Matched

Matched Website

Book Details: #1 New York Times best selling series, written by Ally Condie. Publication November 30^th, 2010. 369 Pages. You can purchase a hard copy or digital copy at Amazon.

Matched Synopsis: The Society, a government entity who monitors and dictates the paths of its citizens’ lives. Everything is chosen for you; your husband, your wife, your job, where you live and the activities you involve yourself in daily. Citizens are given just enough freedom throughout the day in order to avoid an uprising. All information is entered into a large data pool where the officials can see any trend in your behavior and predict the most likely outcome to any situation you are placed in. No one is allowed to create anything new; you are only allowed to paint the approved paintings and write the approved literature. Also, no one knows how to physically write with a pen or pencil. Only computers are used so that everything may be saved in your own personal data pool. Anything done on these computers are monitored

Matched begins with Cassia, our protagonist, and her good friend Xander, traveling to the matching ceremony. A large ceremony is held anytime during your seventeenth year of life where The Society chooses your ideal match that would theoretically “produce physically and emotionally healthy offspring”. In City Halls throughout The Societies domain those entered into the matching ceremony gather to see their ideal match broadcast over a large screen.

After receiving her match, Cassia is given a computer-generated card with detailed information to review at her convenience. Instead of just seeing her match’s picture when going over the information a second face pops up leaving Cassia questioning everything she knows about the society. Cassia starts to grow closer to Ky, the other boy she was matched with, while finding out that he is forbidden from being entered in to the matching pool. You can choose to be matched or to be a single. Then there are Aberrations, people who are ineligible to be matched or make any choices for themselves based on past transgressions. As Cassia gets closer to Ky she begins to understand how much control The Society really has over its citizens.

My Thoughts: By the end of the book I was curious to know what would happen next in the second book, Crossed. The plot was very drug out and I was losing interest pretty quick. I like books to really jump into things and make you not want to put the book down. I could definitely put this one down. It was, however, very well written. I really did enjoy the theory behind The Society and why they exist. No one gets sick and no one needs to worry about cancer anymore because of the matching ceremony producing the best possible offspring.

I did enjoy reading how Cassia and Ky’s relationship develops over the course of the book. I feel terrible for Xander having to be the odd man out because Cassia doesn't choose him. Personally he is my favorite out of the two boys. The society constantly watches its citizens, which I found creepy and very irritating. Overall it is an interesting idea just a little slower then I liked.