Matched (Matched, #1) in Addicted to YA

Jan 26, 2012 Sasha rated it liked it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Matched is the classic story of forbidden love; Cassia, the main character, lives in a dystopian society in which each person at the age of seventeen is matched to the person they are suited to marry. Cassia sees her friend Xander's face show up on the screen... but then Ky Markham, an Anomaly, flashes on her screen briefly and thus sets in motion the romance that will shape the rest of the story.

I wanted to like this book. I really did. And there were some parts of Matched that I thought genuin Matched is the classic story of forbidden love; Cassia, the main character, lives in a dystopian society in which each person at the age of seventeen is matched to the person they are suited to marry. Cassia sees her friend Xander's face show up on the screen... but then Ky Markham, an Anomaly, flashes on her screen briefly and thus sets in motion the romance that will shape the rest of the story.

I wanted to like this book. I really did. And there were some parts of Matched that I thought genuinely appealing. The dystopian element, I found, had the makings of a superb story. While not as fleshed-out as I would have liked, I found the details to be very intriguing and found myself wishing that Condie had written more about the history of this society that Cassia is in. I do hope that will be addressed in the next book. I found myself cringing at the oblivious situation that the members of that society were living--they only have 100 books, 100 songs, and so on... and the government provides them their food and education--it was like something out of a nightmare for me! Needless to say, I was enthralled by this frightening societal setting.

As for the romance plot, I wouldn't exactly say that it was a romance triangle, because Xander didn't really stand much of a chance. I liked the forbidden love between Ky and Cassia; Ky seemed like an interesting person, and I wish that more had been revealed about his backstory, because he seemed to have a really hard life before the events that took place in the book. However, once again I was left disappointed. I found myself feeling that throughout the book--like there was a lot that went unexplained, a plot aspect which skipped right over "mysterious" and entered "annoying" territory.

Overall, I found that Matched could have been an interesting book to read if it had been more developed. The dystopian world that Condie established was more alluded to than described properly, which I suppose was on purpose to set up the story for a trilogy. However, this made me feel like there was an entire section of the book missing. The ending also was wanting--not in a good way. There was very little conclusion; I understand that this is the first of a trilogy, but the complete lack of closure was annoying, and made me feel like I had wasted time reading the book in the first place. Not much happened throughout the book, something I only realized as I was writing this review. Yes, the romance development was interesting and the dystopian society was captivating, but in terms of actual substantial things taking place, not much happened. I hope more action will follow in "Crossed," Condie's next installment in the trilogy. ...more

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May 03, 2012 Jeanine rated it really liked it

Shelves: romance, ya, dystopian

Another good series beginning. It started kind of slow but it picked up. The book ended in such a manner that the story should still keep picking up in the next book. We shall see....

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