Matched by Ally Condie

Title: Matched

Series: Matched Trilogy #1

Author: Ally Condie

Publisher: Dutton Juvenile

Date Published:November 30, 2010

Pages: 384 (hardback)

Genre: YA fiction, dystopian, romance

Age Range: 13+



Summary


In the Society, Officials decide. Who you love. Where you work. When you die. Cassia has always trusted their choices. It's hardly any price to pay for a long life, the perfect job, the ideal mate. So when her best friend's face 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 has ever dared to follow- between perfection and passion. But in a perfect world, can there be a perfect way out?


 Review


The book did not disappoint me. It was very good. The plot was very good--not perfect--but very well done, the three main characters were very likable and easy to relate to, and the writing was beautifully done.

The plot was very interesting, partly because of the placing of the story. Ally Condie came up with a new world, a new future, for Matched and it is such an interesting world that it is super easy to lose yourself in it. The plot, while interesting, was slightly weak and cliché. Here's to hoping she'll fix that in Reached.

The main characters weren't as developed as I'd like. I felt that we knew the protagonist, Cassia, very well, but I lost Ky and Xander. That being said, what I do know of their personalities, I like. I love Xander, he's one of those people you can't help but love. Ky is a mystery and I look forward to learning more about him. And Cassia... She's strong and independent.

The writing was beautiful. It flowed smoothly and it was simple. I usually don't like simplistic writing styles, in Matched, however, it worked wonderfully. Cassia's thoughts and feelings are in such turmoil that it helps to have a simple writing pattern to clear things up.

All in all, Matched was very good. Fingers crossed that Reached can keep it up.