ReachedAlly Condie
November 13th 2012
384 pages (hardcover)
Publisher: Dutton
Source: ARC from publicist
Highlight to read the summary: "After leaving Society and desperately searching for the Rising— and each other — Cassia and Ky have found what they were looking for, but at the cost of losing each other yet again: Cassia has been assigned to work for the Rising from within Society, while Ky has been stationed outside its borders. But nothing is as predicted, and all too soon the veil lifts and things shift once again.
In this gripping conclusion to the #1 New York Times-bestselling Matched Trilogy, Cassia will reconcile the difficulties of challenging a life too confining, seeking a freedom she never dreamed possible, and honoring a love she cannot live without."
An excellent ending to an incredible trilogy, REACHED ties everything together in ways you'll never see coming. As with the previous novels, Condie's writing is fluid, unhurried, and poetic with each line, each page. In REACHED, Condie lets readers know and learn more about Xander as a new narrator, in addition to Cassia and Ky's points-of-view. All three narrations are strong and each voice is authentic to each character, making it easy to always know who is narrating at any given point. Life has changed – and continues to change – drastically for all three characters as a deadly plague spreads and each character comes closer to choosing their future.
Overall, this conclusion to the MATCHED trilogy is gripping, romantic, exciting, and surprising. Anyone who hesitates reading this trilogy because of the love triangle is missing out, because these books are about more than two young men and a girl struggling to choose between them. They are about freedom, fighting for what you believe in, and so much more. Condie's writing is evocative and completely engaging. All in all, REACHED is an outstanding conclusion that will captivate readers until the very last page.
Highlights: I enjoyed how Condie tied everything together in this novel – a few moments that seemed inconsequential in previous books became extremely important in this story. This story surprised me a few times, and I loved the three distinct points of view – it was nice to finally get to know more about Xander's character. Character growth, especially Cassia's character.
Lowlights: Very slow going and character-focused, which is to be expected from Condie's writing. However, it felt like it took a very long time to get to the main plot.
