Matched
“[A] superb dystopian romance.” – The Wall Street Journal
“Strong feminist ideals and impressive writing that’s bound to captivate.” – The Los Angeles Times
In the Society, Officials decide. Who you love. Where you work. When you die.
Cassia has always trusted the Society’s choices. And when her best friend appears on the Matching screen, she is certain he’s the one—until she sees another face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black. Now she is faced with impossible choices: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she’s ever known and a path no has dared to follow . . . between perfection and the truth.
Look for the sequel, CROSSED, and the epic series finale, REACHED!
“Strong feminist ideals and impressive writing that’s bound to captivate.” – The Los Angeles Times
In the Society, Officials decide. Who you love. Where you work. When you die.
Cassia has always trusted the Society’s choices. And when her best friend appears on the Matching screen, she is certain he’s the one—until she sees another face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black. Now she is faced with impossible choices: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she’s ever known and a path no has dared to follow . . . between perfection and the truth.
Look for the sequel, CROSSED, and the epic series finale, REACHED!
BUY THE BOOK
Community Reviews
Matched by Ally Condie, is the first segment of The Matched Series. It was basically an updated version of The Giver with your typical YA love triangle thrown in.
Did I enjoy it? Yes, for the most part. Now let me explain something before I begin. I loved The Giver, it's one of my all time favorites. This book compares to The Giver in more ways than one. However, I"m the type of person who believes every novel is a work of art in its own right, so I can view this book for what it is without feeling like it's a copy of something else.
Matched takes place in a dystopian society run by an all-seeing, all-knowing government. They control your job, food, medication, hobbies, spouse, and even when you die. The story is told by Cassia, a young girl whose life is turned upside down one unsuspecting day.
Let's begin by stating the obvious. The book provided no surprises at all. As much as I enjoyed it's likeness to other series in it's genre, it took away from the excitement of each twist and turn. For me that left it as more of a casual read. The pills, job placement, marriage arrangement, and government structure were just too predictable.
The pace of the story gives it a relaxed feeling as well. I certainly wasn't dying to reach the end but the pace didn't kill me either. Matched had a strange average feeling, like a lazy spring day. I guess I just didn't find it exciting at all. Truthfully I don't have a lot to say about the book because it was so ...soft? There wasn't a lot of action that's for sure. It just felt like a somewhat-tragic love story.
âEvery minute you spend with someone gives them a part of your life and takes part of theirs.â
- Cassia
The characters didn't disappoint me very much. The only draw back was Cassia. Her personality changed throughout the story, which is normal, but it felt contradicting. Sometimes she would have such deep insight and then she'd be back to to, "oh no, Ky or Xander, my poor little heart". (¬_¬")
Ky and Xander however were definitely developed well over time. The classic story of boy next door vs. the forbidden fruit. I enjoyed how they conversed on occasion, that's not something you usually see. Ky was my favorite of course, I love picking favorites.
âOnce you want something, everything changes. Now I want everything. More and more and more.â
- Ky
The secondary characters fit into the story almost better than the lead.
"I wonder if death will always taste this good."
- Grandfather
Now I must mention the use of poetry used Ally Condie. This brings the entire novel together in my opinion. Do not go gentle into that good night by Dylan Thomas played a very large part in the overall theme of fighting for what you love or believe in. Cassia learns that the system isn't really what it seems but now she must decide if she is willing to do what's necessary for true love.
So overall I found Matched to be an average read for it's romance and genre. Nothing too special but I enjoyed reading it nonetheless.
Did I enjoy it? Yes, for the most part. Now let me explain something before I begin. I loved The Giver, it's one of my all time favorites. This book compares to The Giver in more ways than one. However, I"m the type of person who believes every novel is a work of art in its own right, so I can view this book for what it is without feeling like it's a copy of something else.
Matched takes place in a dystopian society run by an all-seeing, all-knowing government. They control your job, food, medication, hobbies, spouse, and even when you die. The story is told by Cassia, a young girl whose life is turned upside down one unsuspecting day.
Let's begin by stating the obvious. The book provided no surprises at all. As much as I enjoyed it's likeness to other series in it's genre, it took away from the excitement of each twist and turn. For me that left it as more of a casual read. The pills, job placement, marriage arrangement, and government structure were just too predictable.
The pace of the story gives it a relaxed feeling as well. I certainly wasn't dying to reach the end but the pace didn't kill me either. Matched had a strange average feeling, like a lazy spring day. I guess I just didn't find it exciting at all. Truthfully I don't have a lot to say about the book because it was so ...soft? There wasn't a lot of action that's for sure. It just felt like a somewhat-tragic love story.
âEvery minute you spend with someone gives them a part of your life and takes part of theirs.â
- Cassia
The characters didn't disappoint me very much. The only draw back was Cassia. Her personality changed throughout the story, which is normal, but it felt contradicting. Sometimes she would have such deep insight and then she'd be back to to, "oh no, Ky or Xander, my poor little heart". (¬_¬")
Ky and Xander however were definitely developed well over time. The classic story of boy next door vs. the forbidden fruit. I enjoyed how they conversed on occasion, that's not something you usually see. Ky was my favorite of course, I love picking favorites.
âOnce you want something, everything changes. Now I want everything. More and more and more.â
- Ky
The secondary characters fit into the story almost better than the lead.
"I wonder if death will always taste this good."
- Grandfather
Now I must mention the use of poetry used Ally Condie. This brings the entire novel together in my opinion. Do not go gentle into that good night by Dylan Thomas played a very large part in the overall theme of fighting for what you love or believe in. Cassia learns that the system isn't really what it seems but now she must decide if she is willing to do what's necessary for true love.
So overall I found Matched to be an average read for it's romance and genre. Nothing too special but I enjoyed reading it nonetheless.
There were good themes here of independence and female strength, but ultimately I found the climax to be really disappointing. I would probably have liked this book more if I was in middle school, but also I don't know how appropriate the book would be for the average middle schooler.
Read in middle school and loved it as a middle schooler but wouldn’t like it now. Love a good love triangle
First things first, I don't like love triangles. One of two things happen. One of the three in the triangle is a douche and you wonder why anyone finds them attractive. The other scenario ends with you feeling bad for someone. This book ended and I felt bad for someone. I liked both of the guys, in fact they were the best part.
The society was very well organized and very clean. There was no real reason given for why it had started breaking down, if it had happened before and what they were going to do about it. I guess that will be information covered in the next two books. It just left me with a feeling of dissatisfaction.
Due to the flow and the fact that I did like two of the characters I bumped the rating from 2.5 up to 3.
The society was very well organized and very clean. There was no real reason given for why it had started breaking down, if it had happened before and what they were going to do about it. I guess that will be information covered in the next two books. It just left me with a feeling of dissatisfaction.
Due to the flow and the fact that I did like two of the characters I bumped the rating from 2.5 up to 3.
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