Reached (Matched, #3) in Ask Ally Condie

Nov 15, 2012 Alicia rated it it was amazing

Cassia has joined the rising, but now she has many choices to make. What part will she play and who will she choose? Her choices become more complicated as she is betrayed by those around her and a plague sweeps through the Society.

Ally Condie's prose is stunning. I loved this book so much that I want to revel in it for a few days. The words were beautiful, not just the poems Cassia uses as her guide, but Ally's as well. The returning themes of colors: red, blue, green. Everything was so vivid, ...more

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Apr 17, 2012 Jessica Payne rated it liked it

Shelves: young-adult-read

***Reached is the final book in the Matched trilogy. If you haven't read Matched or Crossed, you might want to skip this review. ***

Ky, Xander, and Cassia are separated, all united in their support for the Rising but in ways that keep them apart. Ky and Indie are pilots flying missions for the Pilot on the outskirts of the Outer Provinces, Xander is a physic giving out immunization tablets to newborn babies and appears to be a Society Official, and Cassia is working in Central sorting for the So ***Reached is the final book in the Matched trilogy. If you haven't read Matched or Crossed, you might want to skip this review. ***

Ky, Xander, and Cassia are separated, all united in their support for the Rising but in ways that keep them apart. Ky and Indie are pilots flying missions for the Pilot on the outskirts of the Outer Provinces, Xander is a physic giving out immunization tablets to newborn babies and appears to be a Society Official, and Cassia is working in Central sorting for the Society. All of them are biding their time, waiting from the sign from the Rising, a sign that will tell them its time for a take-over. Even though they're apart, they are all connected, thinking about each other, trying to reach each other.

The sign of the Rising comes in the form of an outbreak of the Plague. The Plague is a silent terror, making people go still, no motion in their body and no recognition in their eyes. The Society starts to crumble as a pandemic approaches - people start disappearing, walls go up around the city centers to quarantine the ill, and the basic foundation on which the society is built start to deteriorate - the Matching process. Even with gross administration of the red tablets, people are starting to worry, and panic, and remember. This is the moment of The Rising. The Pilot has chosen his time wisely, because The Rising has a cure. But their are variables for which neither the Society or the Rising could plan for, and the lives of the ill hang precariously on the connection between Ky, Xander, and Cassia.

Reached was a great final chapter to the Matched trilogy. The quality of the writing endured wonderfully, as the relationships between characters flowered and tangled like growing vines. While there are great undulations in the plot and a good deal of suspense, the story remains a poetic love story, weaving complicated relationships with obscure emotions and difficult choices and realizations for the main characters. This is a genre I like to call dystopian romance. There seems to be less emphasis on the action in the novel (while there IS action and a fair amount of suspense), and more on the different aspects of love - not only romantic love, but familial love, friendship, connection and understanding. I love the way the characters evolve throughout the three novels. Beware, there is a fair amount of heartbreak in the book. The last third of the book should be read with a tissue handy :-). It is one of the most well-written books I've read this year and I highly recommend it for your reading list. ...more

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Sep 10, 2012 LeiAnn rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2013

Cassia, Ky, Indie, and Xander and not done with the Society, the Rising, or the others living outside of either organization. When the Rising poisons the Society with a Plague, they believe they can step in and take control with a cure. Unfortunately, playing with viruses doesn't always work out so easily. Each of our main characters must do their best to find a real cure before everyone they love is gone.

There are certain elements of this trilogy that I absolutely love and others I'm not so fon ...more

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Aug 03, 2012 Christine rated it really liked it

Shelves: insightful, youth

I liked it. Reached is the third book in the Matched trilogy. I was curious to see how it would end. There were some interesting twists and turns in the plot which I enjoyed. It wasn't too predicable. Some of the elements that needed to be resolved from the previous books didn't surprise me at all, and some did.

It made me wonder though. Both the Hunger Games and the Matched series make it through a great change but neither one sees the change through in that they don't get into what this new soc ...more

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Nov 16, 2012 Colleen rated it it was amazing

Shelves: ya, dystopia

Extremely satisfying. I love how the author provides no easy answers and makes you unsure and distrustful while still portraying characters with a strong amount of faith. I feel like I can't say much more without giving spoilers. The series has been frequently recommended for those who like hunger Games and for me this final installment was closest to that series in its tone and portrayal of war/rebellion. ...more

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Oct 25, 2012 Shannon rated it liked it

Shelves: series

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Dec 06, 2010 midwestbooknerd Janelle rated it really liked it

I wish I could give this four and a half stars. I really liked it. Some of the science got a little over my head at times but I still caught the overwhelming themes. I have loved the journey with these characters and I am sad that the trilogy is over.

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