Condie, Ally. Reached. Dutton, 2012.
Reached, the third installment of the Matched series, picks up right where Crossed ended. Cassia, Xander, and Ky are all now working in different capacities for The Rising. Cassia is a sorter within The Society, awaiting a special sorting task that could come at any moment. Xander is masquerading as a medical official and secretly administers plague immunizations to infants. Ky, along with Indie, are pilots.
When the Plague comes, it hits hard. Xander is catapulted into the position of physic, administering cures to those within the Society who are ill and immunizations to those who are not. Ky and Indie fly in the medical cures to the sick. Besides being a sorter, Cassia has also become friendly with the archivists, trading for things dear to her and others.
When the Plague mutates, Cassia, Xander, and Ky are suspected of sabatoge by The Pilot, the leader of The Rising. Cassia, Xander, and Oker, an elderly doctor, work to find a cure for the mutated Plague as Ky lies "still", dying from the disease.
This final installment of the Matched series has some unexpected events, but, overall, it is a little bit of a letdown for me. I thoroughly enjoyed the first two books, and was eagerly anticipating a satisfying conclusion to the series. However, even though there is no solution to The Rising/The Society conflict, the ending is a fairly happy one. In spite of the fact that there is a love triangle, Ky and Xander never argue or come to blows over Cassia. This could be due to the fact that the characters grow and mature so much over the course of the series.
Ally Condie writes with rich, beautiful prose and creates a distinctive, vivid world for her characters to live in. Readers who have invested time reading the first two books will not be disappointed!
I recommend Reached for middle school, high school, and public libraries.
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