Crossed, the second book of Ally Condie's Matched trilogy, is a young adult, dystopian, romance novel featuring Cassia Reyes and Ky Markham as protagonists. The book details Cassia and Ky's fight to reunite after forced estrangement at the hands of the all-powerful Society, the totalitarian state in which the two live. The book was published in November 2011 and reached number 2 on the New York Times Best Seller List for children's chapter books.
Crossed's prequel, Matched, primarily details Cassia's disillusionment with the Society that for her whole life had coddled her. At her ceremonial Matching Banquet, Cassia is assigned her best friend Xander Carrow as a romantic life partner. However, when Cassia consults a microcard with Xander's information on it given to her by the Society, she discovers a malfunction in which she has also been Matched with Ky Markham, her mysterious friend and neighbor. Over the course of the book, Cassia's affections switch from Xander to Ky as she questions the Society's infallibility and fights for her right to decide her future. Ultimately, Ky is taken from their home to the Outer Provinces to serve as a warfront decoy, while Cassia signs up for a work detail from which she plans to escape to potentially reunite with him. Crossed opens on Ky and Cassia, now alternating as narrators, at their respective reassigned locations.
Crossed received primarily positive reviews, praised by the Tampa Bay Times for its "mental mystery and emotional aspects" and by Publishers Weekly for its "vivid, poetic writing [that] will pull fans through as Condie immerses readers in her characters' yearnings and hopes." Critics like Kidz World argued that it "seemed to miss the mark. The entire book was spent in the Outer Provinces, which was not only visually dry, but offered little action and excitement."
Crossed is followed by the series' final installment, Reached, published in November 2012.
