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.

Meh. Didn't hate it, but also didn't really buy the love triangle thing. Also was sort of irritated by the whole “only weak people need to take the green pill” motif. But maybe that's my anxiety disorder talking. Because I'm so weak and all.

Dull characters, dull story. Also, a lot of things in the book just don't make sense. They don't know how to write? Why? And why does this Ky fellow somehow know everything? Furthermore, wtf is this whole sorting thing? I am genuinely perplexed. Two Stars because I was able to finish it quickly and it's definitely better than other dumb shit like Twilight... though I did skip a lot of the overwrought romantic drivel in Matched too.

:D

I'm a sucker for Dystopian literature, apparently. This was a good story and I looked forward to listening to more of the story each time I got in the car, even if there was a little too much relationship stuff in it for me. I don't understand why so many of these stories feel the need to have a “love” triangle. Just doesn't seem necessary. But overall a good story!

As is the case with many YA novels, Matched is written in first person from the POV of the protagonist Cassia. I'd heard a reviewer say that they didn't feel the voice sounded very much like a teenager and I have to say I somewhat agree. However, considering the strict society that Matched takes place in and the way Cassia was raised, the voice—which wasn't quite emotional enough to fully feel like a teenager to me—didn't kill it for me.

Without spoiling anything, my biggest hurdle came in suspending my disbelief—not due to the dystopian society or some of the rather less-than-pleasant methods that the Society employs, however—but with the love triangle between Cassia, Ky and Xander. Xander has been Cassia's best friend for most of her life, so it was easy to believe that she was ecstatic when it was decided that she would marry him. I found it a little more difficult to believe, however, that Cassia would so easily start to fall for Ky, who she even admits she barely thought about until the turning point in the novel. Again, it wasn't a deal-breaker for me, but I did question it, especially at the beginning.

Despite that, Matched kept me interested. The strict rules imposed by the Society threw one obstacle after another and kept the tension pretty high throughout the novel, not to mention the conflict of forbidden love, which always makes for a pretty decent page turner. I thought the characters were well developed, interested and flawed enough to feel real.

Matched was an entertaining read—if not a little more slowly paced than I would have liked—and a good start to what should prove to be an interesting series. I certainly found the dystopian Society that Condie built to be interesting, if not a bit disturbing (a world where you're only permitted to know 100 Stories, poems, histories and songs is one from any writer's nightmares) and I still recommend it to fellow dystopian fans who enjoy a classic love triangle.