Reached by Ally Condie

Readers, if you've not delved into Ally Condie's trilogy by now you should know that the below has MAJOR SPOILERS. It can't be helped. This is the third in the trilogy. You have been warned.

Cassia, Ky, and their friends have been through a lot. After making their way through the canyons they finally connected with the Rising. Now, Cassia has been sent back to Society and Ky has become a pilot. Both Cassia and Ky know that the Rising's plans are coming to a head, but surprisingly it's Xander who has the inside track. Xander's part in the Rising has been kept secret until now but before he can reveal the truth to Cassia, an outbreak of massive proportions hits Society. All three once again find themselves cut off from one another and trying to reconnect as Society falls to the Rising. The resistance group reveals the truth to the citizens, offering up their own alternative and promising a cure to the outbreak, until things take an unexpected turn. Now, Cassia, Ky, and Xander might prove to be the only hope for fixing things. 

The Plague driving Reached appealed to the medical thriller fan in me while the story moved along more of the dystopian basis of the overall plot and the dangers in allowing those in charge too much power with too little oversight. Both Society and the Rising are manipulative and untrustworthy in spite of their reassurances that they have the interests of the people in mind.

I have to admit that Ally Condie's wrap up to the trilogy was one of my most anticipated titles of 2012. Why has it taken me so long to review it, then? I'm honestly not sure. I can say that while Reached did tie up many of the loose ends, it also left more questions for me in the end. In fact, some of the barely touched upon portions of Reached were the parts that I desperately wanted more of!

The introduction of the Otherlands and more of the history of Society seemed a little unfair at this point considering the trilogy is at an end. Cassia, Ky, and Xander's stories all tie up fairly neatly but I admit I'm not ready to leave this world behind as a reader. Which is unfortunate.

That aside, Reached hit all the right notes and was an exciting end to the trilogy. I felt like Condie introduced a lot of thoughtful ideas and made each installment in the trilogy completely unique in terms of setting and story. And the world building, as I've mentioned before, is really fantastic throughout the series! I've not seen anything about what Condie might be working on next, but I'll certainly be awaiting whatever it is with great anticipation.

Just for fun, here's a link to Condie's Reached playlist on her blog.