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Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Review: Reached (Matched #3) by Ally Condie

Publisher: Penguin
Published: November 13, 2012
Pages: 512
Source: Bought
Rating: 3 Stars


Cassia faces the ultimate choices in the long-anticipated conclusion to the New York Times bestselling Matched Trilogy.
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.

This review is spoiler-free

In short: Reached by Ally Condie is a satisfactory conclusion to a decent series.
I loved Matched when it was released. The world building fascinated me and the writing was exquisite. Its sequel, Crossed, was when I fell out of love with the series. It was at this point that I became a bit frustrated with the lack of any interesting plot, as well as the lack of character development for the main players. Still, the writing was just as beautiful. Unfortunately, Reached is much the same as Crossed in that the plot is boring and even with Xander's point of view added into the mix, I never formed much of a connection with any of the characters. But I still appreciate Ally Condie's poetic writing.

Just like with Matched and Crossed, Reached is a very slowly paced book. The slow pacing worked for me in Matched as I loved the time that was put into the amazing world building, but I began to lose my patience with it in Crossed in which the slow pacing was emphasized by a lack of anything particularly interesting going on in the plot. With Reached, it's much the same as with Crossed except instead of 350 pages, it's 500 pages long and all the more boring for it. There was a lot of medical jargon and info dumps that didn't really help matters. As readers, we expect and hope series finales to out with a bang. Unfortunately, very few scenes of significance and impact actually take place in Reached.

One of the most important things with the last book in a series is that your questions get answered satisfactorily. In this way, Reached was a success, I suppose. Overall, Reached was a passable conclusion to a decent series that I had unfortunately fallen out of love with. I would recommend Reached to those who have read and liked Crossed as it had a similar feel and tone. Though I was disappointed that the series went out with more of a whimper instead of a bang, I am glad that I saw it through at least.

Previously, my reviews of Matched and Crossed.

Other Reviews:
Logan E. Turner
Lunar Rainbows
YA Book Queen

Authors Links:
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22 comments :

  1. I've heard a lot of negative things about Crossed. I still haven't read it even though I own it. It's too bad the series petered out. I'd still like to finish it.

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    1. Well, if you're committed to it, then I wish you the best of luck! I hope you don't let the negative opinions completely get you down.

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  2. I stil need to read this series -- or at least start it. I've heard lots of mixed things about it, BUT I do have a signed copy of Matched, so I at least owe it to Ally to read it!

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    1. Well, I do think you're in for a treat with Matched, at least!

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  3. Dammit Aylee! I was really hoping this series would end strong. Like you, I adored Matched but really struggled with Crossed, and I was hoping Reached would shake off the problems the second book faced and bring back some of the beauty of Matched. Clearly that is not the case, and I don't think I'm up for 500 pages of this one even though I want to know how it ends. I'm glad at least a lot of the questions get answered:)

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    1. Bah, I know, it's such a shame because Matched was just so magical. But 500 pages was just WAY too long, in my opinion. And sooo slow moving...

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  4. I also loved Matched when it came out. The slow pace hadn't phased me at all, the writing was excuisite as you said and I was fascinated by the world-building & all the potential it had. Unlike you though, I felt the same way about Crossed. I still loved it. It didn't feel as slow to me, I loved how it felt like an 'on-the-road' novel & getting to know Ky better was a big plus for me (even though most of what we got a his flashbacks of what went down in Matched). Reached for me was really where I fell out of love with the series. Like you I found it too long AND boring! The first half nothing happened. I felt completely disconnected from both Cassia & Ky who seemed to be drifting or removed themselves. Xander was a fun addition but it wasn't enough to make this book enjoyable for me. I even felt the writing style lost much of it's flow & lyrical quality. I still gave it a 3-star rating too (though I was seriously tempted to give it a 2.5) because like you said: it answered what questions I had in a satisfying way & tied up everything nicely. The pacing picked up during the second half - finally. I couldn't agree more with your review anyways & I loved your honesty throughout!

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    1. Epic comment!! Well, I'm glad you liked Crossed more than I did! I did also like the on the road feeling of it, actually. But Reached - YEESH - who needs 500 pages of boring nothingness where you can't connect to the characters? Xander's was probably my favourite POV, but I agree - not enough to keep me from finding it unenjoyable. I still liked Ally's writing, though I do agree that I'm not sure I found it quite as magical as I did in the previous books. The satisfaction of the conclusion was really its saving grace.

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  5. I think a lot of people felt the same way about Crossed. It's why I didn't read it, even though I liked the first book. It's a shame that Reached isn't much of an improvement, but I'm glad that there's some sort of conclusion, at least. I hate it when final instalments aren't able to provide that much-needed closure. Great review, Aylee!

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    1. Yeah, the sense of closure was really its saving grace. I felt I needed to see the series through, even after hearing negative things about Crossed - so the least I could get was a satisfying conclusion out of the deal!

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  6. Matched WAS very hyped up and it was on my TBR, but then I saw your review of it and...I don't know, I don't think I'd like it very much - it was a great review and it showed me what to expect.v It obviously centres around romance and I'm such a romance-ophobe when it comes o YA dystopians. Well done for seeing the series through to the end, it's nice to have a sort of closure!

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    1. Cool, I'm glad you got something out of my review! I'm not a huge romance fan either and I would say the series was more romance-centric than I would like, so it's a good call for you to avoid it.

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  7. Oh, no! I liked Matched a lot (great audio, btw), and I expect SO MUCH from Crossed, but I have heard it's kind of plotless. I'm sorry this wasn't a conclusion you were hoping for, Aylee! I'm not sure how I feel about the addition of Xander's POV. He is a great character, but he remained rather underdeveloped in Match.
    Fantastic review.

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    1. I think almost all the characters were pretty underdeveloped... actually, Xander's POV ended up being my favourite of the three, although that's not saying much because it was still a little boring. I think I would like to relive Matched as an audio though!

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  8. The slow pacing has kept me from keeping up with this series, but am intersted in Xander POV>
    Brandi @ Blkosiner’s Book Blog

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    1. It was probably the best POV of the book, though honestly still nothing to write home over.

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  9. I felt the same way about Crossed. It was definitely a letdown after Matched. But I do love her poetic writing style too, even if the pacing is not the best. I will eventually read this but I'm in no rush. I want to hear Xander's POV, but it does sound a bit boring. Great review!

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    1. Yeah, I definitely wouldn't make it a priority if I were you. Xander's POV was the best of the three in my opinion, though still not enough to save the story from being boring a plotless. Blah!

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  10. Ah, I'm not a huge fan of slow paced books, but I'm glad this last book concludes the series well. I haven't read any of these books, but have heard some good stuff. So glad you enjoyed it. Awesome review!

    Sarika @ The Readdicts

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    1. Yes, I was bored but at least I was satisfied!

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  11. Darn it all. I've read Crossed and I wasn't a huge fan. I've been banking that Reached would make up for the lull and end up being more like Matched for me. Guess not. I almost bought this one when it came out - full price. Now I know I'll just wait until it becomes cheaper. I'm in no rush. Thanks for an honest review.

    PS: Since you've just completed the Matched Series and The Delirium Series - which had the better ending?

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    1. Yeah, I was pretty disappointed because I was so hoping that the series would go out with a bang.

      As someone who likes most loose ends to be tied up and resolved, I would say Matched definitely had a better ending than Delirium. At least we got to find out what happened at the Match Banquet when Cassia got both Xander and Ky.

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