Matched by Ally Condie

MATCHED
Matched #1
Author: Ally Condie
Source: Publisher
*I received this book free of charge in exchange for an honest review*

Reading level: Young Adult
Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Speak; Reprint edition (September 20, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 014241977X
ISBN-13: 978-0142419779

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 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.

After seeing so many reviews on this book– some good and some bad– I caved and decided to read it since the publisher sent them to me.  I knew it was a dystopia themed book, but I still didn’t know what to really expect.  In dystopia novels, the author has such creative freedom that you never really know what type of world you are going to step into when you open the book to read the first page.  


In the first few chapters my interest was captured with the characters and the Society.  I anxiously awaited the Matching ceremony along with Cassia and Xander.  Unfortunately, after the Matching ceremony is concluded, my interest started to dissolve away like the paper in the book.  I had a hard time finishing this book and it wasn’t because of the emotions that should have gripped my heart.  Instead, it had to do with the fact of repetitiveness and story that could have been chopped to move it along faster.  The poetry was nice for the first half of the book, but after awhile it started to get annoying and forced on the reader.  I know the poetry is suppose to hold some meaning, but I felt it to be confusing for the reader to keep up with.


I also didn’t understand the attraction that Cassia had with Ky.  It was so instantaneous and off the wall that it never really clicked with me.  I have heard other readers have this problem as well between the two characters, so I know that I am not alone in this one.  Xander was patient and understanding up to a point, but I felt he needed to defend his relationship with Cassia a little more. 


By the end of the book, my curiosity was peaked again but it came too near the end.  I wish my interest could have been throughout the whole book and not just an ending that left me with more questions than answers.