Matched (Matched, #1)

by Ally Condie

#1 New York Times Bestseller

“[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 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 with complete certainty that 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.

Look for the sequel, CROSSED, and the epic series finale, REACHED!

• ISBN10: 0525423648
• ISBN13: 9780525423645
• Publish Date: 30 November 2010
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Dutton Books for Young Readers
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 384
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780525423645

Reviews

[bryannaleigh]

Surprisingly better than I thought it was going to be in the beginning. Granted, there were still problems I had issues with. Most had to do with the characters themselves: mildly typical female narrator, mysterious "new" boy, etc., etc.

[goodnghtmoonx]

Surprisingly better than I thought it was going to be in the beginning. Granted, there were still problems I had issues with. Most had to do with the characters themselves: mildly typical female narrator, mysterious "new" boy, etc., etc.

Matched tell the story of a girl living in a very unique strict society. I really liked the flow of events and Condie's writing, and I could empathise with Cassia and Ky. Quite unpredictable but turned out a great book. Ky was awesome and mysterious and probably my favourite character in the novel. :)

[nightingalereads]

1.75 stars

[Stephanie]

Review to come.

[Hixxup]

This book has gotten a whole lot of good reviews, but for me it was a little ho-hum. I caught myself putting it down a lot cause it couldn't hold my interest. It was probably in the last quarter of the book that it finally perked up for me. Though I didn't get totally excited about this book, I can't wait to see what the next one holds, maybe I will like the other books better than this one. Hmmm who knows, we shall see.

[Jyc]

★ // (DNF) interesting at first, then she chose the other guy instead of the bestfriend, and i just thought, nah i don’t have time to waste for that.

[Ashley]

booknook — Young Adult book reviews

Matched was a pretty awesome book but it didn't totally resonate with me for one reason: the romance. Guys, I'm a romance whore. That's always what will make or break a book for me. If the romance is amazing, I'm willing to overlook so many other flaws. If the romance isn't awesome, the book becomes a bit of a snooze.

My problem with Matched was just that I happened to be rooting for the wrong team in the love triangle. I am totally Team Xander. I mean Ky was okay, but I wasn't that interested in him. He's very closed off and doesn't talk much, so I had a hard time liking him. I didn't dislike him, but there was very little material there for me to really enjoy. But Xander on the other hand, is a total sweetheart! He is exactly what a good boyfriend should be. He's sweet, he's funny, he's attentive, and he's a bit playful and romantic. Swoon! Xander reminds me a lot of my boyfriend because of his sweetness, his humour, and his awesome intelligence. So I guess now it's obvious why I'm Team Xander, huh?

So my problem was that I was all about Xander but Cassia was falling for Ky. So Matched ended up being Ky Ky Ky Ky Ky. The book itself was fine, but I was just frustrated because I didn't like that romance. I was glued to this book up until the point that Cassia and Ky started dominating it, and then I pulled back a little.

I also did feel kind of detached from the story at times. It wasn't very... emotional. I wasn't in love with any of the characters. I mean Xander was great, but even he wasn't jumping off the page or really coming alive. While reading Matched, I wasn't getting excited, I didn't get teary-eyed, I didn't scream in frustration, and my heart never fluttered insanely and it never broke. It was a bit of an emotionless read.

I did find the dystopian parts of this book really intriguing. The society reminded me a lot of Delirium: it's about perfection, peace, and unity — all obtained through control. They control what people eat, where they work, what they dress, how they live, who they marry, and even when they die. I am so ready to see Cassia tear this society down!! It's the kind of thing that's so evil and overbearing that I'm dying to see it collapse and have all the people responsible get what's coming to them! Like the annoying snarky Official who thinks she's so great and knows everything. Yeah, ready for her to crash and burn!

Ultimately I'm really disappointed that I didn't like the romance in this book, because if I did, this book probably would have been at least 4 stars. It was just lacking the delicious, swoony, knee-weakening romance that I was hoping for. Not only did Cassia not choose Xander, but her romance with Ky wasn't that intense or delicious and it didn't make my heart race.

But I enjoyed Matched enough that I will continue with the series at some point!

[mrs_mander_reads]

Super quick read, but I loved it. The story line is definitely intriguing, and I'm pulling for all the characters. Can't wait to read the second one, but going to attempt to wait... The last in the trilogy isn't due out until November.

[Chelsea]

I'm not really sure how I feel about this book. I liked the idea of it and the characters but there wasn't enough action or even drama to keep me entertained for long. The world they live in is crazy and everything but too much took place inside her head and not enough drama was outside. Overall pretty good though not the best I've read.