Book Review: Crossed

TITLE: Crossed
Book 2 of the Matched Trilogy
AUTHOR: Ally Condie
PUBLISHED: 2011
CATEGORY: Young adult
GENRE: dystopian, romance
PREMISE: Cassia searches for Ky in the outer provinces and they learn of a rebellion against the Society.
MY REVIEW: Here's the thing: I WANT to love the Matched Trilogy. Really, I DO. There are things to like here. Some of Condie's prose are lovely and thoughtful, there's some nice messages here about free will and stuff, and even though I still say the world building makes very little sense when one really thinks about it the world is interesting. But it's just so DULL. Condie has a nice writing style but I don't think she knows how to tell a story to keep a reader interested. That is the only explanation I have for the fact that she keeps putting the focus on the boring and predictable (and still with very little basis) Ky/Cassia relationship. I'm sorry but I really DON'T CARE. It's obvious they'll wind up as end game. I get it, they're the destined epic couple. Can we please get back to the far more important business of this rebellion against the Society please?
It doesn't help that I honestly don't really like Cassia that much. She's flat and uninteresting as can be and frankly Ky isn't much better. The switching povs really proved that they literally have no personality because I kept getting confused about who was speaking. They sound exactly alike. If you are going to go this route, MAKE YOUR CHARACTERS SOUND DIFFERENT. Don't even get me started on Cassia being jealous over Indie liking Xander (who she's never even met) who Cassia REJECTED. Did I also mention the book was dull?
I'm sorry, I really want to like this trilogy. But it's honestly just mediocre so I can only give it a okay rating. Especially this book which suffers from extreme second book syndrome. If you want a book about love in a dystopian society may I recomend Delirium by Lauren Oliver? At least that's interesting.
WHO SHOULD READ: fans of Matched, Dystopian fans
RATING: Three and a half out of Five Hundred Poems