Title: MatchedBook Synopsis (from Goodreads): In the Society, officials decide. Who you love. Where you work. When you die.
Cassia has always trusted their choices. It’s hardly any price to pay for a long life, the perfect job, the ideal mate. So when her best friend appears on the Matching screen, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is the one…until she sees another face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black. Now Cassia is faced with impossible choices: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she’s known and a path no one else has ever dared follow—between perfection and passion.
Matched is a story for right now and storytelling with the resonance of a classic.
Book Review
I absolutely loved this book! I love reading about futuristic dystopian societies and this one is one of my favorites. Ally Condie created a world that, at first glance, I thought would be fun to live in. Of course there’s the whole not-being-able-to-pick-who-you-love thing and the you-can-only-listen-to-these-songs thing, among many other rules. But there’s also a nice sense of community in world that seems to pretty much take care of your every need. Until of course Cassia realizes what she really needs, she can’t have.
The world in Matched really reminded me of The Giver by Lois Lowry, and there are lots of parallels. But in Matched, the focus is around a blossoming love story where in The Giver, the characters are lacking the ability to really love. I for one, love the connection between Cassia and Ky. When they first realize they have feelings for each other, it’s so dangerous that they have to hide it. The forbidden romance was really fun to read and I think I actually had butterflies myself, feeling so nervous for them.
If you’re looking for a great summer read, this is it. I can’t wait for Crossed, the next in the series!