Matched by Ally Condie

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 taken from goodreads)

            To be truthful, I really didn’t enjoy this book. My best friend had been reading and she told me how much she loved it and how good it was.  Knowing how honest she is about books (and she’s honest! If she hated a book, she’ll say it), I figured if it was really that good, I’ll give it a try. It started off strong, but for me, it faded towards the end and it lost its appeal. It wasn’t awful or anything, it just didn’t reach my expectations.

            The storyline itself was interesting.  It focuses around this perfect society where everything is chosen for you. The people that live there really don’t have a say in anything, but they are fully aware of what’s going on. The one thing I really didn’t like about the story was that it felt like it had an undertone of fascism. Maybe I was reading too much into it, but that is definitely what the Society seemed to be. For those of you who don’t know what fascism is, it is, according to the Encarta Dictionary, any movement, ideology, or attitude that favors dictatorial government, centralized control of private enterprise, repression of all opposition, and extreme nationalism. Basically, it’s a dictator that controls almost all aspects society. Though Matched had no set dictator, the Officials, which were the head of the Society, definitely had some major control factors. They controlled where people worked, what they ate, when their recreation time was, and so on. They also were against people acting out against the Society and going against the rules. See the possible connections to fascism? I’m not saying that was the author’s purpose, in fact, it might have been unintentional, but that’s how I felt when I read it. The idea of this “perfect world” also kind of freaked me out. I can’t begin to imagine being told what to do by someone else. It would be too weird.

            The characters were okay. Cassia was great in the beginning, but after she sees Ky and starts to fall for him, she got annoying. Her feelings for Ky and Xander just kept being dragged on and on and it started to get boring. I loved Xander though. He was so sweet and he really cared about Cassia. He was willing to do anything for her. Ky, I didn’t really like. He was so up and down with the way he acted with her, that I was ready to shout, “Stop all ready!” Therefore, overall, the characters really didn’t do it for me.

            However, I did enjoy the writing style. The storyline flowed smoothly and I wasn’t lost in anyway whatsoever. I really appreciated the fact that she described the different processes in the society. It made the story easier to follow and actually, it made it kind of interesting too. The writing was definitely a great part of the book.

            So, I didn't think this book wasn’t the greatest, but I’m not going to lie, I would probably read the sequel. I still want to know what happens next. I wouldn’t buy it though. I would wait for it to come out at the library and then borrow it. Still, many people have found this book quite great, so I guess you’ll just have to find out for yourself!