(c) Brook Andreoli

I wrote a post when MATCHED came out and another when CROSSED was released, talking about how I felt, and how none of this could have happened without the help of other people. My agent and editor, my publicist, the marketing team, the cover designer, librarians, bloggers, my family…everyone had a part in this book and it belongs to them too.

And, as I said a couple of years ago, it belongs to you now. In so many interviews lately I’ve been asked if I felt sad. Each time, I said no, not yet. Because the series doesn’t feel over until you, the readers, have it and have the story. I love this picture (taken, as always, by the incomparable Brook Andreoli) because you’re not entirely certain where the book is on the path–is it the beginning? the end? Both?

This series is truly yours now. And in some ways I don’t ever think I will feel sad that it’s “over”–though I will certainly miss these characters!–because it’s been one of the greatest blessings of my life to have readers who care. Part of the acknowledgments of the book are “to you, the reader, for taking this journey with Cassia, Ky, and Xander, and with me.”

I will be forever grateful.