Book Review: Reached

Book Description:

Cassia's journey began with an error, a momentary glitch in the otherwise perfect facade 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 emotional 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.

Review:

First of all, that description is so far from the book I read. 

Having said that...

If you liked Crossed, then you’ll probably like Reached. I didn't like Crossed, and I didn't like Reached for the same reason. Nothing happens until the end of the book. I was bored. I almost didn't  finish it. I usually read a book in a couple of days. It took me a more than a week to finish this one. I just wasn't interested.

I think Ally Condie gave the best description of the book when she described the characters who were sick – she called them “still.” This book to me was "still." It’s not necessarily the word you would want to use to describe a book about a rebellion against an oppressive society. There was no excitement, no suspense. One of the main poems in the book is “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” by Dylan Thomas. This book went about as gentle as you could get. I waited for the "quiet revolution... to explode into full-scale rebellion," like the book description said. It never came.

The three main characters, Cassia, Ky, and Xander, are separated from each other through most of the book, and when they finally get back together it’s so anticlimactic. We don’t even get a description of the reunion of two of the characters. And the reason the three are brought back together was so contrived to me. It just didn't make any sense. I didn't like the way the story was told in first person from the three main characters point of view, back and forth. Sometimes I forgot whose story I was reading. Like many books written today, the book is written in the present tense. I don't like it, I find it very distracting.

There was a surprising revelation at the end of the book that I liked, and I didn't  see it coming. I’m glad there was one nice surprise to make up for having to slog through the rest of the book. I also love the cover of the book. 

That's about it.