BS BOOK REVIEWERS

Reached by Ally Condie

             
               Let me preface this by saying that Mrs. Condie is an excellent writer, and she’s able to give the most beautiful descriptions in her stories without being excessively wordy. When I read Matched, the first book in the Matched trilogy, I just knew instinctively that a) she either had an English degree, and/or b)she was an English teacher/professor. I was right in my assumption because she was an English teacher at one time. She definitely has a firm grasp on the English language/grammar. I admire the way that her writing is so poetic, so lyrical, and how she incorporates poetry and how she accomplishes all of it with such fluidity. I imagine that it’s very hard for a writer to do all that and still maintain pacing and have an interesting story, as well. Her writing style reminds me a lot of Maggie Stiefvater, who I think is an absolute fabulous writer.

               Reached is the last book in the trilogy, and I’m glad that we’re able to see Cassia, Ky, and Xander’s stories come full-circle. Now, having said that, I would have to say that Reached is my least favorite book in the series, and it didn’t quite reach the potential that I had envisioned in my mind. For one, there just wasn’t enough of Ky, additionally Ky and Cassia, in the story for me. And, what we do see of him, is not the same, strong Ky from previous books (some of it’s understandable). If you are a fan of Xander though, then you will probably enjoy this book the most, because there are a lot of chapters in it from his point of view. The story is told from alternating points of view by Xander, Ky, and Cassia.

               Spoilerish: There is a resolution of the love triangle, but for a good bit of the book, they are all three doing their own thing, separately, as members of the new Rising that has infiltrated the Society. Even without the triangle, the romance, in general, feels almost secondary to everything else going on, and I wish that the author had done a little more in that direction, as opposed to it feeling obligatory. That is a big reason for why I felt that this book was missing something, in relation to the others.

               I do appreciate that Mrs. Condie did wrap up all of the loose threads, and every question posed since the first book, and there were quite a few. Some things I did have predicted correctly, but there were also many surprises. If you liked The Hunger Games trilogy or if you just like dystopian novels, you might want to give this one a try.

               As an aside, the covers to this series are some of my favorites. Love these covers! And it’s interesting to note, how there is a theme of green, blue and red in the novel, as well as on the covers. The covers match the story perfectly, and how’s she able to weave everything together like that, with such continuity, is amazing. 

Reviewed by Susannah;)