Reached by Ally Condie

Title: Reached

Series: Matched Trilogy Book #3

Author: Ally Condie

Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 79293

Description: In search of a better life, Cassia joins a widespread rebellion against Society, where she is tasked with finding a cure, and must choose between Xander and Ky.

Rubric Rating: Level 3 - Laud It

Why I Read It: Final Book in the Series.

Notes: Unlike Matched which is Cassia's story, and Crossed which is Cassia and Ky's story.  Reached Begins with Xander.  We now have three points of view while reading.  Xander is an Official working for the "Society" but he is also working covertly for "The Rising" waiting for the signal of when they will start their overthrow of the current order.  Xander will know it is time when he hears the "pilot's" voice.  Cassia and Ky have also joined the rising and have been separated again - Ky is a pilot (literally) along with Indie, Cassia has been reintegrated into the society as a sorter.  Using poetry and stories found within the Carving, Cassia is able to begin trading with the "Archivists" an underground network that can help get her messages to Ky and Xander.  And then the revolution begins but it's not a war - it's a pandemic.  People of the society are becoming "still" with the plague.  But the rising has the cure.  They move in swiftly and efficiently to help everyone but what the rising doesn't realize is that their genetically engineered illness has mutated and now everyone is at risk.  Xander, Ky and Cassia must all work together if anyone is going to survive.  I did enjoy this book and I think it may have been the change to the three perspectives.  I felt I got a better sense of everything going on. However, I always felt that there was a little too much unsaid.  My impression from the end of Crossed was that "The Rising" and "The Society" were like two arms on the same person.  They work for and against one another toward the same goal - power and control.  I also found there wasn't enough explanation for me as to who the original "enemy" was that the society is pretending to fight with, why the aberrations and anomalies were being killed in the outer provinces and who the pilot really is.  There is a bit of a religious allegory here with the "Pilot" and "Otherlands" and the idea that people who "move on" can't come back.  The one aspect that I liked was that poetry and words can be used as currency.  That art is valuable.  What I didn't like was that the creation of new artwork was not given the same value (because it has been done before).  I also found it strange that people didn't know how to write and yet they knew how to read.  I could understand this better if the society became completely visual but it appears that everyone can read so why couldn't they write?  In the end while I was satisfied with the ending, I just didn't get a sense that anything had really changed.

Recommended Readers: Grade 9 and Up.

Themes: Dystopian, Political Dystopian, Survival, Plagues and Pandemics, love, Relationships, Family, Sickness, Cures, Work, Hope, Art

Cross-Genre Links: 

Movies: The Hunger Games Series or Maze Runner Series
Movie: Equilibrium (2002)
Museums: The History of Art and Artifacts
Galleries: The Value of Art
Websearch: Biological Warfare

Inquiries and Activities: 

• Why is so much value placed on contraband artifacts? (Poetry, Stories, Art, Objects)
• Who is "The Society" and "The Rising"? Do you think they are the same entity?
• Who is the pilot?  Does the reader ever find out? Why are they given the name "the pilot"?
• Who creates the plague?  Why would the Rising use sickness as a weapon? How did their plan backfire?
• What kinds of religious allegories can you draw from the Matched Trilogy of novels.  (Think about "The Pilot," "The Otherlands," or "The Sego Lillies.")
• Where would you choose to live at the end of the novel?
• Create your own original poem, story or piece of artwork.  Create a gallery space to showcase the creations.