Book Review: Reached by Allie Condie

I remember picking up "Matched", the first book of the dystopian trilogy by Allie Condie, at a bookstore on a summer day. I read the first few chapters... and was instantly hooked. A girl living in a society where you're matched with a fiance according to commonalities, and two hotties to boot? We've got a keeper! I devoured the first book, read the second, and finally got to the end of the last...and it sure took a while.

After leaving the Society and finding each other, Cassia and Ky are now part of the Rising on the brink of a rebellion. When the Plague that the Rising used to rise to power spreads uncontrollably, infecting and killing hundreds of people, Cassia, Ky and Xander are faced with a new challenge: of finding a cure to save everyone.

I have to say I was pretty disappointed with the "Reached", especially because I just fell in love with the first book! It was incredibly, incredibly slow. The pace was just plain plodding, and barely anything happened. Thinking back on the plot of the book, I can only think of maybe two really important events, and even they weren't riveting at all. I did like the way Ms. Condie wrapped everything up nicely in a cute little package, but did it have to take that long to do? I ended up skimming a lot of the parts because they were mostly just unnecessary and seemed to be there to fill up the space.

Another thing that bummed me out were the boring characters. Sure, I get that Cassia, Ky and Xander were developed as characters mostly in the first two books of the trilogy, but they were just not fun to be with, not one bit. It was interesting to be in Xander's perspective for a change, and I guess the change in him was somewhat more active, but it was still a little boring. I did like, however, the introduction of new characters like Lei, and the more fiery characters like Indie. They added a bit of a twist to the events and shook up the main characters a little, so that was fairly interesting.

Having said this, the language was probably the only thing I really liked about "Reached". Ms. Condie's imagery and the type of flowy, pensive emotion it evokes lends the book a sort of grace, and some parts were nice to read.

Overall, I do have to say I was disappointed with "Reached". It was just so, so, so boring, I had to force my way through till the end of the book. I would probably not recommend reading this, which is actually making me a little sad to type. I'd definitely check out the first book, but from the second book "Crossed" onwards, I'd save myself the time and read the summary online instead.

Rating: 2/5