Matched by Ally Condie

Matched by Ally Condie

Dutton Books, November 2010

366 pages

Book Source: Public Library

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.
-- Summary from Goodreads.com

Judging by the cover...: The picture on the cover is, to put it mildly, odd. I guess it's symbolic of Cassia trapped by the Society's rules and regulations, but I think they could have found some other way to demonstrate that. I find myself wavering on the specific color green they have chosen. On one hand, it's nice to have a visual for the color of the dress she wore to her matching ceremony. On the other, it gets a little nauseating after a while. This would be one for an ereader if you have a choice.

Favorite Elements:

• The Game Center - Never mind that your recreation time is limited, or that you only get three options of where to spend it, because one of those options is The Game Center. When my two hours of free time come around, that's where you'll find me.
• Back Story - Every dystopian novel has some kind of intriguing unraveling of events that led to this new type of world. The story behind Matched is not completely different than that of other dystopian novels, but nevertheless bone chilling and nightmare inducing. I wish more world leaders would read books like this; they might realize that things need to be changed now to avoid being like The Society in the future.
• Poetry - What can be more romantic than having illicit poetry, written illegally on a paper napkin, secretly slipped to you by the boy you're forbidden to love? I can't think of anything.
  

Overall: C+

I had a very hard time getting into the book, and the chapter early on with the grandfather didn't help AT ALL. I stuck with it, though, and I'm glad, but I wasn't blown away at the end. This does not mean that I won't still read the sequels, but I was expecting this acclaimed book (it won a spot on the 2011 Texas Lone Star list, among others) to pack more in its 366 pages than it did. What it did pack in between its covers felt forced, like it didn't know where it was going. It seemed to reach in too many directions at once, and the end was rushed and didn't quite fit the rest of the book. Ky's character, in particular, didn't seem completely fleshed out, and I would have liked to see more into his mind. 

I think we can all sympathize with Cassia's constant bombardment from her parents, her grandfather, and The Society about how she should be vs. the girl she really is inside. Books of this nature always make us ponder what we would do in a similar situation, and thoughts of this kept me wide awake at night wondering.

Recommendation: If you need to fill a void in your longing for another dystopian novel, or if you can't possibly live without another love triangle, by all means read this book. It's a quick read, fast-paced, and frantic, and is a good space filler after reading other, more acclaimed, books in the same genre.

Similar Books: The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins, The Giver by Lois Lowry, The Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld.