Tori's Review: Matched by Ally Condie

Hardcover - 384 pages
Price: $17.99
ISBN 10: 0525423648
ISBN 13: 978-0525423645
Released: November 30, 2010

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Obtained: BEA
Genre: Young Adult / Dystopian
Series: Matched
1. Matched 
2. TBA
3. TBA

In the Society, Officials decide. Who you love. Where you work. When you die.

Cassia has always trusted their choices. It’s barely any price to pay for a long life, the perfect job, the ideal mate. So when her best friend appears on the Matching screen, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is the one . . . until she sees another face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black. Now Cassia is faced with impossible choices: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she’s known and a path no one else has ever dared follow—between perfection and passion.

Matched is a story for right now and storytelling with the resonance of a classic.

My Rating:

My Opinion:
What would you do if society decided who you would eventually marry and love? Would you sit back and accept this, or would you fight?

For Cassia, under the advice of her grandfather, fighting is more important than acceptance. Thanks to both him, the "mistake" with her Matching, and a couple of other factors, our young heroine learns what it means to question the motives of the society around us. This makes for quite an interesting story.

I think what I loved most was the introduction of this Matching system. Imagine discovering who Society thinks will be your perfect match. Now imagine how you would react. Would you be ecstatic, or would you rebel? Reflecting upon this now, I'm not entirely sure how I would take this piece of information. If I lived in our current world, I would rebel. Yet if I was in Cassia's position, I think I would either have this sort of detached acceptance if it was what was considered the norm, or I'd think it was the coolest thing ever. Who knows, but at least Condie gets you to think about the possibilities.

Cassia and Ky were intriguing characters, as was Xander. I wish that we could have seen more about the best friend in this story later on, yet it is understandable why we do not. Ky was mysterious, and I fell in love with him alongside Cassia, yet I wish his character stood out a bit more. He was so reserved, so quiet, that I found myself preferring Xander's spunky personality over Ky's. However, what I found myself loving about the quiet boy was his passion. One scene in particular between Cassia and Ky truly warmed my heart. It was when I was convinced that there was something more between them.

Cassia was a strong heroine. I did not find myself ever growing annoyed with her, which is a huge bonus for any story. I felt myself relating with her; I felt myself cheering her on; I felt myself wanting to shake her and encourage her to speak up. I wouldn't change anything about her.

In regards to the plot, I don't think I ever had an idea of what was going to happen in the end. I knew when it came to the love triangle, but everything else was a pleasant surprise that I discovered alongside our heroine.

While MATCHED had an interesting take on society, living, and the like, I found myself wondering more about the other aspects of its universe. Why is the government so tight and restrictive? Why are there conflicts on the Outer Provinces? Aside from those questions, this is probably the first book in a long time that had a love triangle I actually enjoyed. For once, since said triangle was important for the plot, I didn't feel like the author was simply including it for the sake of including it like most YAs seem to do.

If you enjoy MATCHED, then I suggest reading THE GIVER. It's an older book, but still one many might appreciate (since it too is a dystopian novel). Love triangles not your thing? That's okay, I still suggest checking this book out, if nothing more, than for the portrayal of society. I cannot wait to read the second book in this series to see what happens next with Cassia, Ky, and Xander.