Review: Matched by Ally Condie

Matched by Ally Condie
Matched, #1
Hardcover, 369 pages
Published November 30th 2010 by Dutton Juvenile
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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.

 

 

 

 

This book has some mixed reviews but I enjoyed it. I was hooked from the first chapter and I was never bored when I was reading. There were some flaws though.

When I read a dystopian book I like the feeling of believability. As I’m reading I like to think “oh this could happen”. This book didn’t quite do that for me.  Choice is pretty much non-existent in this book. They chose who your best match is, what food you eat (and you’re not allowed to share), and when your free time is. This doesn’t make it a bad story though. I enjoyed all of it. One thing I couldn’t help but notice, this might just be me, they never talked about drinking or showering, things like that. I guess it’s not important to the story but I did realize it at the end.

The world building is a little vague in this book. You don’t really learn much about “The Society” except that they are there and everyone believes everything they say. There’s not really much description of the area. The most description probably came from the hiking scenes.

I liked all of the characters. Cassia, Ky, and Xander are the main focuses of the story. You meet Cassia’s parents and a couple different friends but that’s pretty much it. Ky’s background and the way he handles himself because of it make his character pretty believable. The only problem I had with Cassia is that I felt like she was sometimes a little dull. I think she would have gladly gone along with her match if the other boy hadn’t popped up on her screen. Xander would have definitely gone along with it if it wasn’t for Ky. Cassia says she loves Xander but you don’t really feel it when you read the parts of story with them. She is definitely lacking emotion.

If you like romance dystopian books then I recommend this one. I do own the second one so I will definitely be reading it and hope to get my hands on the third one. I’m hoping the second and third books get better though.

 

My Rating: