Matched (Matched, #1)

by Ally Condie

“[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’s choices. And when her best friend appears on the Matching screen, she is certain he’s the one—until she sees another face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black. Now she is faced with impossible choices: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she’s ever known and a path no has dared to follow . . . between perfection and the truth.

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

• ISBN10: 014241977X
• ISBN13: 9780142419779
• Publish Date: 20 September 2011 (first published 30 November 2010)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Penguin Putnam Inc
• Imprint: Penguin USA
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 416
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780142419779

Reviews

[tweetybugshouse]

This book was really interesting i felt that it echoed the thoughts of the giver a controlled society where you taught what to do, say and think. They have rules and traditions that must be followed. In this series they focus on the matched process where you are matched with the person they feel you are most compatible with now that would be fine if you had the choice to reject it and move on but you don't once you are matched that it. I really was drawn in with the twist of but what if you were told it could be someone else other then the one they showed you the first time. Would you question all of reality then? A very good start to this series.

[wyvernfriend]

Not bad dystopian in the vein of many others, a controlled society, girl who finds that choice is possible and a love triangle.

Curious to see what happens next.

[phyllish]

I loved this series! The story was very well written and drew me in from the beginning. I found humor in the way the society ran on analytics because I work supporting an analytics team. It was fun seeing Ally's take on how they could be used and abused.

I also appreciated the fact that though the society was controlling and out of balance, the story was not dark and depressing like many others.

[lisacee]

I've been meaning to read this forever. After listening to this book I'm glad to have it behind me.

I'm not sure if it was the readers high pitched voice or the generic story but something didn't click with me. I'm glad to have made it through, but I won't be reading the others.

Eh

[Terri M. LeBlanc]

I was late to the Match Banquet, folks. I'm sure the Society would hand me an infraction. I have seen this series on the book shelf at my local Barnes and Noble for a couple years and have shied away from the crisp, clean covers. I prefer by YA Dystopian Fiction a little dirtier looking, I guess. But I was looking for a new listen on my drive to work and I'm still finding it a bit difficult to navigate my library's online audio book selection so I tend to grab the first thing that looks vaguely interesting.

When I finished listening to Matched I had two things on my mind.
1. No one in this world speaks with any emotion. It was all I say, she says, he says.
2. Do some audiobook narrators taint my emotional connection with a book because of their voices?

Point 1 bothered me so much that I started to wonder if I would have noticed the lack of speaking emotion if I had read the book. I asked friends and family, "If an author only used the phrase 'say or says' when indicating the someone spoke in an alternate society that controls seemingly everything, do you think that is the way the author is showing how the society controls the characters or is it poor writing?" My husband pointed to the thesaurus and said, "There are lots of words to use to indicate a character is speaking." And with that, I continued reading, twitching every time heard, "I say."

I'll be honest, I was not a fan of Kate Simses's reading of Matched. The narration made Cassia seem weak and subdued as if she would "go gentle into that good night." I just wasn't buying her passion to fight against the Society, to fight for Ky and hide from Xander. Cassia seemed flighty and indecisive. It wasn't until the final paragraphs of the book, which I won't spoil, that there seems to be some of the strength Cassia kept insisting her grandfather saw in her.

My favorite parts of the book? There were two.
1. Cassia's description of the excitement she feels before a showing. It's exactly how I feel when I go see a movie. I wished I had a physical copy of the book so I could quote the text exactly.

2.The use of Dylan Thomas's poem, "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night." The poem, for me, embodied Ky, not Cassia and after reading the poem in my handy Norton Anthology and listen to Thomas read it himself, I have a deeper appreciation for the poem.



I'm curious to know how other readers felt about this novel/series. There are elements of the Society that freaked me out. Only 100 pictures? Only 100 stories? Only a 100 songs? Only 100 poems? The plus side my TBR pile would be a lot smaller. However, in the end, the Society for all its planning and manipulating created a predictable culture and as a result, the plot was predictable and stilted. I still wrestle with whether I would have noticed all this if I had read the book instead of listened to it. Was it the narrator's delivery style or was the plot truly flat and the characters one-dimensional? Sound off in comments and let me know.

As it stands, Matched by Ally Condie receives a thumbs down. The structure of the world that was created produced weak characters with no realistic drive to fight the Society that was holding them back.

This review was originally posted on Second Run Reviews.

[Katie King]

**1 Star**

This is yet another one of those books that I have already read at least once. But of course when I bought the sequel I hadn't realized that I didn't remember the plot at all...

Matched is your typical young adult romantic dystopian, similar to The Selection and others. However, while The Selection has uniquity, Matched inherently lacks anything of substance. One-dimensional characters, a boring plot, a snooze-worthy love triangle make for a seriously unenjoyable novel.

Cassia doesn't seem so bad at first. She has the sort of "yes ma'am" attitude that would make any oppressive government happy. This later develops into what I call "limp noodle heroism", wherein the heroine has neither a legitimate cause nor a plan of how to fight for it. In short, Cassia is desperate to be important in some way, yet without a reason or way to achieve it. She is a pitiful role model.

Cassia's family was very cookie-cutter. The mother is very docile, always following the rules and even working as a gardener. The father is more rebellious, and in a job I could describe as police work. The younger brother was annoying, clingy, and emotional. They were used to add bodies to scenes so it didn't seem like Cassia was constantly alone.

Xander was also a pretty useless character. He played the role of childhood-friend-turned-love-interest, except Cassia was never really interested in him at all. From the beginning she was hesitant to be with him, and obviously moved on as soon as someone more interesting popped up. Actually, I felt pretty bad for him. He asks Cassia at the end if she would have ever picked him. She says yes, but Xander and I both know that she wouldn't have.

Ky seemed like the tragic, dark bad boy that Cassia was obsessed with whispering poems too. He had a shitty life growing up and that was constantly being referenced. He likes to talk about forbidden poetry with Cassia while they're climbing the hills, and somehow that leads to intense, burning love. Cassia decides to give up her cushy life to go chase after him for whatever reason in the end.

On that the love triangle was a joke. Cassia loves Xander until she sees Ky's face and decides she likes him better. They chat about the alphabet and poetry and then Cassia is ready to lay her life on the line for him. I don't understand where their relationship came from because they had exactly zero chemistry. If Cassia hadn't seen Ky's face on her screen, she wouldn't have given him a second glance and Xander would be a hell of a lot happier with his life.

The entire plot was ridiculous. This book isn't about a dystopian society, it's about a dystopian romance. In the end, Cassia didn't even defy the society's system because the two guys she was fighting over were both presented to her by the matching system. A real revolutionary would've fallen in love with a guy she met at the bus stop. The whole book is literally about Cassia angsting over poetry with Ky and how to tell Xander she just isn't into him. Ugh.

[Joséphine]

Initial thoughts: This book is surprisingly mellow for a Dystopian. In a way, I think it's supposed to set up for the turmoil that will surface in the sequels. That's not a bad thing. In a way, this mellowness brought out the characteristics of the people and their society.

When I got started on this book, I had no idea that it's being touted as a book for people who like romance and dystopia. Then I read the synopsis about the supposed love triangle. It was a good thing I had already started reading because based on the synopsis, I might have thought the better of it.

While the synopsis isn't wrong, I don't think it's entirely right either. There's a lot more to the dynamics and relationships among Cassia, Xander and Ky. While I'm not scrambling to read the next book immediately, I do plan to continue reading to find out what happens next.

Matched was unable to win me over because I enjoy well written plots and a whole load of emotions and feelings over romance.

Cassia, the main character, is easy to relate to. She is smart enough to put a bunch of pieces together, but she also isn't good at everything. She makes plenty of mistakes and she's willing to learn from them. I was cheering for her to succeed! I also love that she has a strong bond with her family, which is a gem in YA novels.

So what irked me? It is the romance that dominates Matched. I don't mind love triangles in stories, if they are done really well .i.e wwhen I feel a whole load of emotions and indecisiveness over whose team I want to be on. Unfortunately, the love triangle in Matched fails to impress.
-First contender for Cassia's affection: Xander. He is Cassia's best friend who is cool, calm and collected and is willing to take risks for the people he loves.
-Second contender for Cassia's affection: Ky. He is the mysterious guy from the wrong social class and Cassia is not meant to be with him in the first place.
This YA love triangle trope has been severely overdone! I also have a problem with the way the romance between Cassia and Ky developed. Their romance developes at a hare's pace. After a few meetings and hikes, they start falling for and proclaiming their love for each other. It's a teeny bit insta-lovey.

What did I enjoy if I disliked the main aspect of the book? I enjoyed the interesting dystopian plot. The govenment in Matched, plays an extremely paternalistic role. They decide what a person eats, wears, where they work and who they marry. When Cassia starts to trust her instincts and realizes that something is going wrong, she gains a whole load of strength. I also can't wait for the rebellion take over that is bound to happen!

I'm one of those people who are used to reading novels with enough action to explode my brains and Matched, although different, isn't boring or slow-paced.

[Kim Deister]

This book hooked me from the very first page! The world of Matched is the epitome of a utopian dystopia, a world that seems almost perfect on the surface. But at what cost?

It is a world that makes you wonder if it is really worth the sacrifice to have that utopia. Disease has been almost eradicated, as has poverty, hunger, etc. There is no religion and no politics... eliminating much of the world's source of strife. But it can also be extremely suffocating in the totalitarian control of the Society. Individuality is discouraged, optimum efficiency encouraged. Every aspect of one's life is strictly regulated... marriage, family, careers, even the culture the society. Culture is limited to 100 pieces of music, paintings, books, etc., all chosen by a committee long ago after it was decided that too much culture was too confusing, too overwhelming.

There is a certain complacence that occurs when in a situation of total control. You accept things easily. You don't question anything. You often don't even consider that there are other ways, other ideas. Cassia is an interesting character. On the surface, she is a mild-mannered, conforming Society girl. But when certain things happen to her, her perspective begins to change. A big part of this is because of Ky and Xander. She has known both boys since childhood. Xander is her best friend and now her Match, the epitome of a Society boy. Ky is a bit mysterious, with a story of his own that makes him unacceptable for Matching. The story that unfolds around them makes Cassia finally question the world she lives in.
This is a book that makes you really think about the world that you live in and what sacrifices you would make. Is it worth the sacrifice of individuality or freedom to live in a perfect world? Is there any such thing? Is it worth the loss of anticipation, the unexpected? Is it worth living in a world that will be rather stagnant and resistant to change?

My Recommendation: If you love the concepts of utopia versus dystopia, this is a great read. It is a book that makes you think and consider your own world!

[Amber (The Literary Phoenix)]

See, the problem with Matched is that it has such a fabulous cover. The plot felt recycled and the world was The Giver meets The Hunger Games meets a thousand other dystopias I've read, with the uniqueness being almost only in the pills the characters carry, and even that had an edge of The Matrix.

I didn't like the book. I didn't like the love triangle. And furthermore, I'm frustrated because at the very end... about 30 pages left... I started to care a little about what happened. Because even though Cassia and Ky and Xander were such frustrating characters, I kind of actually cared about what happened to her parents. And just a little, I wanted to see what the world was like outside of her world.

So yes, I think I will read the next book, but maybe not the third. Unless it starts to feel less cliche.