I can admit when I'm wrong. So, now that is what I am here to do. I was wrong about Reached being the worst book in the Crossed series by Ally Condie.
Granted, it wan't the best either.
(Warning: Spoilers for previous two books ahead) This book takes place almost immediately after the events of Crossed. Our first perspective is from Xander. He, while performing his duties as a medic, encounters the fulfillment of a long-told, and very obscure and obtusely played out prophecy: a terrible disease, literally called The Plague, has made its way to within the bounds of The Society, which causes chaos in a world where there is supposed to be no such thing as sickness.
So, our heroes are now bound on a mission to the Outer Provinces to research for a cure to be distributed by the Rising. During that period, the Plague mutates, and even Ky (as an obvious ploy to make an otherwise sort of boring Outbreak-esque story dramatic) succumbs to it, only causing Cassia to work even harder towards the cure.
We encounter a lot of complicated conspiracy within the Society, and the Rising, and forced romance, and other stuff. What will be the fate of our heroes' country?
Overall, I thought this was pretty good, and though I said earlier that it was sort of boring, it did have its exciting points. I have to admit, I enjoyed the drama with Ky falling sick. It was refreshing to get away from the cliche of the heroine turning to damsel in distress, only for the hero to come in and save the day at the last minute, which is what I had expected once I had wrapped my head around the Plague. I was intrigued by how during the time Ky is sick, we get a deeper insight into his mind, and a little of his past that we still don't know.
One thing I did not like, however, was the cliche distopian open-ending. An election is being tallied at the end of the book, and we don't get any idea as to who actually wins (unless you count Ky and Cassia telling how they voted). Really, Condie, really? I also could have stood a bit more explanation on how the Plague worked. We see the symptoms, but not the disease, if that makes sense.
This was a great book, even though it didn't completely close the series. All three books are on my personal shelf :D
