Review: Matched by Ally Condie

Matched
Matched #1

Author: Ally Condie

Publication Date: November 30, 2010

Publisher: Dutton Juvenile

Genre: Dystopian/SciFi

---

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 bought this book about half a year ago, read the first couple of chapters and then stopped – mainly because a new book in a series I loved was released and I immersed myself in that. Sadly, I only just returned to Matched recently and finally finished it.

Matched is a dystopian novel in a society (called the Society) that controls everything about your life. They decide where you live, what you eat, how many kids you can have, what you do for work, your social status and even your future partner.

Cassia goes through the Matching ceremony where she finally gets to find out the identity of her future spouse.

Only, the there is a glitch and instead of one face, Cassia sees two.

Regrettably, Matched follows the exact same plot as every other young adult dystopian out there. Girl lives in world, girl becomes disillusioned with world, etc... If you are familiar with this genre, then you know what I am talking about. Not that I am knocking dystopians, I love them. It’s just I can’t read too many of them at the same time because it feels like I am reading the same book.

That said, I did enjoy reading Matched. I like dystopians and I feel that this book did the genre justice. I love the poems in it and I love Cassia’s fall into disillusionment. Cassia is a girl that knows what she knows and she doesn’t need the Society to tell her what to think.

Also, bad-boy Ky Markham is super sweet and delicious. He is one level up from the lowest class, but that doesn’t seem to affect him much. Xander Carrow is also sweet and caring and super lovely. I love them both and they both care about Cassia so much it almost hurts my heart.

If you enjoy the dystopian genre, you will most likely enjoy Matched. Although a bit predictable, it was a good read and I enjoyed it enough to move onto the next book - Crossed.