Blurb:
On her seventeenth birthday, Cassia meets her match. Society dictates he is her perfect partner for life. Except he’s not.
In Cassia’s society, Officials decide who people love. How many children they have. Where they work. When they die.
But, as Cassia finds herself falling in love with another boy, she is determined to make some choices of her own. And that’s when her whole world begins to unravel...
Matched has drawn comparisons to The Hunger Games, and rightly so. They both feature heroines who want to rebel against their dystopian society. And they both include love triangles that ask the question: do you stay with what is comfortable or explore the unknown? But Matched doesn’t have the harsh undercurrent of violence rippling through it like The Hunger Games. Instead, the Society controls Cassia’s world like a quiet predator, giving an eerie Stepford Wife sheen to everything it touches.
In the beginning, Cassia’s perfectly happy to be matched and live out her life as planned. But when she stumbles upon evidence that she may have more than one “perfect” match, her thirst for knowledge is suddenly awakened. Cassia begins to question the Society’s way of living and their ruling over everyone’s lives. For a world that claims to be so clean and pure, there is an awful lot of darkness lying underneath.
I’m always up for a good love triangle so that aspect of the novel appealed to me, but I thought that there could have been more opposition from Cassia’s first match, Xander. He seemed a little too understanding at times and I wanted to hear more from him seeing as he’s a big part of Cassia’s life. Overall, I was willing Cassia along in her search for something more and appreciated that she was starting to take risks and not just be a ‘yes’ man. She’s not as cutthroat and battle-weary as The Hunger Games’ Katniss Everdeen, but she’s got the same curiosity and ambition. The two of them together could probably raise some hell.
A subsection of the novel I really enjoyed was the concept of technology taking over (hardly anyone knows how to write with their hands – everything is done on computer), and the fact that history has been condensed into Top 100 lists (Hundred Songs, Hundred Paintings etc). It actually made me sad to think of all the culture that was wiped out, but also curious to know what stayed.
Stupid confession time - I went into this book not realising it was the first in a trilogy, so when there were only a handful of chapters to go and a crucial plot point hadn’t been resolved, I finally bought a clue. The good news is that the second installment ‘Crossed’ comes out in November, so there’s not too long of a wait to see what happens next. Ally Condie recently revealed the cover of Crossed, which continues on with the bubble theme – although this time Cassia’s making some exciting progress in her attempts to break free.
Rating - 4/5
- I love how the covers are so clean and eye-catching - and the fact that the colours match up with the colour of the pills everyone carries with them in the novel. Certainly sets an ominous tone for the final installment.
- Anyone else have a Hermione moment with Cassia’s name? I read it as ‘Cass-i-a’ but when I went on the author’s website I saw it was pronounced ‘Cash-a’ (which my brain automatically translated as ‘Ke$ha’ – it’s probably lucky Cassia never woke up feeling like P Diddy).
