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

[celinenyx]

Another of the young adult "must read" dystopian list, Matched left me disappointed by the potential that wasn't fulfilled.

In Matched everyone follows the rules of Society. The Society calculates what gives most people a happy life. For example, you die at eighty, no matter what. You get Matched to your life partner by statistics and probabilities. Calorie intake is measured so everyone is healthy and strong. But then something goes wrong, and a mistake is made during Cassia's Matching. Should she trust Society, or think for herself?

I absolutely adored the world building in this one. It was amazing. In contrast to the extremely weird world that was created in DeStefano's Wither, this world is actually likely. I liked the fact that they use science to create boundaries for personal life. The first half of the book, where pretty much all the world building is was extremely well done.

When I started this book I was completely blown away. I thought, this is going to be epic! And then the love triangle happened.

And the worst thing about the love triangle is that Cassia is NOT in love. Let's recap what happened (it's in the blurb, so not a spoiler). The night of her Matching, when she's at home and staring at her screen thingy, she is supposed to see the face of her match, Xander. Xander has been her best friend since forever. But then, another face lights up! And it's Ky, a guy she has known since forever but never thought was interesting!

And from that moment all she can think about is Ky, Ky, Ky. O wait, I shouldn't think about Ky but Xander! Ky. Ky.

She NEVER had ANY interest in the guy, and then she sees his picture and she's head over heels for him. If Cassia was one of my friends I'd smack her. Seriously.

Even though Ms Condie is amazing in the world building department, she isn't that strong in the character building. Almost every single character is rather bland and just a "filler". The worst thing for me is that Ky was an extremely bland character. How can we fall in love with him if he's nothing but someone with a pretty bad past? Boo hoo, your parents were killed. That's not a reason to fall in love with someone.

I'm so for Xander. At least he's smart and brave, something Ky doesn't have going for him. But, Cassia treats Xander like shit for the whole book. Since they're Matched, they're boyfriend and girlfriend, but Cassia only wants to spend time with Ky, hold his hand, whisper poetry in his ear. And the whole while she thinks "oh yeah, I know what I'm doing is bad. I should tell Xander, but to be honest I don't feel like it now. I'll tell him in a few weeks when I've cheated on him several times". Where is their big friendship? How could you ever treat your best friend this way?

First half of this book was amazing, the second half a chore. There are so many faults in this book (people can read, but can't write) that I could go on and on. Overall, it was a big meh. I don't think I'll read the second book in the series, since I see where this is going and it's not a direction I'll like. My secret hope is that Ky dies because of the Society and Cassia remembers that Xander was her love all along. But since no such thing will probably happen, I'll stick to other books.

If you can tolerate stupid love triangles, I'd recommend Matched. The world is to die for.

[violetpeanut]

Generally entertaining and interesting but the characters left something to be desired. A little bit one dimensional. I liked it enough to finish it in a day and want to read the next one.

[mbtc]

I'm a sucker for Dystopian literature, apparently. This was a good story and I looked forward to listening to more of the story each time I got in the car, even if there was a little too much relationship stuff in it for me. I don't understand why so many of these stories feel the need to have a "love" triangle. Just doesn't seem necessary. But overall a good story!

[bookishzelda]

As with a lot of books I really was drawn to the cover of Matched by Ally Condie and after reading the book you realize how fitting it is. I enjoyed the character development of Cassia in the book, rather then flipping from loving the Society to hating it like someone flipped a switch. We instead see her start to have doubts and try to push them away. Then slowly as pieces come to together she starts to see the cracks in the Society. She even has points where she can understand how for some people the Society is a good thing. I felt she came to the decision of how she felt about it more naturally.

The love triangle is a difficult one because I loved both of the guys. Like the title the two boys are equally matched with their good and bad qualities. I also like the clever ways they kind of compete for Cassia, instead of punching it out.

There are definitely some twist and turns. You think something is one way and then it turns out to be another. I felt paranoid for the characters that someone might always be watching them. Kind of like a horror movie where you want to scream, don't go through that door idiot.

The writing had a nice flow to it. I felt the book progressed at a good pace. I'm looking forward to reading Crossed.

Absolutely amazing. Heartbreaking, wonderful...I'm honestly having a hard time trying to find words for this.

First off, the romance? simply amazing! I can’t even do it justice with words. its so wonderful and beautiful and true. They don’t instantly fall in love, it takes time and it is a beautiful love. And don’t worry, there is no love triangle, for the love she feels for the different boys is different types of love. One the love of a friend and the other something more. Yet both are true and amazing.

The Society think uncertainties and mistakes are what is wrong with the world and they fix that by making routines and taking away choice. This was a book about learning who you are and learning to make choices for yourself. So, in a society where are “choices” are already predicted, this is hard and something Cassia has to take the time to learn.

All of the characters were amazing! Cassia who is learning to be true to herself and make her own choices in life. Xander, the loyal friend who would do anything for her. And Ky, who is amazingly sweet and loyal and kind. I absolutely fell in love with him.

And the writing! So beautiful! Those words just broke my heart and made me feel these emotions right along with the characters. The only word to describe it would be beautiful

However, I’ll admit, Matched is slow….but deliberately slow. And honestly, it works. I think because its more realistic than most dystopias. As with most dystopias, all it takes is one action, one mistake and then all of the sudden the character goes into rebellious mode. And there’s nothing wrong with that, I actually like those books too. However, this was more realistic in the sense that her rebellion didn’t start immediately. Face it, when your raised one way, it will take a while for your ideals and thoughts to change. So, although the pacing was slow, it was because she was learning about the wrong things in her society instead of instantly knowing. For this reason, the pace was perfect and kept me interested for I was learning right along with her.

Matched is an amazingly sweet and true love story that will have your heart-pounding. You’ll feel the emotions and learn right alongside the characters. It is a heartbreakingly true romance that makes me want both the 2nd and 3rd books right away. I truly hope that anyone that picks up this book enjoys it just as much as I did.

[notajammiedodger]

This is only the third ever dystopian series that I have read. So it kinda had a lot to live up to with me; I have only read The Hunger Games series and Divergent. Both of which I absolutely loved. I wasn't expecting a lot, so it mostly lived up to my expectations. I did enjoy this book though, it's a very interesting idea.

The story takes place in a world where everything is controlled by the government. The people are told what they eat, who they will marry and have children with, where they will work, even when they will die. Everyone believes that the system is for the best, everyone lives healthy and happy lives, no ever gets hurt and everyone is content. Cassia, like everyone else, believes in the society, that what they do is for the better. She believes that she will be happy with Xander, her best friend and match. But as Cassia begins to fall in love with Ky, she begins to question her government. Is what they do really better for everyone, never getting to make any decisions of their own?

I couldn't really get into the relationships in the book. I liked all of the characters, but I couldn't feel the relationship between Cassia and Ky or Cassia and Xander. There were some really sweet moment between Cassia and Ky that had me going aww, but it still felt weird, like it wasn't real enough. I really liked Cassia's family, Bram and her mother and father and Grandfather.

Some parts of the book felt a little boring, like they were dragging on a bit. The story wasn't fast enough for me. Personally I like a book that gets straight into the action and has lots of it. I am not a big love story person. But I did like this book, it is always a very interesting to experience the worlds that people live in in stories like this one. I am eager to see where the author takes the story in the next book.

I also really liked the cover. Mostly only after I had seen the second one. I like the idea that she is trapped in her world in the first book. But in the next one it is like she is trying to break free of the grasp that society has on her. I am looking forward to reading it.

This review is also on my blog The Confessions of a Book Nerd :)

[elysium]

In the Society everything is controlled; they work at the place that is best suited for them, they’re given specific foods to make sure they stay healthy, they’re free time is monitored and the Society decides with who you are married to.
When Cassia turns 17, she will know to who she is matched. When she learns that it will be Xander, her friend since childhood, she’s thrilled. When Cassia plugs in her microcard at home which is supposed to have information on her matched. But then another face flashed on the screen and then disappears. It’s Ky Markham and she has known him also from childhood. The Society isn’t supposed to make mistakes but Cassia is starting to question the Society.

Again here is a book that people has been raving about and I was little afraid how I would like it. And I was afraid for a reason.

I didn’t feel connected with the characters at all and couldn’t care less what happened with them. I didn’t feel any connection between Cassia and Ky or with Xander. So Ky’s face pops on the screen and the next time they meet she just notices how perfect he is. Even if they’ve known since childhood and never noticed him before. Xander is supposed to be her best friend, they can tell everything to each other and how much she cares about him. She certainly didn’t care about him when she started drooling after Ky. And I didn’t believe that Xander would be just ”oh well” and then help her to find the other guy. I mean really??

Okay I was really disappointed in this and I’m not reading the second book for sure.

[Suz @ Bookish Revelations]

I found it interesting that I've seen other's pointing out the lack of action-oriented motives on behalf of the main character, Cassia, as a minor draw back for them regarding the book when the author intended for it to be more introspective and for the novel itself to focus on Cassia learning to make a choice. I've always believed that choosing not to choose, would be the worst possible mistake that anyone could make, and it only holds true when it comes to this character and the story she's telling.

Cassia's world consists of The Society, which dictates how a person lives, what they eat, whom they're going to be matched with (their partner for life), their vocation, and even down to the day they are going to die. There are a so many choices that aren't even really available choices at all for these people and they're willing to go along with it, because to go against the society would be committing an infraction or worse being relegated to aberration status and/or shipped off to the outer provinces, for hard manual labor short of being worked to death with less leisure hours.

In a lot of ways, the girl in the pretty green dress inside the bubble on the cover of the book is what drew me to it. Like anyone else, I like pretty things and when I see them and they catch my eye, I have to pick them up and look at them. The bubble seemed to signify that she was trapped in some sort of world or dystopian society, where she wanted to break free but was taught at such a young age that going against conformity would ultimately lead to trouble farther down the road. The book does a good job of illustrating that it's not just the decisions to go against the Society that Cassia makes in not only choosing but allowing herself to fall in love with Ky Markham when she had been matched to Xander (her lifelong best friend), but her grandfather's refusal to "not go gentle in the night" in an effort to assert some control over his own life, and the Markham's with regard to Ky towards the end of the book.

It also illustrates the dangers of living in a virtual world of utopia, void of feelings and dulled down to contentment or being reduced to carrying pills, one of which aids in the calming of one's stress level and another that helps to trick one's mind to possibly "forget" something that has already happened. I, personally, wouldn't want to live in a world or society governed by rules like this and enforced by people in higher powers that had that much control over my life - numb to a lot of my own emotions or other experiences I could be enjoying.

Again, there's not much action in this book, but there is the promise of a choice that's being made and a decision to be carried out. Everyday brings Cassia closer to that, she's standing on the precipice and she's weighing all of the options in her mind. For now, Ky seems to be the one thing that's driving her, but I feel that as we get further along in the series that at some point that will change and we'll start to see other reasoning’s come into play.

Personally, I just really enjoyed this book and the prose was beautiful. One of my favorite things about it was the use of a Dylan Thomas poem, "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night." In giving her those two poems tucked away inside the compact that belonged to Cassia's grandmother, her grandfather seemed to be saying, "It's okay to wonder." Questions are only human part of life and it's okay to ask them, whether or not it's been drilled into you all of your life from an early age that yours is not to ask, but to do as far as the Society is concerned.

There's a will to fight locked into those words and I feel like if Cassia really listens closely to them, let's them sink deeply into the crawl spaces of her bones, that she will be able to dig down deep and find that urge to rise up and fight, to rebel in sort of a way as I expect her to in the next novel which looks just as promising as this one was. This book asked a handful of questions that needed to be asked and I'm hoping with the next novel, there are going to come answers and more of the back story that was alluded to.

All in all, I really can't find fault with this book, as in it reads effortlessly and I found myself drawn in from the beginning and relating to Cassia in some ways and rooting for her, her grandfather, her father, Xander, and Ky in other ways. I definitely look for to the next novel and I can only give this one five out of five stars, because I wasn't disappointed in any aspect of this book and as I've said before, some of the drawback's for other readers just weren't there for me as I enjoyed it thoroughly and it is a book that I would re-read again and again, most especially in anticipation of the next book in this trilogy.

[Joni Reads]

I have one word: Wow. I just put this book down and I had to review it as soon as possible. I have not felt this way about a book since I read The Truth About Forever. I was so caught up in reading that when I hit the last page I was so surprised. I had to check to make sure it really was the end. And an utter sadness hit me when I realized the story was over. I was so caught up in this book. The world that Ally Condie has created in this book is amazing and the story of Cassia and Xander and Ky is just so amazing. I don't know what else to say.

Usually with a book review I will write a brief synopsis of the book in my own words. But I can't do that with this book. I can't break the magic of the book by sitting here and picking it apart. All I can say is that I had tears in my eyes for the last, say, 50 pages. The fact the there will be two more books in this series is such a relief to me. The fact that Matched, the next in the series, is not due out until November saddens me. Never has a dystopian story made me feel this way. I felt for Cassia with every piece of me. I can't rave enough about this book. It's sheerly amazing. It's with a heavy heart that I return it to the library. At least I know that now someone else can check it out of the library and hopefully love it as much as I do.

[sstaley]

3 1/2 stars to Matched. Ally is a wonderful writer, but the story line
did not move as fast for me as I had wanted.
I am hoping in the 2nd book that the pace speeds up a bit.
The world Cassia lives in was kind of depressing having choice taken away
from individuals makes me squirm. I know, it's a Dystopian novel,
but I still feel that way regardless.

My favorite relationship in the whole story was
between Cassia and her Grandfather. I wish that they had more time
to talk and discuss what was going on in their society. The addition of the
poetry was another favorite of mine. I will read the second book anxiously
waiting for Cassia to find Ky.