True Love

Matched


Written by: Ally Condie

Released: November 30, 2010 by Dutton Juvenile

Summary: Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate . . . until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black.

The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow.

I’m not entirely sure why, but the idea of having your perfect match decided for you is something that greatly intrigues me. I guess that with society being as large as it is today, there’s always that worry of not finding yours. But while I like the idea, I couldn’t live in a society like Cassia’s. The world that she lives in is too corrupt under the surface and straining to maintain a hold over something larger than life and its perfect facade.

This book was a little Uglies and a little The Giver with its base ideas but it was all originally put together on the whole.

I wasn’t sure going into it whether or not I would like this book. It intrigued me, to be sure, but with all the hype surrounding it, it was a little daunting to read. However, I didn’t put it off as much as I thought it would; but I think that has a lot to do with wanting to read more 2010 debuts before the end of the year. (As it stands, I think I have 7 left on my shelf...)

Cassia was a character who I thought really came into herself throughout the progress of the novel. She was able to overcome the hold that her society had her though is still having to play the game in order to survive. After all, in dystopian novels like this (At least I would consider it dystopian. It’s certainly not my idea of a utopia), playing the game is how you stay alive and fight to overcome the tyranny that rules. Her love triangle with Ky and Xander was one that’s as old as time and has been played out many times before. I’m not sure what will happen or who she ends up with, but at time point in time I’m hoping that it’s Ky; he deserves happiness.

I thought that this was a great novel to start off a series that follows in the footsteps of the likes of Scott Westerfeld and Suzanne Collins. I can’t wait to read the next novel in this trilogy (or series, I’m not sure which). There were so many events set into motion and so many questions unanswered that I can only imagine that the following books are going to be better than this with more action, romance, and adventure. I’m giving it a solid 7/10.