Review: Reached by Ally Condie

Review: Reached by Ally Condie

Publishing Date: November 13, 2012

Publisher: Dutton Books

Pages: 512 (Hardcover)

My Rating: 5 of 5 stars

Summary (from Goodreads): 

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.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

Note- There will be spoilers in this review if you have not read Matched or Crossed, the first two books in the trilogy.

Wow.  I cannot believe this is the end.  I have so many feelings, so many stories, so many little anecdotes and moments I've collected from this outstanding trilogy.  I can't believe this is the end.

This whole thing started at the very beginning of this year.  I'd seen the cover of Matched around, and it drew my eye immediately.  I knew that I had to read this series.  It was just a feeling I got when I saw the cover.  I knew that it'd be good. Little did I know what I was walking into when I picked Matched up at Books-a-Million.

I remember, when I first got Matched, I got it at the store along with a couple of other books, and I chose to read those books first.  My best friend, Abby, had already tried reading Matched before, and she wasn't that into it.  So it sat on my shelf for a while.  Then, one day, I caught some bug and was left sick in bed all weekend.  I finished up a book that I had been reading the first night that I was sick.  When I woke up the next morning, still being sick and left with a hunger to read, I picked up Matched from my bookshelf, thinking eh, what have I got to lose? 

I finished the entire book the first day, pretty much in one sitting. I called my best friend up and said "ABBY.  You have to read this book." And so our love for the series began.

Since then, we've both had many a conversation about this series, one of the greatest when we decided that we no longer liked Ky, the lead male.  We decided that he was a snotty, stuck-up jerk.  And I still hold that opinion.  Ha.  But we figured that if she should end up with anyone, it should be Xander.  We've had discussions trying to figure out what Ally would do in Reached for months on end.  And now it's here, and the series is over, along with a part of our lives.

What can I say? This book was the most well-written and the most beautiful of all three.  It was definitely my favorite.  Cassia was stronger.  Xander was more independent.  Ky was perhaps more understanding.  Indie was more... Indie.  And along with the classic characters, we meet several more lovable companions this time around.  

Told from the viewpoints of Xander, Cassia, and Ky, Reached tells the beginning of the Rising.  At the beginning of the book, the Rising finally strikes on the Society, with aims to take over and cure the Society of the Plague, a vicious disease spreading throughout the Society.  But trouble awaits, and not everything goes as planned.  The Rising doesn't quite have everything as "under control" as they believed themselves to.  And Cassia, Xander, and Ky hold the keys to the fate of the provinces. 

The plot of Reached was exciting, and kept me on edge the entire duration of the book.  Rather than each book playing an equal part in the series, Reached definitely took the main role in this trilogy.  It was the longest, most exciting, and (in my opinion) most important part of the trilogy.  Everything may not have turned out exactly the way that I wanted it to, but the way things ended just felt right.  Condie ended the series beautifully.  

Thanks for the memories, Ally.  This series is truly an unforgettable one. 

Favorite quote from the book: 

"There are people swimming against the current and shadows moving slowly in the deep.  I have been the one looking up when something dark passed before the sun.  And I have been the shadow itself, slipping along the place where earth and water meet the sky."