Reached (Matched, #3)

by Ally Condie

The thrilling conclusion to the New York Times Bestselling Matched Trilogy!
 
Perfect for fans of 1984, Brave New World, Black Mirror, and The Handmaid’s Tale.

Cassia’s journey began with an error, a momentary glitch in the otherwise perfect façade of the Society. After crossing canyons to break free, she waits, silk and paper smuggled against her skin, ready for the final chapter.

The wait is over.

One young woman has raged against those who threaten to keep away what matters most—family, love, choice. Her revolution is about to explode into full-scale rebellion. As an incurable plague sweeps through the Society, Cassia races to save both the lives and freedom of those she loves. With exquisite prose, the emotionally gripping conclusion to the international–bestselling Matched trilogy returns Cassia, Ky, and Xander to the Society to save the one thing they have been denied for so long, the power to choose.

• ISBN10: 0142425990
• ISBN13: 9780142425992
• Publish Date: 19 November 2013 (first published 1 November 2012)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Penguin Putnam Inc
• Imprint: Penguin USA
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 544
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780142425992

Reviews

[jennybloom]

More depth to the characters and plots than the first two books, but still repetitive and also included many solutions that are too tidy and clean.

[goodnghtmoonx]

Once upon a time, I was going to write a review for this book. That was maybe about five days ago when I had finished the book, but I wanted to take the time to think about the book and collect my thoughts about it.

There series as a whole wasn't so bad. It could have been worse, and it could have been a lot better. The Rising group was a mediocre rebellion. The Society was a mediocre villain. I thoroughly enjoyed the first book of the series, and it just proceeded to go downhill from there. You root for love to work out, and you end up sitting through a whole novel in between of just walking from point A to point B, with a few things going on inbetween. And then things are thrown in that don't necessarily make sense or connect to anything else in any sort of way.

To be honest, I can't even remember the proper ending to this story. This chapter of the trilogy just kind of blurred into something that felt like a massive disappointment to a potentially good trilogy. And honestly, the society built into this world is actually pretty tamed compared to others. They fell way too easily to the Rising (which is explained by them having 'infritrated the system already). There was abolutlely no fight for the Rising to take over. None. Nada. Even though, there are still true Society members sitting around watching as a lame ass rebellion group takes them over.

Cassia and Ky's relationship also fell flat for me. All they can think about in the their sections is each other, and about half of the time, they aren't with each other, or don't know if they're alive, or if they're okay, or whatever. And then Ky becomes "still" and a character tries killing all the patients that are still and being tested for cures all because his daughter was left to die when the village left him in book 2. Which, is kind of shitty, since he had already known that was the circumstance and she wouldn't have made it to the new location and yadda yadda ya.

I just really don't know. It was a boring book of this person loving this person, whos in love with this person, whos not in love with them and all the other dumb love triangles. (I understand it's a story that starts out with love being the premise, but you don't need every other character falling in love with the other.) There was a lot of interesting premises within the novel, but none of them shone as brightly as they could as they were massed by everything else.

On the plus side, the cover is pretty.

[bryannaleigh]

Once upon a time, I was going to write a review for this book. That was maybe about five days ago when I had finished the book, but I wanted to take the time to think about the book and collect my thoughts about it.

There series as a whole wasn't so bad. It could have been worse, and it could have been a lot better. The Rising group was a mediocre rebellion. The Society was a mediocre villain. I thoroughly enjoyed the first book of the series, and it just proceeded to go downhill from there. You root for love to work out, and you end up sitting through a whole novel in between of just walking from point A to point B, with a few things going on inbetween. And then things are thrown in that don't necessarily make sense or connect to anything else in any sort of way.

To be honest, I can't even remember the proper ending to this story. This chapter of the trilogy just kind of blurred into something that felt like a massive disappointment to a potentially good trilogy. And honestly, the society built into this world is actually pretty tamed compared to others. They fell way too easily to the Rising (which is explained by them having 'infritrated the system already). There was abolutlely no fight for the Rising to take over. None. Nada. Even though, there are still true Society members sitting around watching as a lame ass rebellion group takes them over.

Cassia and Ky's relationship also fell flat for me. All they can think about in the their sections is each other, and about half of the time, they aren't with each other, or don't know if they're alive, or if they're okay, or whatever. And then Ky becomes "still" and a character tries killing all the patients that are still and being tested for cures all because his daughter was left to die when the village left him in book 2. Which, is kind of shitty, since he had already known that was the circumstance and she wouldn't have made it to the new location and yadda yadda ya.

I just really don't know. It was a boring book of this person loving this person, whos in love with this person, whos not in love with them and all the other dumb love triangles. (I understand it's a story that starts out with love being the premise, but you don't need every other character falling in love with the other.) There was a lot of interesting premises within the novel, but none of them shone as brightly as they could as they were massed by everything else.

On the plus side, the cover is pretty.

I had high expectations for Reached. It's the last book in a dystopian trilogy that promises a major rebellion, but sadly it misses the mark.

Matched and Crossed contained passive action, so I expected this book to take that passive action, throw it out of the window and focus on the blood, the pain and the battles that come with resistance and rebellion. This book definitely has blood, pain and body-counts, but this is not caused through war. Instead it's caused by the Plague. There is nothing wrong with the Plague storyline. Firstly, it follows the passive action tone of the series. Secondly, it makes this dystopian book different from other books. However, what I wanted (and I had a similar problem with Hacked) is a cliche' rebellion filled with violence and murder. You caught me! I am a horrible and evil person. Another major problem is that the Rising happens extremely easily and without almost any resistance from the society at all.

Romance still plays a huge role in Reached, but it took a backseat to the Plague. This is something that I'm extremely grateful for. A problem that exists in the Matched series, right until the final chapters, is the love triangle between Ky, the mysterious brooding choice, and Xander ,the best friend turned Matched choice. The love triangle trope and the repetitive choice that the main character has in their love triangle choice is overdone. Think about this for a second: in a love triangles where the main character has to choose between the best friend and the mysterious guy, who wins 99,9% of the time? This love triangle is also extremely unnecessary. I knew exactly who Cassia was going to choose the moment that I started reading Crossed and the triangle should have fizzled out after that. I do have to admit that I am happy with how the love triangle issue is solved.

In Reached, the story is told from three POV's: Cassia, Ky and Xander. These POV's didn't sound the same to me. Each characters POV had something which makes their voice unique. This was a huge one-up from Crossed. Reached is also told in a poetic way and allows for a smooth and easy read.

The setting of each book in this series is different and the way in which life is treated in these different settings is interesting to read about. It's also great to meet new characters and find out more about the old ones. Cassia is a strong and smart character whose growth and development throughout the Matched trilogy puts a smile on my face, which is not something that many characters do.

Even although this trilogy has some faults and twists and turns that I could see from a mile away, Reached is a great ending to the Matched series.

[phyllish]

I loved the conclusion to the series. It was well done and didn't leave me frustrated at the way the love triangle resolved, especially because I grew to love both Ky and Xander through the stories.

[Kim Deister]

Reached is the last book in the Matched trilogy and I am sad to see the series end.  I loved the world that Ally Condie created and the story line was interesting and engrossing.

Xander was back and I am all kinds of happy about that!  I loved him and missed him in the second book.  The dynamic of the overall story seemed incomplete without him and I was happy to see that restored, even if, for much of the book, the three weren't together in interacting.  I loved his story in this book as we learn more about what he has been doing during The Rising.  To me, he is the hero of the story, the one truly working for the people.

As much as I love Cassia, it almost seemed as if she floundered a bit.  She was so adamant about The Rising, about following the path she felt her grandfather wanted her to follow.  Yet it seemed as if she forgot about that for awhile and basically worked for herself.  I think maybe her character got a little lost and overwhelmed in her isolation.  It was kind of a nice character arc to see her get beyond that.

Ky, Ky, Ky.  I don't know quite what to think about him.  There were some interesting twists with his story, but it honestly felt like he was competely lost.  And, unlike Cassia, he never seemed to find his way back.  

There were a whole lot of love triangles in this last book and no one ended up with who I thought they would.  I am not upset about this, though, because I liked the anticipation.

The only thing I wished it had was a bit of a clue as to how the world would be resolved in the future, along with an answer to a big question... no spoilers!

My Recommendation:  I definitely enjoyed this book more than the second, but the first is still my favorite.  Overall, this is an excellent series that really makes you think.

[mbtc]

I didn't like this nearly as much as the first book of the series, or even as much as the second. Too much poetry and such. Not able to connect with the characters personally.

[nannah]

I'm not sure how to introduce this one . . .

I don't feel like there wasn't enough story to actually sustain a plot, and especially not for the finale of a trilogy! Basically you have a plague and there needs to be a cure. That's pretty much the core of the plot, and the bulk of the book consists of scientific observations, studies, and tests performed in search of the cure. Not that that's not interesting, but this book is fairly long and to have this all go on for 512 pages with character asides about their problems in love (. . . rectangles?) didn't really do it for me.

I did, however, adore Lei, Anna, and every mention of Cassia's grandfather. Those characters really shone in this book, and really kept me reading. They were strong, beautiful, and they were written with such care and sweetness that lacked with many other ones.

The writing kind of grew on my nerves in some places. I never got a sense of some characters and gestures, because they were constantly written in ways that didn't ever tell me anything. (i.e.: Her smile was beautiful. She looked at my sympathetically. Her eyes were lovely. I could tell she was nervous. It was beautiful.) I wanted to be shown how things were beautiful, why people looked nervous, etc., but I was just told everything, over and over, and I ended up just rolling my eyes in between dialogue. Because that's what this book ended up feeling like: a few paragraphs of prose stuck between dialogue.

I don't know. Reached just didn't do it for me.

[Kelly]

3.5 Stars.
I loved the underlying message to the final in the series, and the almost poetic beauty, but I just that it didn't do the series any justice. The characters felt distant and disconnected, and the storyline left me skimming. The final chapter was redeeming though and fans will enjoy this finale regardless.

[ambiancereads]

My expectations for this book was very little, I really did not seem to enjoy the second book though I understand now that in some sense it set up the background for this book. I wish there was a little less unpredictability to this book, but overall it surprised me, it definitely isn't too bad of a read.