Reached

Reached by Ally Condie

This is the last book in the trilogy; if you don't want any spoilers, read no further.

I previously reviewed Crossed (and kind of Matched) HERE.

To give a little more back story, I read Matched before I started this blog (and thought I had blogged about it but turns out WHOOPS I had not). I recently acquired the sequels (they were on SUPER sale), and now I'm finally finishing Cassia's story.

I saw Ally Condie at the ALA conference which just further motivated me to finished this trilogy. NOW YOU KNOW MORE USELESS INFORMATION ABOUT MY LIFE.

.....the amazon summary or else I'm going to get into a fit of silliness, "Conclusion to the New York Times Bestselling Matched Trilogy!

Cassia’s journey began with an error, a momentary glitch in the otherwise perfect façade of the Society. After crossing canyons to break free, she waits, silk and paper smuggled against her skin, ready for the final chapter.

The wait is over.

One young woman has raged against those who threaten to keep away what matters most—family, love, choice. Her quiet revolution is about to explode into full-scale rebellion. With exquisite prose, the emotionally gripping conclusion to the international–bestselling Matched trilogy returns Cassia, Ky, and Xander to the Society to save the one thing they have been denied for so long, the power to choose." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE

....I don't think of Cassia as an angry character she actually strikes me as a love-driven character that quietly moves against the Society in small ways. Fighting for freedom in the guise of working for the Society but in fact working for the Rebellion.

Confused?

At the end of Crossed, Cassia had found the Rebellion with Indie. The Rebellion evaluated them and determined where they would be placed to better their interests in overthrowing the Society. Indie would best serve the Society as a pilot; Cassia would best serve the Society as a sorter. 

In the beginning of Reached, we see Cassia return to the Society where she works as a sorter; Xander and Cassia speak often because they are matched. Cassia works as a trader for the Archivists and seeks out poetry. She also is determined to create new poems and wants to see what everyone else can create as well.

Ky is working for the Rebellion as a pilot; he decided to follow Cassia.

Xander is really the one who is the most revealing narrator. Xander works as an official and a physic. He is the one who shows how the Rebellion is spreading a plague through the society that attacks the nervous system and makes people 'go to sleep' or have the 'still'. The Rebellion is undermining the Society's control by screwing up The Banquet (where citizens become matched) and infecting them with a plague that the Rebellion only has enough medicine to cure.

Throughout the course of the book we watch the Rebellion slowly take control of the Society and learn more about the people who refuse both the Rebellion and the Society to live in the stone villages on the outskirts of 'known land' (for lack of better phrasing).

Also, plaques are bad (and spoilers if you don't understand viruses!) develop into different strains that the initial cure, can't cure.

Overall, it was nice to read the third book and to see how things could go wrong, how a culture can crumple to give way to something new, and really just to read Xander's narration (because I was so done with Cassia/Ky just thinking about how much they love each other).

However, I felt a lot of the book was driven by emotional panic; I understand the intentions behind it, but the follow through seemed very drawn out without accomplishing much in the ways of story development or character growth.

I do appreciate how the contrast in the culture of The Society, The Rebellion, and the stone village folks (and even the Farmers I suppose) because they were all people from that area who developed in different ways. But sometimes it seems like the book took a very round about way to make a point.

All in all, I'm glad I finished the series just to know how everything wrapped up.SPOILERS: it had one of those nice whimsical endings where emotional serenity makes everything okay; that life can be conquered because they've persevered through so many hardships.

Happy reading!