Crossed by Ally Condie

Summary from Goodreads:

Rules Are Different Outside The Society

Chasing down an uncertain future, Cassia makes her way to the Outer Provinces in pursuit of Ky--taken by the Society to his sure death--only to find that he has escaped into the majestic, but treacherous, canyons. On this wild frontier are glimmers of a different life and the enthralling promise of a rebellion. But even as Cassia sacrifices every thing to reunite with Ky, ingenious surprises from Xander may change the game once again.
Narrated from both Cassia's and Ky's point of view, this hotly anticipated sequel to Matched will take them both to the edge of Society, where nothing is as expected and crosses and double crosses make their path more twisted than ever.

While I wasn't quite taken with Matched, I still thought it had potential and the second installment might prove just that. From the blurb, I assumed I was finally going to get in Crossed what I thought lacked in Matched, more action. But.....

A huge chunk of the story was of Cassia and Ky learning what goes on in The Outer Provinces. Of bombs and deaths and running and running and then finding each other along with their respective companions. And continued with more running away from the Society and getting to The Rising. But all the running just felt so quite. I didn't felt the need to hold my breath or felt tensed or anything. Although I appreciate Ally Condie's writing, of making things lyrical and poetic. Kind of like there's a quite intensity quality to it. It gets the point across without being showy or loud. But I wanted the added thrill of a gripping chase when it comes to dystopian literature, at least for a few moments in the story. I also found that there's just too much introspection on the Ky's and Cassia's part. I don't mind a little reflection here and there but not too much. At one point I couldn't even tell apart which were the Cassia chapters and which where the Ky chapters. I had to go back and check the start of the chapter to know whose POV I was reading. Their voices just started to sound the same to me. And I found myself in a bit of a reading slump in the middle. 

I did love the the new comers. Indie, Vick, and Eli. Indie, the headstrong no-nonsense girl, Vick the intense leader type, and Eli the young boy who is unafraid to speak his mind. They had great stories and secrets to tell and were great characters that added color to the story. I appreciated Condie adding in a little conflict between Ky and Cassia too, so it wasn't all smooth sailing for the two. And putting on the cloak of mystery over who Xander is and who The Rising is, and who The Enemy is. Of exploring the whole "truth are lies and lies are truth" idea. Of making the readers clueless about who are the bad guys and who are the good guys.

After reading Crossed, I still had a boat load of questions but maybe this is the author's strategy of getting me to read the third book. Maybe she's holding out on me until the very last installment? While this is not wholly my type of dystopian read, I'd still pick up the third book, if someone lends it to me but it won't be high priority.