last book will be jam-packed with action. If you haven't started reading the trilogy yet, I would recommend you wait for all books to be released. This book referenced a lot of what happened in book one without giving you the necessary context; as a result, I was left in the dark during a lot of flashback scenes, despite having just read the book in June. There is also a lot of poetry-quoting in this book, which I interpreted to be more "filler." I wish the author would have used that space for her own words and given us some plot to propel the book forward, instead of just providing a lot of story with no action.

[mhanover10 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a good middle book. It reveals some background information and gets the characters closer to where they want to be. I'm listening to the audiobook and this time the narration switches between Cassia and Ky. I'm looking forward to book 3.

[alcarinqa_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Read the full review here. One of the best aspects of this book is that we finally find out more about the Society - how it gained power, why people believe its lies so readily. It was also interesting to meet people outside of the Society’s influence - I liked the dimension they add to the story. The journey to leave the Society was very enlightening, and I enjoyed how the story was told through both Ky and Cassia. As Ky’s story was slowly revealed I felt myself getting more sucked into the story - he is easily the most three dimensional character in Condie’s world.I found Cassia’s continued trust in the Society incongruous, especially since she was defying them the whole time in the novel. She seems unable to believe just how horrible the Society is even though she has experienced first hand the atrocities they commit. She isn’t a heroine I sympathise with, and mostly she just gets on my nerves.I understand her indecision over the two boys in her life: Xander represents everything that is safe and familiar to her, and Ky is a risk, but he also represents freedom. I really hope that the third book of the series will focus more on the growth of her relationship with one by rather than on Cassia’s choice between the two.

[librarycin · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

It’s been so long since I read the first book in the trilogy, I can only assume this is picking up where book 1 left off. I hope I’m not giving away any spoilers for book 1 by simply saying that Ky and Cassia have been separated and they are searching for each other. I really hate when a series (especially one that continues right where the last one left off) doesn’t give some kind of recap of the previous book. I was pretty lost for a good portion of it, but it did pick up for me about half way through. Even though I still didn’t understand how the characters got to where they are now, at least I could just concentrate on what was happening “now”, in this part of the story. This was told in alternating viewpoints between Ky and Cassia. I liked a couple of the new characters, particularly Eli and Hunter. I will read the last book in the trilogy, if nothing else but for closure of the series. I’m rating this one “ok”, only because it was better in the second half.

[bravenewbks · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Wow, what a disappointment.

Unlike the first book, which was told from Cassia's point of view, this book has chapters alternating between Cassia's and Ky's points of view. (Note: it wasn't until I saw Ky's name in caps at the top of a chapter -- "KY" -- that it occurred to me how unfortunate it would be if his name ever appeared in a sentence with "jelly.") The problem is that Cassia and Ky are basically in the same situation -- each is in the Outer Provinces searching for the other -- so the perspectives just aren't different enough.

Virtually everything that interested me about the first book, particularly the design of Society and its careful planning of its Citizens' lives, is absent here. Out in the Outer Provinces, Society is just a big bad that sends its less desirable inhabitants out to be decoy farmers in otherwise-uninhabited villages (aka cannon fodder) for the mysterious Enemy.

It's just all starting to seem a little dumb and not that well thought out. We're supposed to believe that Society is sending kids out to populate villages for the sole purpose of letting the Enemy bomb them. Why not just let the villages stay uninhabited? Is the Enemy so busy bombing the fake villages that it can't plan an attack on, you know, actual military targets? If the Enemy is that stupid, shouldn't Society have beaten them by now?

I just... no. When a painful and wholly unnecessary love triangle among idiotic teenagers is the most interesting thing in the book, the time has come to put it down. And I mean that in a friendly neighborhood veterinarian way.

[indygo88 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This, the second in the Matched series, continues with Cassia fleeing to the Outer Provinces in order to find Ky, who has been taken by the Society and likely placed in a situation which will result in his death. This will be a short review, because not a whole lot happened in this book. Basically Cassia searches for Ky, and in the meantime a few new characters are introduced. The format of this 2nd installment is slightly different. Whereas in the first book, the story was told from Cassia's viewpoint, in this one the chapters alternate between Cassia's and Ky's points of view. I typically don't mind alternate points of view in a book, but in this case I didn't really feel that it added much to the story and if anything, I found Ky weak and annoying. This was 8 discs on audio, but I felt that the story could've probably been told in one disc. It was just dull. Only at the very end did the plot begin to pique my interest, and then it was entirely too rushed and was over. I will continue onto the third and last book in this series, but only because I already have the audiobook in my possession. And honestly, it's gotta be better than this one.

[edensteffey · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I really liked it!

[anisadara36 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Long but good!!

[emscape · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Cassia has been cast out of Society and is subject to hard labor and suspicion, but still her only goal is to reunite with Ky, and possibly join the Pilot and the shadowy resistance movement. Her metal will be tested as will her relationship with Ky. A good second edition to the series, with some suspense and genuine relationship moments between Cassia and Ky as well as new friend Indie. Whom to trust is always in question and Condie does a good job of painting sub-characters as possible friends or foes. More information is revealed about the origins of the Society as well as the resistance movement. A bit melodramatic at times, but that's to be expected of YA (and also teenaged characters).

[annhepburn · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I loved book 1 so much, this was an enormous letdown. Oh well.

[lemurkat · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This story felt very fragmented to me - as it switched between two first person narrators - jumping from Ky to Cassia's head and vice versa every chapter. It left me feeling confused and disorientated for a lot of the time. Their "voices" just seemed too similar, and I had to keep checking back to see which chapter I was on (I read in short bursts, not always completing chapters). The plot was okay, I suppose, there was a bit of world development but no real tension and it felt very much like a "bridge" novel - breaching the gap between book one and three without really standing well on its own. The characters seemed to be less developed, and and although the setting was interesting, not that much really happened.

[bookishthings · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Quick Review: Well maybe I should say thoughts. I only gave this 3 stars because I did not like it as much as I loved Matched. There wasn't really a high point until the end. There is a twist I didn't see coming. I think the basis of this book was to set up for Reached. (Which I can't wait for.) I wish we could have seen a little more of Indie also. She is such a unique character, and I want to know more of her story. Maybe she'll make an appearance in Reached. Ky has many of his own secrets, but I realized just how selfish he has been with sharing them. He only likes people to know what he thinks they should. I think this trials in this book make Ky & Cassia's relationship better. I'm pretty sure there are many more secrets and agendas that have yet to surface, and I'll be impatiently waiting for the conclusion to this journey.

[francinezane · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Matched is set in a structured society where everything is controlled by the government. Children grow up in nice homes on pretty streets with carrying parents. Crossed takes the main characters of their pretty, structured surroundings and through them into what amounts to a concentration camp where they must learn about the dirtier, crueler side of life.

The romantic ties remain strong as each character goes off on his or her own adventure, but never fear, dear reader, they will be reunited into true sweet romance style.

By the end of the book, I was tired of the series. I really didn't care about the impending rebellion, but being the good reader I am, I went on to the third book.

[floratina · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

READ IN ENGLISH

I had some mixed feeling about the first book, Matched, but the ending was very open and very few questions were answered so I decided to give this book a try.



It felt as if nothing happened in this book. There's talk about art and a lot of - forbidden- poetry, there's talk about rebellion. There's that stupid love triangle again, getting more complex throughout the book. It's basically just people in search for each other, love and a rebellion.



And Vick, the only character I actually like in this series, gets killed, for no particular reason at all, it appears.



Now, I'm not sure. I always like to finish my series, and it's not so bad that I don't want to know how it's going to end. But I'm not overfilled with excitement to start reading Reached, what if it's turns out to be more of the same?

[mtlkch-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Did not like this one nearly as much as the first one.

[themadhatters_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Cassia is determined to get to the Outer Provinces and find Ky before he is killed by the Enemy for the sake of the Society. Meanwhile, Ky wants to get back to the other Provinces in order to see Cassia again. This sequel to "Matched" was pretty good, but I felt like not a whole lot happened in it. It very much seemed like a bridge between the first and third novels. I hope that the final book in the trilogy will have more progressive content.

[golden_lily-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Not quite as good as the first, Crossed can't stand alone and yet makes me ravenous for the next book.

Cassia leaves the Borough to find Ky in the Outer Providences, while searching for a life outside the Society's confines. A simple plot spruced up with the addition of some interesting new characters and a lot of revelations about Ky's previous life and Society as a whole.

My biggest problem is Cassia spends a lot of time running, but the book never makes it seem like anyone's chasing. There's one tense scene, in the cave when it seems like the Society might be on to them, but the majority of the conflict is internal. That can work in a lot of books, but it did seem to hold the plot back at points, rather than drive it forward.

Still, wholly enjoyable. I devoured it. A few theories/predictions for Reached:

- Xander's evil. No genius student doctor doesn't know what the blue pills do. Only question is if he was trying to kill Cassia or Ky with that gift. (I suspect Ky, figuring Cassia would hold out on taking them.)
- "He" at the end of this book will be Xander, not Ky.
- Cassia and Ky are both Pilots, uniting the farmers and Central against the Society.
- Cassia is really important to Society. They probably want her to be their leader or something.
- The Rising blows and is just as restrictive as the Society. We're looking at a Snow/Coin situation here.
- Indie will die, probably after doing something evil but then redeeming herself. We'll see Eli again, probably just in time for HIM to die too.
- The Enemy is the Society bombing it's own citizens.

[marlene9nl · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Disappointed. The first half of the book I really thought it was going somewhere. That we would learn more about the other people outside of society and that there would be more action. Well I guess she decided to wait and write more poetry and how much they miss each other so she could sell another book. The second part was as boring as counting your toes. Do not think I will even want to read book 3 of this series. I do not go gently in that bad book.

Must admit i love the first line of the Dylan Thomas poem, but we got that in book 1. Great poem.

[lizziewrites · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

All in all, I really think this book was even better than MATCHED. I loved the idea of the Carving! I was a tiny bit disappointed with the ending, as it felt rushed. But SO beautiful and lyrical!

[pretear_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Like the first book, the concept is interesting but the execution ends up being a little boring. Unlike the first book, this one is told from the perspective of both Ky and Cassia - but the writing was so similar between characters that sometimes I would forget whose perspective I was reading. I still plan to check out Reached, but so far the series has been a disappointing.

[bragan_8 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is volume two in the YA series that started with Matched, in which a teenage girl discovers that her supposedly perfect society is very far from perfect, starting when her scientifically calculated arranged marriage match-up features a tiny but disconcerting technical hiccup. I liked Matched a lot, but, unfortunately, I found this one disappointing by comparison. I think it suffers badly from second-book-in-a-trilogy syndrome, where the middle volume clearly exists mainly just to connect Part One with Part Three. In this case, it takes the protagonists half the book just to meet up with each other again, and then they spend the other half slowly traveling to a place that neither we nor they learn much of anything about, only to have the book end with dizzying abruptness when they finally get there. And there's just not much here that's nearly as engaging as the first volume. Matched had two great strengths. One was the world-building, which showed us detailed, day-to-day life in a society that seemed pleasant on the surface, but was in fact oppressive, culturally impoverished, and full of small, mundane horrors. This installment takes us out onto the periphery of that society, which is potentially interesting, but it doesn't flesh its new settings out anywhere near as well, giving us a lot of tedious trekking through canyons instead. The second was the development of the character of Cassia as she slowly began to understand the darker aspects of her world and came to the realization that she could no longer be a complacent citizen of her society. By the time Crossed begins, though, that progression is pretty much done, and there's not really anywhere left to go in terms of character development, so she mostly just goes places physically instead. That's probably at least part of the reason why only half of this book in her POV, but I can't help but feel that the guy who makes up the other half was actually more interesting before we could see inside his head.I also thought the romance angle was handled much less deftly in this one, with a lot more of the characters thinking about how in love they are and a lot less actual chemistry between them.Despite all this, I will definitely be on board for volume three, but I'm really hoping that the story picks up significantly from here.

[kiwiria_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

While I gave the first book 5 stars, I was sad to say that this one rated only 3. It wasn't nearly as fascinating nor intricate as Matched, the plot wasn't as interesting and as is so often the case with a second book in a trilogy, it was very obviously a transitory novel. In fact, I guessed that it had to be a trilogy before reading it, simply because of the style of Crossed.

It managed to keep me well enough entertained, but I was in no way blown away by it. I wonder whether or not the last book in the trilogy will be able to live up to the first tone, or if it'll be like Matrix in book form.

[jiraiya_5 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I'm shaken, troubled. Nothing can be taken for granted. I was sure, that this book would be my of my type, of up to my taste. After all, I liked the polemic Matched. It was the same author and she did an artfully solid job at the first hurdle. The story here is narrated alternatively by Ky and Cassia. It's different but I could handle that. But it turned out that what some people found puzzling about Matched, I found to my dismay, about Crossed. I have no idea how much I would approach the last book in the trilogy. How will I find Reached?After reading 50% in the book, I read how Cassia and Ky meet. Immediately people stop dying and the rest of the book is one of mild discovery, exploration, intrigue, hesitation and deceit. It's like a thriller. I don't know much of the details of the book because try as I might, I could barely absorb what was being written. And the description, oh lordy! How many profound sounding terms could the writer conjure? It was unsettling and uncanny. I keep thinking, take no notice, just don't wonder what it means. If you don't understand it doesn't mean that it's pretentious. And I succeeded in not caring, but by then I'd run out of book, and it was a little too late.

[schatzi_5 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

After the events in Matched, Cassia manages to get sent to a work camp in an effort to get closer to, and eventually find, Ky. Ky, meanwhile, is now "fighting" the Enemy (he discovers quickly that the "weapons" Society gives them are useless and he's just fodder). Ky sees a chance to run, and he and two other "decoys" run into the Carving (which I can't help but picture as my beloved Colorado Monument, although I doubt that it is). Cassia, meanwhile, is right on his heels.I liked Matched, and I was looking forward to reading the next book in the trilogy, but this book wasn't nearly as interesting. The scenery gets more character development than any of the characters. I swear, I know more about the Carving itself than the people who (temporarily or otherwise) dwelled within it. The book really felt like the author was killing time in an effort to get to the third book, which is hopefully more interesting than this one.I'll read the third book, but only because I'm hoping that it'll be more like Matched and less like Crossed.

[lms8esmith · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I waited a few months before diving back into Cassia's and Ky's story. I loved Matched and now I can say I really enjoyed Crossed. I knew it would be different in that the Society would fade into the background somewhat so that Cassia and Ky could grow. To realize that one can let go and move on from situations and ideas from the past is hard for many to accept, but Ally Condie does a wonderful job of allowing her characters to change and grow. I'm looking forward to the third book in November! :O) Donating this to my MS library!

[mausi21 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

not as great add the first, kind of slow, not enough happening for my liking. looking forward to the last part though, sounds promising!!

[mashak99 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

As most second books in a trilogy, this one is definitely darker. It's also much slower, letting us spend some quality time with Cassia and Ky. We discover more about the Society and the groups outside of it, including the mysterious Rising. The Big Reveal about one of the characters is not all that surprising, but interesting nevertheless. Big expectations for the conclusion to the series.

I like that this audiobook is read by two different voices. It really helps get more emotional connection to the characters. Also, the music during some of the dramatic moments really enhances the experience. Well done, Penguin Audio!

[neithernora · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A significant improvement from the first in the series, mainly because the main character actually does stuff (finally). I'm generally not a fan of multiple-POV first-person writing, but I understand why the author chose to use it, considering the love interest's complex backstory and general close-mouthedness. Altogether, a solid three stars, and I look forward to further growth in the sequel.

[thelukewarm225 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Like most reviewers on here, I was really excited about this, but incredibly disappointed. A read through it in a few hours, but not much happened. They're just wandering. Like the Scorch Trials, but worse. Xander's secret was a bit of a let down too. It seemed really out of character for him and didn't seem to fit. I just hope the next book in the series isn't as much of a let as this book is.

[loyet_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I loved Matched and this sequel definitely doesn't disappoint! I love that it's told by both Ky and Cassia's point of views. It does get confusing a couple times, but it's worth it to see what they are each thinking and feeling. I love how strong Cassia has become - it's wonderful to see a young female character grow so much in a positive way.