Crossed by Ally Condie

Reviewed by Lori
Crossed
Title: Crossed

Series: Matched Trilogy

Author: Ally Condie

Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 70022

Description: Seventeen-year-old Cassia sacrifices everything and heads to the Outer Provinces in search of Ky, where she is confronted with shocking revelations about Society and the promise of rebellion.

Rubric Rating: Level 2 - Like It.

Why I Read It: Continuing on with this series.  I do quite like the covers on these books.

Lori's Notes: Cassia has made her choice.  She's going to find Ky in the Outer Provinces.  But she is still matched with Xander and when he visits her on one of her last work details he giver her a gift - an opportunity she doesn't expect.  When the society sends a plane to take some of the Aberrations (people who aren't citizens) to the outer villages, Cassia boards as well.  If the aberrations can survive for six months they'll regain their "Citizen" status, but the the Society isn't taking the Aberrations to the outer villages to repopulate them, they're taking them there as decoys and no one has ever lasted six months.  Meanwhile, Ky has been part of several groups living in the outer territories, fighting and struggling for survival.  Ky and his friend Vick come up with a plan to escape and take with them young Eli.  Cassia is transported to the outer provinces with Indie, an independent and secretive girl she has known from the work camps.  Learning that Ky has recently escaped, Indie and Cassia make their way to the Carving - a divide that separates the society from the farmers (those who chose to live outside societies walls).  Cassia begins to hear about "The Rising" a group of people working within society to bring it down and the "Pilot" the leader of the rising.  Could Ky be part of the Rising?  Could Xander?  Cassia faces many challenges and her strength and determination take her far.  I have to say that I enjoyed this book better than the first but again, I felt the action was slow.  I was surprised when Ky and Cassia find each other toward the middle of the book.  I was not expecting them to find each other until the end.  I did find that I liked how the book moved from a more romance dystopian to a political dystopian.  It has gone beyond "Who is Cassia going to choose?" to "What is Cassia going to choose?" (Society, the Rising, or something else).  The book alternates point of view between Cassia and Ky.  We are able to see both her journey and his, whereas the first novel was strictly Cassia's perspective.  This book also brings in more of the idea that words have power, that the forbidden poetry and stories can mean more than what is on the page.  While I did engage with the characters I didn't find myself overly drawn to any of them, I was however, fascinated by the landscape of the book and how the world is divided.

Recommended Readers: Grade 9 and Up.

Themes: Dystopian, Love Triangles, Romance, Politics, Government, Division of Society, Rebellion, Personal Choices Affecting Others, Survival, Landscapes - personal, political, geographical.

Cross-Genre Links: 
Movie: The Maze Runner (2014)
Poetry: Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas  (Listen to it Here)
Poetry: Crossing the Bar by Alfred Lord Tennyson (Listen to it Here)
Image Search: Canyons

Post Reading Discussions, Inquiries, and Activities: 

  • What do you think would be the hardest part of Cassia's Quest?  What about Ky?
  • How does the landscape change as Cassia moves away from the Society?  Is this significant?
  • Write an essay about landscapes in Crossed.  How are landscapes crossed in this novel? (Think literally and figuratively)  How are people divided?  
  • Why is the society storing the blue tubes?  Why would Hunter start breaking them and why do Eli and Cassia steal two?
  • Who are "the Rising"?  What makes you think so?  What does Ky begin to suspect at the end of the novel?
  • Create a drawing, model or diorama of the carving.
  • Why do forbidden words and poetry have so much power?  What makes them powerful?  
  • Analyze one of the poems highlighted in the book.  What do you think the poem is about?  How does it impact the characters of the novel.



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