I love me some good, YA, dystopian fiction. I just eat it up. Most of it is interesting, offering a fascinating look at the literal world and the emotional landscape of someone standing on the precipice of adulthood.

MATCHED came highly recommended by none other than Nancy Pearl. And I have to confess, Nancy, I was underwhelmed.

After finishing MATCHED, I logged into Goodreads and checked the pub dates for MATCHED, THE HUNGER GAMES and THE GIVER. MATCHED reads like a mash-up of both books. I recognize that there's a lot of overlap of ideas in dystopian fiction, however there was nothing in MATCHED that surprised me. No new twist or narrative element that was executed so well that it seemed new or polished. The Xander-Ky set up in MATCHED is straight up Gale-Peeta. The Grandfather is a less potent version of The Giver, and the battles on the Outer Provinces are pulled straight from HUNGER GAMES.

I did not feel MATCHED with this book. I felt disappointed.