Crossed

Ky is the 17-year-old co-protagonist of Crossed, with half of the novel being told from his first-person perspective. His love interest is Cassia, the main protagonist of the Matched trilogy. Ky has dark hair and blue eyes; his childhood in the Outer Provinces and Aberration status made him a semi-outcast in the Borough. He is a thoughtful, quiet person who pays careful attention to the world around him. He is also a romantic who loves art, enjoying poetry for the sounds of the words and abstract painting for the feelings it inspires in him. His troubled past taught him to be suspicious of other people and “lie just enough not to get caught” (79).

Ky resents his father for his role in the mass death of his home village. He resembles his father in some ways, and this terrifies him. Ky’s father wanted to be a special person who impacted the world, and Ky considers this a dangerous way to live. The man is the reason why Ky doesn’t want to join the Rising or be the Pilot. At the same time, Ky shares his father’s desire to be special and important.