Review: Crossed

CROSSED (Matched #2)
Ally Condie
Young Adult/Dystopian
384 pages
Dutton/Penguin
Available November 1st
Received at BEA

Warning: synopsis contains spoilers from Matched.

THE STORY
Ky is gone. Taken by the Society to the Outer Provinces where death is most likely inevitable. With the help of her parents as well as her Match and best friend Xander, Cassia finds work in places that will take her closer to the Outer Provinces and give her the best opportunity to try and find Ky.

When she finally puts her plan into action and makes it to Ky's camp she finds Ky has already escaped and made a run for freedom. Deciding she's come too far to give up now, Cassia follows in Ky's footsteps hoping she's not to late to be reunited with the boy who taught her to write, to question, and to love.

What Cassia learns in her search for Ky is that not everything is as it seems, with revelations about Ky himself, Xander, and the Society making her see that change to her previous world of flawless perfection is necessary, and she's going to do whatever it takes to see it come to pass.

MY THOUGHTS
Crossed is one of those books that despite being made of featherlight paper and ink feels indescribably heavier, the weight of what's written both considerable and memorable. The word count on each page seems to double that found in other books with similarly-sized pages, as every line printed is compounded by the empty space between it and the line following, allowing what is to be inferred from the negative space of what’s not expressly written to carry equal weight as that which is told to us directly. As with Matched, Crossed moves very slowly, the intensity not stemming from large action sequences but from the unpredictability of Ky and Cassia’s future as they try to outrun the far-reaching shadow of the Society. Crossed does have the feel of a middle book though, picking up not long after events of book one then progressing gradually along a road lined with new questions until it concludes with very little certainty. Some secrets are revealed along the way, yet we are ultimately kept in the dark in tantalizing preparation for book three.

The quietness of Matched created a feeling of intimacy as we partook in the removal of Cassia’s Society blinders, creating a delicious tension as she and Ky engaged in tiny defiant gestures that had us riding a razor’s edge wondering if or when they’d get caught. That desirable apprehension is missing a bit in Crossed, the slowness not as savory as it was previously, instead becoming a bit tedious as Cassia and Ky literally walk circles around each other for close to two hundred pages. No longer are the extended silences and still moments charged with possibility and the potential for love, but rather they are merely seconds and minutes we spend waiting for them to find their way to one another again so their rebellious feelings can return that sense of danger, placing the seductive burden of possible exposure back on our shoulders to bear right along with them.

When the inevitable reunion finally does take place we begin to remember why this world of false perfection and happiness is so interesting, with both Cassia and Ky beginning to struggle with conflicting secondary needs and wants now that their primary goal of finding the other has been achieved. We get a disturbing look at what exists outside the pristine borders of the Society, but we are also left a bit confused as to all the different factions warring with one another to the obliviousness of the Citizens. Fighting the Society in the Outer Provinces is the Enemy, someone or something we know very little about, and then in this second installment we are also introduced to the Rising, a rebellion against the Society attempting to affect change from within. All the elements to this story become just a bit muddled, our thriving connection Cassia and Ky in Matched dimming slightly as their extended separation and opposing desires for the future chip away at the solid foundation we believed them to have.

Overall, Crossed is a beautifully written story but one that should be approached with patience and the understanding that the pages will not fly by at blurring speed nor will we get all the answers we seek. By the end we find ourselves and the characters seemingly back to square one, only with a new goal and purpose heading into book three. While Crossed doesn’t hold us transfixed quite the way Matched did, it does set us up for what will hopefully be an enlightening final installment.

Rating: 3/5

Review: Matched

MATCHED
Ally Condie
Paranormal Young Adult
366 pages
Penguin
Available November 30
Received from Publisher

THE STORY
Life in the Society is perfect. Genetics have been successfully conquered. People are living longer lives, are matched with their ideal reproductive mate, and provide individual services that benefit the Society as a whole. There's no depression, no ambition, nothing beyond toting a predestined line.

Cassia is one such member of Society, and it's the night she's been waiting for her entire seventeen years. Her Match Banquet. Tonight she will see the boy meant for her, and her life can truly begin. It turns out even better than she could have hoped, as her Match is none other than childhood best friend Xander. Beautiful, intelligent, perfect-in-every-way Xander. Things couldn't be better.

Only when she goes to review Xander's data on a microcard after the banquet, it's not his face that pops up on screen as her Match. It's another neighborhood boy named Ky whose face she sees for the briefest of moments. That fleeting image changes everything. Which Match is her true Match? Should she follow her heart, or follow the rules of a Society that has never lead her astray? Is her destiny the one already planned out to the last detail, or the one she makes it? Never before has Cassia questioned anything, but the time for sitting idly by has passed, and a new time has come where questions become vital to survival.

MY THOUGHTS
Every once in a while a story comes along that electrifies you into having a deep, visceral reaction of which you didn't know you were capable and certainly weren't expecting. Matched starts out so simple, a perfect society full of perfect people living perfect lives so spectacularly detailed there's not the slightest opportunity or inclination for change. The story moves very slowly, like a watched pot waiting to boil. There's insubordination and discontent simmering just beneath the surface, promising complex interactions and intricate emotional conflicts, but that first defiant bubble refuses to break the smooth surface and come to a full boil until midway through the book. Though it begins slowly, this story is not boring. Never boring. Rather, the plot progresses at a pace that allows the reader to think, to question, to relate, and ultimately to savor. It doesn't necessarily inspire late-night, frenetic-pace reading, but it does creep into our consciousness at every available opportunity, leaving its permanent brand on our psyche as we find ourselves reflecting on everything we've experienced.

There's something overwhelmingly intimate about Cassia's story, a quiet but potent camaraderie existing between character and reader, allowing us feel that no matter how many other people share this same story, we will always have an individual relationship and our own unique, unbreakable bond to hold tight and treasure. The stolen moments between Cassia and Ky are beautifully portrayed, the simplest of actions taking on a heartbreaking significance. Plain alphabet letters morph into unspoken declarations of love, the briefest of touches becomes more potent than the most passionate of embraces, and hushed exchanges transform into life-altering events.

The writing itself seems to reflect the rigid parameters established by Society. There are no unnecessary, flowery descriptions of characters or places, just matter of fact details illustrating an unquestioning acceptance of day to day life. At first, this sterile approach keeps the reader at a distance, never letting us fully into Cassia's heart and mind so we may connect to her as we follow on her journey, but as soon as Cassia begins to question and to feel, we start to feel with her. The writing then provides yet another type of unity, creating a bond between us that strengthens as each new emotion she feels adds a strand of fiber to the steel cable now holding us together. Real affection, true sorrow, and a brand new anger begin to replace the Society-preferred contentment and complacency, and though it doesn't show on Cassia's exterior, we have the privilege of seeing the maelstrom of rebellious emotions swirling through her veins.

Both gloriously simple and deliciously complex, this story is a joy to read. To bear witness as Cassia discovers the point at which the level of control over her life is no longer acceptable is incredibly powerful, and there's a haunting satisfaction in watching as complexities begin to infect the pristine monotony the Society has worked so hard to perfect. Life is effortless when everything is decided for us, but infinitely more intricate when we are gifted with the ability to choose. Following dictation is easy. Making decisions and facing the repercussions of those choices is far more difficult. More life-affirming. More courageous. And, at the end of the day, what makes life worth living.

Rating: 5/5

Teaser Tuesday: Matched

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by MizB at Should be Reading and here's how it works:

Grab your current read
Open to a random page
Share 2 teaser sentences from somewhere on that page but be careful not to include spoilers

My read this week is Matched by Ally Condie (releases November 30 from Penguin):

"She talks and talks, and I imagine Ky's hand making that sweeping curve of the C for my name and my heart beats faster."

"I've given up on talking to him again today when I feel someone brush past me. At the same time I hear a word so soft and quiet I wonder if he said it up on the hill and the wind has just now carried it down to me.
The word is yes."

Cover Critique: Matched

Let me preface this post by saying that my design critiques of these covers are in no way, shape or form a reflection on the author, the content or the publisher. I know the authors have very little, if any, control over the design. These are strictly my thoughts stemming from my design experience.

When I look at this cover, I hear bells ringing. And angels singing. And a gospel choir belting "hallelujah". Everything about it just makes that designer part of me smile from ear to ear. I think everyone might know that I tend to gravitate toward subtle, simplistic covers. The ones with a strong focal image and clean, crisp fonts that catch your eye and make you want to buy the book just so you can stare at the cover. I don't enjoy the covers that try to incorporate every single element from the book into the design. It gets too crowded and the eye doesn't know where to look first.

Here, there's a single, gorgeous image. I've never really wanted to exist in a bubble before, but if this is what I would look like in said bubble, please sign me up to have my picture taken in one. I love that we can't see the young woman's face, therefore we can project any characteristics we have in our head onto her, and she can be whoever we want her to be. Her hand placement is perfect, helping to define the shape of the bubble further, and filling the space in a way that maintains a balance on either side. Should her hands have been in her lap, there would have been too much weight in the bottom of the image and it would have looked off. Should one hand have been raised and the other down, it would have ruined the symmetry. As it is, her hands add weight to the top of the image to counteract the heaviness of the fabric pooled at the bottom, and they keep the circular shape intact side to side.

Next, there's the color. So many times designers (myself included) are afraid of leaving a background white. We feel the need to fill it with color, not with design elements, but sometimes just large planes of uninterrupted color or people might find the design dull and lifeless. This cover just proves how striking a white background and the perfect accent color can be. The green leaps off the page and immediately draws attention. The different tones and hues of green add depth and make the bubble appear three dimensional, almost as if you could reach in and pop it.

The font choice is ideal. It's rounded ends have a modern feel, and the blurred edges provide the optical illusion of movement. The font, along with the bright green and stark, sterile white, suggest science fiction in a perfectly unassuming way.

My only complaint, and it's quite minor, would be the font choice for Ms. Condie's name. It's the same font as the title for Chloe Neill's Firespell, and since both novels are young adult and paranormal in nature, it's likely that readers of one will at some point run into the other. Not a huge issue by any means, I just associate that font with Firespell since I saw it there first, and would have loved either a completely new and unique font for her name, or a common font where there are no distinguishable characteristics to call to mind another book.

Overall, this cover is, to me, absolutely beautiful. Anyone else think so?