Crossed

Crossed is a young adult science fiction novel by Ally Condie. Published in 2011, Crossed is the second book in the best-selling Matched trilogy. It was preceded by Matched in 2010 and followed by Reached in 2012. Crossed follows Cassia (the protagonist of Matched) and Ky’s perspectives as they grapple with their dystopian world, adolescence, independence, and love. The narrative’s prominent themes include Rejecting Society, Coming of Age, First Love, Art as Resistance, and Humans Versus Nature. The novel was met with critical praise and commercial success upon release. It placed second in the New York Times Best Sellers List during its first week. A starred review from Kirkus Reviews praises the “non-linear travel through a rough canyon and critical interpretations of [Alfred, Lord] Tennyson’s symbolism,” calling the new setting and continued engagement with poetry “boons” to the trilogy (“CROSSED.” Kirkus Reviews, 7 September 2011).

Plot Summary

Crossed follows Cassia and Ky’s first-person perspectives, alternating with each chapter. The novel begins with Ky in the Outer Provinces and Cassia in the Border Provinces. Ky and his new friend, Vick, are serving a six-month sentence as decoys in the Society’s war with the Enemy, though it’s unlikely they’ll live through the ordeal. Cassia is rotating through different work camps, performing hard labor. She joined the camps to get closer to the Outer Provinces. She possesses Ky’s compass and Xander’s blue survival tablets, but needs a map if she’s going to escape and find Ky. Xander makes a surprise appearance at the work camp for a Match event. Cassia uses their outing to trade Ky’s compass for a map of the Outer Provinces. Xander disapproves of her plan, but doesn’t stop her. The Archivist gives Cassia the story of the Pilot. The Pilot is the leader of the Rising—the organized rebellion against the Society.

Ky gets transferred to a village near the Carving, a canyon not far from his childhood home. The Enemy destroyed his home when he was small, killing his parents. He and Vick escape to the Carving with Eli, the youngest decoy. The night before Cassia’s final camp transfer, she sneaks onto an airship heading for the Outer Provinces. Indie, a girl from her camp, helps her hide her tablets from the Officers on board. Cassia asks around and finds a boy who knew Ky. Cassia, the boy, and Indie run all night to the Carving. The boy directs the girls to Ky’s path before heading another way.

Everything in the Carving makes Ky think of his parents. Ky, Vick, and Eli find a settlement. All of the farmers—Anomalies who live independently of the Society—are gone. The boys take provisions and maps from the township stores and continue on their way. Vick teaches the other boys how to fish, and they share life stories. He later dies by a stream when the Society drops poison bombs. Cassia takes a blue tablet and finds a note from Xander in the tablet package. She takes several more tablets before Indie tells her that they’re poisonous. Shortly after Cassia stops taking the tablets, she finds Ky.

Cassia, Indie, Ky, and Eli go back to the township for more resources. Ky tells Cassia about his mother’s paintings and his father’s connection to the Rising. They see Hunter, the only farmer left in the settlement, burying his daughter. The other farmers all left for the Rising or died defending a cave from the Society. Hunter needs the group’s help identifying what the Society placed in the cave—a storage facility full of tissue samples. The Society plans to use these samples to resurrect its Citizens one day. Hunter angrily smashes a tube, alerting the Society to their interference. Cassia, Indie, Ky, and Eli run.

Cassia finds poems but no information about how to find the Rising. Ky can’t stop thinking about his painful past. He resents his father for putting his village in danger and the Rising for doing nothing to help them (as their village was destroyed due to his father wanting to follow the Rising). Indie finds a map to the Rising and confronts Ky, who she accuses of being the Pilot. Ky denies this claim and tries to burn the map. Hunter and Cassia find Indie and Ky, and they manage to save the map. Cassia confronts Ky about lying to her, but he denies having joined the Rising.

The group needs to leave the Carving before the Society airships arrive. Ky helps Hunter rig an explosion to seal the document cave in exchange for a boat. The former and Cassia don’t speak during the hike out of the Carving. One night, Ky paints a mural of his life. He and Cassia reconcile.

At the edge of the Carving, the group parts ways: Eli decides to join Hunter in his search for the other farmers, Cassia and Indie take the two-person boat to the Rising, and Ky follows behind on foot. The Rising assigns Cassia to a secret agent position in Central, and she leaves for her mission before Ky arrives. Ky meets Indie at the Rising camp and receives his own assignment: air-ship pilot training. The novel ends with Cassia walking to Central, excited for her secret meeting with Ky that night.