Book Review: Matched

Author: Allie Condie
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 Pages: 366

 Publisher: Penguin Group
 Genre: Young Adult / Dystopian/ Romance
 First Published: November 30, 2010
 First Line: “Now that I've found the way to fly, which direction should I go into the night?”
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Book Trailer:

The GIST (From Goodreads): 

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.

OPINION:

After reading "Matched", the world that was written didn't sound so bad to me (which kind of defeats the whole dystopian thing). I've read a lot of reviews where it was compared to the society in Delirium, but that society was a lot more scary and dangerous; no forced surgeries here.

In Cassia's, the main character in "Matched", world, the people in society are matched to one person based on some kind of equation and don't get to choose who they marry. Cassia is matched to her best friend Xander, who she can definitely see herself with, so she has no complaints about the society or the matching process. That is until, due to some glitch, Cassia also finds out that a boy who she knows but doesn't really ever talk to, Ky, could have been her match instead of Xander.

After Cassia learns she has two potential matches, she begins to form a relationship with Ky, even though it's forbidden. Cassia always thought her world was great, but as things start to unravel, she begins to see how she really has no choice about her life whether it be her relationships, work choice or even her time of death.
Let's see what this society entails:

1. You get matched, based on a equation, to the best person for you.
2. You work a job that utilizes your skills the best.
3. Almost everyone lives to eighty years old. There is no sickness.

I don't know. Those things don't seem so bad to me. Although they allow no one to live beyond eighty, the majority of those people would have died before eighty anyway without the help of the society. I don't deny the world in which she lives is restrictive. Most definitely. But as far as pretend societies go, this one is a little whitewashed to me.

As for the characters, I really liked Ky and Xander. I wouldn't even know which one to like. Ky was mysterious, intelligent, and a little dangerous. Xander was a great friend, sweet, protective and he really cared for Cassia. The person I didn't really like was Cassia. She hides her budding relationship with Ky from Xander, who did nothing but try to help her and protect her. She was selfish and I felt she didn't deserve either one of them. Although it was suppose to be a love triangle, I felt like Xander really didn't have a chance and the ending of the book pretty much confirmed it.

OVERALL:

I had a problem with the main character, but the boys definitely made up for it. The world wasn't a dystopian, more like a utopian to me, but anything can be bad based on how you feel about it. I would recommend it, but my recommendation wouldn't be very passionate. Most likely going to read the next books.----6.0