by Ally Condie
I started this book because of a recommendation I found that suggested it for people who enjoyed The Hunger Games series. I had enjoyed that series immensely and was looking for something with a similar feel.
The first thing to note about Matched—don’t let the “teen chick” cover fool you. Cassia, the main character, isn’t as rough-and-tumble as The Hunger Games’ Katniss, but she’s not a fool either. At first, I thought about comparing it to Twilight if Bella had a backbone (I know, hard to imagine, right?), but after finishing, that comparison doesn’t do Matched justice either.
The book begins with Cassia attending her “matching” ceremony, where people of her society (what may be determined as a post-apocalyptic U.S.) are paired off for fruitful, loving marriages. She learns that her match is longtime childhood friend, Xander, a near impossibility since matches are usually made across the provinces in the Society. Happy that she knows her match and could see herself loving him, she blithely looks at the small microcard presented to her at the ceremony. On it, Xander’s details are made fully known. As Cassia removes the microcard from the reader, another face pops on the screen—impossibly, of another boy she knows and one she’s never been particularly comfortable around.
From here, the book delves into the usual problems of teen love, but it also witnesses Cassia’s evolution from the Society’s chief cheerleader and full-blown believer (telling us that “The Society doesn’t make mistakes”) into someone who’s starting to think for herself, which puts her, her family, and both of her matches at risk. In all, Matched offers a fast-paced read with a satisfying ending, even if it is obvious a sequel is on its way (it is).
Recommended for: A girl mourning the end of The Hunger Games. People who liked Katniss, but wished she could handle her emotions instead of hiding them. Though boys might appreciate the idea of a society-that-seems-perfect-
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