Crossed by Ally Condie

Crossed is the sequel to Matched, a book about a dystopian society that controls all aspects of a person's life. Cassia is "matched" with Xander, who happens to be her best friend. But she gets a glimpse of Ky on her microcard and wonders if he is really her true match. This sets off a string of events that ends with Ky and Cassia in love but Ky is banished to the outer provinces. When Matched ends Cassia is determined to go after Ky. When Crossed begins, Ky is being used as a decoy and could be killed at any moment. He runs to take refuge in a canyon and takes along a boy named Eli. Cassia gets herself sent to where Ky is and takes off for the canyon with another girl named Indie. Fortunately we don't have to wait through the entire book for the two to reunite. They find each other again and must struggle to stay alive and figure out where they belong—in the Society, with the "farmers," or as part of the rebellion. Once again poetry plays an important part in the story and there are several surprising revelations about past events that make things more interesting. As in the first book, the romance is an important plot element, and also like the first book, we are left with a cliffhanger ending. Ky and Cassia are parted again and Xander is about to come back into the picture. These are enjoyable books for romance/dystopia fans but I don't find them quite as compelling as The Hunger Games trilogy or the Life as We Knew It books.