A long, long time ago, during CBR3, I read a book called Matched by Ally Condie. I thought it was pretty good for a dystopian YA book. Not as good as Hunger Games or Divergent, or even Delirium, but not bad. Better than many.
And then I read the sequel, Crossed. Not quite so good, in my opinion.
Which brings me to the final book of the series, Reached, which falls somewhere between the two in terms of quality.
In Reached, our three main characters (Cassia, Ky, and Xander) are all working separately for THE RISING. Not too far into the story, a massive plague epidemic breaks out in SOCIETY, and only THE RISING has the cure. Xander is working as a medical officer and secretly knows that the cure is on its way, so he doesn’t worry too much about what he sees around him. UNTIL…the plague mutates and can no longer be cured by the medicine provided by THE RISING. And uh-oh, that really cute girl that Xander’s been hanging out with has the plague, too. But he still loves Cassia, so whatever.
Meanwhile, Ky and Indie are working as pilots, delivering medicine to all of the hard-hit cities of SOCIETY. Indie loves Ky. But Ky still loves Cassia, so this can never be.
Cassia is still sorting and trading and blah blah blah something about poetry in the capital city. She creates a makeshift art gallery, for all citizens who want to CREATE something. Bring a poem or story or weird sculpture, sing a song, do a dance, whatever. Everyone is grateful to her for creating such an amazing space.
Begin rant: Really, I can’t with this plot. Something about it really drove me crazy. I think my main issue with it is that Cassia is simply not that likable a character. Everyone is in love with her. Everyone thinks that she holds the key to some solution. And she’s so confident about every little thing. Ugh. End rant.
Anyway, THE PILOT (remember, he/she is the chosen one who will lead THE RISING), singles out these three kids (out of 20 million. please.) to save society from the plague. He brings them to the mountains to work with the best doctor ever in the world to find a cure. Cassia sorts facts about all of the immune citizens into lists to help the scientists make new cures. Xander works hard to create a new cure. And Ky? Ooops, he gets the plague. Will Xander and Cassia figure it out in time? And hey, what about that cute girl that Xander used to work with? Will she be ok, too?
Unless you’ve never read a book before, I’m sure you’ll never, ever guess what happens in the end.
Reached isn’t bad, but it didn’t impress me too much. Xander is really the only character in the book who had any redeeming quality (he really wants to help people), and I’m glad he got over his obsession with Cassia before it broke his heart. After three books, I still know nothing about Ky, other than he was an orphan, and he really, really loves Cassia. And Cassia? She must be awesome to be so adored. I just don’t see it.
Also, it really bugged me every time Xander was described as having golden hair. Because:
You can read more of my reviews (of which I am WAY behind) on my blog.
Cannonball Read V 
Ugh this book. Ugh this series. I got so angry at this book I couldn’t even write a review last year.
Thank you (both) for reviewing this so I don’t in any way feel compelled to read the rest of the series. I read Matched and thought it was decent, at first. Then after I finished it and sat on it for awhile I started getting really really pissed at it. It’s a rip-off of all the other (far superior) dystopian lit out there right now, and the whole friggin thing is stupid (and in real life, any idiot would choose Xander), the plot held no real stakes, and Cassia is an asshole! Ky and Xander should both ditch her and find someone who isn’t such a self involved brat.
Argh. It’s only been a few hours since I finished the book and wrote the review, and my opinion is already starting to change. The more I think about them, the more annoyed I am.