Reached (Matched, #3)

by Ally Condie

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.