Matched by Ally Condie is set in a dystopian world where Cassia’s life is all planned out. Life is smooth until she finds out her perfect match may not be who she was told. Ripples of doubt lead to secrets forced into hiding or risk disturbing the structured life in which she always trusted. Most of the tension stems from this. The best thing about Matched for me was the tug of emotions Condie creates through the main character. Seventeen-year old Cassia causes self-reflection for the reader with every choice she makes. Questions surface such as whether we are better off to have free will rather than submit to the perfectly planned life. I also enjoyed the developing love story even though there were necessary interruptions to it with day to day world building events.
Condie does a good job using flowing writing to describe interesting bits of this futuristic world to give a full flavor of the environment. For me, this sometimes led to slow pacing because I was anxious to hear more of another aspect of the story. Maybe this was because I expected a slightly different story from this novel. Between back cover comments mentioning “rebellion” and a recent reading of The Hunger Games, Condie’s story didn’t take me where I thought it should go. It was a calmer ride. Good, but not great.
If you enjoy thought-provoking aspects, dystopian that doesn’t bring you down, and a different kind of love story, this book is for you. Enjoy!
