Title: Reached (Matched #3)
Author: Ally Condie
Publisher: Penguin Group USA
Published: November 13, 2012
Purchase: Amazon | B&N
My Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Cassia faces the ultimate choices in the long-anticipated conclusion to the "New York Times" bestselling Matched Trilogy.
After leaving Society and desperately searching for the Rising--and each other--Cassia and Ky have found what they were looking for, but at the cost of losing each other yet again: Cassia has been assigned to work for the Rising from within Society, while Ky has been stationed outside its borders. But nothing is as predicted, and all too soon the veil lifts and things shift once again.
In this gripping conclusion to the #1 "New York Times" bestselling Matched Trilogy, Cassia will reconcile the difficulties of challenging a life too confining, seeking a freedom she never dreamed possible, and honoring a love she cannot live without.
“I realize now how much courage it takes to choose the life you want, whatever that might be.”
Beautiful and breathtaking is how I describe the final installment in the Matched trilogy. Ally Condie delivers a spectacular ending to one of my favorite series. All of the components that make this trilogy so stunning are present, and fans of the first book will be very pleased to know that the element of danger is back, along with a new threat that results in a perilous race against the clock. The author’s beautiful, poetic writing; these beloved characters; and the magnificent imagery of places only previously mentioned in the first two books aid Reached in its exciting and thrilling conclusion .
“When I see him next, I’ll kiss him first. He’ll pull me so close that the poems I keep underneath my shirt, near my heart, will rustle, a sound so soft that only the two of us will hear. And the music of his heartbeat, his breathing, the cadence and timbre of his voice, will set me to singing.”
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“And in that cold metal aisle, alone, I wanted him. I wanted his hands at my back and his lips speaking poems on mine and our journey to each other to be completed, the miles between us consumed and all distance closed.”
Nothing makes me happier than someone who is not afraid to go against the grain. Someone who doesn’t follow orders mindlessly, but questions what they’ve been taught and the rules that have been set by others. This is something that speaks to me on a personal level, and it is one of my favorite aspects of this trilogy: not doing what you’re supposed to because society dictates it, but choosing to go where your heart leads you, regardless of the consequences.
“I know that I’m not the only one doing these things, committing small acts of rebellion. There are people swimming against the current and shadows moving slowly in the deep. I have been the one looking up when something dark passed before the sun. And I have been the shadow itself, slipping along the place where earth and water meet the sky.”
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“‘Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.’”
This was a bittersweet read with a satisfying ending. I shed a few tears, but I really expected to bawl my eyes out through the entire story. Chapter 44 nearly broke me, but it was when I had finished the story and was reading the acknowledgements that I began to sob. After thanking all of the wonderful people who helped make her story possible, Ms. Condie writes: “And you, the reader, for taking this journey with Cassia, Ky, and Xander, and with me.”
And what an amazing journey it was. I feel as though I’m saying goodbye to wonderful, dear friends. Thank you, Ally Condie, for this gorgeous series. These books will always have a special place in my heart.
“There is ebb and flow. Leaving and coming. Flight and fall. Sing and silent. Reaching and reached.”
