Review: Matched (Matched #1)

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Author: Ally Condie
Series: Matched, #1
Age Group: Young Adult
Format: Hardback
Pages: 366
Published: November 30, 2010
Publisher: Dutton Books
Source: School Library
My Rating: * * * 

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 know and a path no one else has ever dared follow--between perfection and passion.
Matched is a story for right now and story-telling with the resonance of a classic.

 The Good:
I loved the writing style! It was beautiful and flowed like a river. I wish I could write like that. Ally Condie is an amazing writer. I also loved the setting, although, I hope the future really isn't like this.


The Bad:
Now this is where it gets complicated. I found the plot dull. Quite a lot, I was struggling through parts of the story. Maybe this book just wasn't for me. But, I still semi-liked it, which is why I gave it three stars, making Matched an average book. Cassia was an average main character, too. I didn't particularly like her, or hate her.


The Guys:
There were two guys in this story. Xander and Ky. Just by reading the description, you'll likely figure out who Cassia ends up with, but if you haven't read it/figured it out, I won't tell you. Personally, I didn't really like one guy over the other. Xander was handsome, blond, blue-eyed. He sounded nice. Ky was handsome, too, black-haired, blue-eyed. He was mysterious. Each had their traits, and they were both good guys. I just couldn't like one guy over the other.


The Judgement:
Although Matched is not one of my all-time favorite books, I will be reading the sequel, Crossed. In fact, I have already gotten the sequel from the library.


The Author:

Ally Condie is a former high school English teacher who lives with her husband and three sons outside of Salt Lake City, Utah.