Matched by Ally Condie

Matched begins with Cassia Reyes on the way to her Matching Banquet with her family, her artifact and her best friend, Xander. She has just turned 17 and, like everyone else in the Society, she will be Matched. Nervous and excited, Cassia walks into her Matching Banquet with her beautiful, silk green dress and enjoys foods she rarely gets to eat, such as chocolate cake. When it is Cassia’s turn to be Matched, the screen goes black, which means her Match is in the room at that very moment – Xander. Cassia is thrilled to be Matched with her best friend, that is until she puts her Matches micro card into her port at home and sees Ky, a quiet orphan who lives in her Borough. From then on, Cassia is torn between whom she is supposed to love and whom she does love.

I found it hard to make up my mind about this book – when I chose to pick up the book and actually read it, I found myself flying through it. Cassia’s astute observation of the world around her and her conflicting feelings for Xander and Ky were interesting to me. When I put the book down, however, I did not find myself waiting to get home to keep reading. I think the story was a little lackluster and repetitive in that Cassia frequently talks about Ky. I think Condie’s intent in her writing was for the reader to feel sympathetic towards Cassia, Ky and their forbidden love, but I found myself feeling the most sorry for Xander. I actually found myself looking at Cassia as a rather self-centered character; whenever something happens she is constantly thinking it is her fault and I felt she did things that were in her best interest with those that were affected by her decisions thought of in the aftermath.

This book was my read alike for Incarceron by Catherine Fisher, but I felt that it was much more of a romance than Incarceron. Cassia’s story focuses a lot on her love affair with Ky and starts to discuss her rebellion against the Society more towards the end of the book. I would recommend this book to a reader who perhaps liked The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins because of the romance aspect of the novel as well as the similarities between the Society and the Capitol; the Capitol being those that rule Panem, the fictional world in The Hunger Games.