Reached by Ally Condie Book Review

We all know the feeling. In fact, there are fun images everywhere online expressing this feeling. See example below:

My birthday was on the ninth. I'm eighteen now! Whoo! I can now call in to order off of those infomercials that require you to be eighteen years or older to order (you know, $19.95 plus shipping and handling commercials?) I'm special.

I bet you can't guess what I got for my birthday.

...

Never mind, why would I mention my birthday in a book review if it had nothing to do with the book? I'm not that self absorbed.

I have a confession: no matter how good the book is, how strong the message, or how developed the characters are, if the ending sucks the entire book (and even the entire series) sucks. My favorite example to use in this case is The Hidden by Jessica Verday. I loved The Hollow. But the entire third book ruined the series (at least in my opinion). I still love the other two books. But the series is ruined. I know a lot of people hated Stephenie Meyer's Breaking Dawn. Personally I didn't think it was that bad, but I'm sure if you asked around some people will say that if they hadn't already hated the series, Breaking Dawn did it for them. It's just how it is. You need an intriguing beginning, a strong middle, and an almost perfect ending.

I am happy to announce that Ally Condie has successfully managed to not screw up the entire Matched trilogy. In fact, I think Reached may be my favorite out of the entire series. And that's saying something: normally nothing displaces the first book for me. But Ms. Condie stayed true to her writing style, her story and plot, and her characters. Everything was well written, explained, and instead of this book being a typical conclusion to a series you see nowadays (you know, just tying up loose ends) Reached had a plot all of its own, while incorporating answers for the questions raised in the preceding two books. And the plot of the latest installment kept up with the plot of the other two books, which is always a major accomplishment.

Normally when I write a book review, I include a little synopsis. I try not to do that with sequels, though. (How am I doing so far?) But I will say this of Reached, in case it wasn't clear enough: I loved this book. Ms. Condie accomplished what a lot of other authors have not: keeping a clear head and not being overly pressured to write the last book that the last book ends up being complete garbage. Again, always a major accomplishment.

I give this book five out of five stars.

Can I just say that I want to cry now that the series is over? :'(