Readers of Matched will lap up Allie Condie's second book in the trilogy, here told by both Cassia and Ky.
By the end of Matched, Cassia had fully embraced the notion of free will. Here she heads to the Outer Provinces in search of Ky--an Aberration who was seized by the Society in the previous book--knowing his death, along with the deaths of many other Aberrations, is imminent. When Xander, whom the Society deemed Cassia's Match, visits her, the two travel to an Archivist who tells them of a Pilot (referenced in Tennyson's "Crossing the Bar") who will lead the Rising to cross back into better days before the Society. Cassia believes Ky is the Pilot and could be their savior against the Society and an Enemy that remains a mystery.
Much like its predecessor, Crossed is written in lyrical prose ("Loving him gave me wings and all my work has given me the strength to move them," Cassia says of Ky). As the two desperately pursue one another, they often fall just short of a reunion. The novel shifts between the first-person narratives of Cassia and Ky, and despite their similar voices, both characters reveal moments of insight. Ky's chapters further expand his history growing up as an Aberration.
Crossed is an action-driven sequel, steered by characters who break the rules, form new alliances and commit to surprising paths for the upcoming final installment. --Adam Silvera, a bookseller and intern at Figment