Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Review: Matched by Ally Condie

Matched
(Matched #1)

Author: Ally Condie

Publication Date: November 1st, 2010

Publisher: Dutton Juvenile

Genre: Dystopia

GoodReads

Synopsis:

Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate... until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black. The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow.


My Thoughts: I'm not sure where to start with this review. I loooooved this book!! There is just something about totalitarian governments that screams "read me". I don't understand it, but I apparently like reading about other peoples controlled lives, not that I would ever want that for our society. It must come from the fact that there is always a strong character who is rebelling. So I must enjoy a good rebel.  

Cassia is a very strong female lead and the book starts with her being matched to her possible future husband. She doesn't get to pick because the Society makes that decision based off the database, so they pick her best possible match. The Society makes pretty much every decision in a persons life. From who they marry, to what job they have, to how many kids they can have, even the activities that they will do in a day and the food that they'll eat. No one really has any choices to make since they're all made for them.

So when Cassia sees Ky's face pop up, she is confused that there has been a mistake. She was told Xander is her match but the Society doesn't make mistakes.. or has it? Everything she has ever learned is about to be questioned. She is  falling for Ky, and she isn't supposed to be, Ky isn't supposed to be matched at all, through no choice of his own. Cassia starts looking into how things are run, and once she starts that, all sorts of questions open up.

I'm not sure that there really is much of a competition between Ky and Xander for Cassia's love, she does love them both, but her love for Xander pales in comparison to her love for Ky, even though she isn't supposed to be with him. I'm looking forward to reading Crossed to see how the relationships change.

Matched is a very good read, a little slow to begin, but that is normally the case with the first book in a series, there is a lot of information that needs to be introduced. I definitely recommend to those of you who enjoy dystopians, it's a great read!

8 comments:

  1. i want to read this one..i love dystopian.. :)

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  2. I have this book on my shelf for a while now and I really need to read it. I love dystopian books. Really, I'm addicted to them. Now I'm even more excited to read Matched.
    Great review!

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    1. Thanks! I love dystopian as well and this book was awesome, I need to get Crossed read! I hope you enjoy it when you read it!

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  3. I just read this book and I LOVED it. It was SO SO SO soooo good. I actually dreamed about it twice, hahah. I really enjoyed Cassia's character a lot, and even her parents and how they responded and reacted to events in the book. It was a really refreshing read for me.

    I picked up the second yesterday and..I just can't get into it though :( It's so disappointing.

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    1. That makes me sad. I have yet to read Crossed, kind of waiting for a paperback version of it now since my copy of Matched is a paperback. Maybe it will get better? Matched is soo good!

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  4. I adore dystopian books too and Matched was my first YA dystopian- luckily it was amazing, like you said, and I was immediately hooked and have devoured both books currently out! I can't wait for Reached!!!
    I also liked Ky as a character and love interest for Cassia a lot more then Xander- he seems nicer, more free... but he does have secrets too... ( :
    Romi.x

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    1. It was such a great book! I still need to read Crossed, but hopefully will soon :) Glad you liked the books!

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