Matched by Ally Condie Review (Spoiler Alert!)

Title: Matched
Author: Ally Condie
Age Group: Teen/Young Adult
Genre: Dystopia/Futuristic Fiction
Series: Matched, book one
Star Rating: 5 out of 5
The bottom line: The appeal of this book is the way it bounces through genres: dystopian fiction, romance novel, allegory, coming of age. I loved it.

Think about this, guys: What if your life was perfect? What if you were paired with someone to have perfect children, a job suited to your skills, impeccable health, to live until the age of eighty, guaranteed? Would you take that chance? Would you take it even if you knew that the people who gave you such gifts were doing something unethical? Not just unethical, but downright wrong? If not, would you do something to stop it?

Cassia Reyes, the poetic narrator of Matched, has to make that terrifying choice. Cassia's world is that where The Society rules, and the novel begins at her Matching Banquet. In The Society, instead of getting married, a girl and boy are Matched sometime after their seventeenth birthday, for the best chance of fertility and having healthy citizens. Cassia is filled with hope, anxiety, and joy at her banquet, and she is Matched to someone she knows. Sounds pretty boring, right?

Ah, I promise you, folks, it gets better. When Cassia reviews her Match on her port, she thinks it's just going to be another normal day. But it isn't her Match's face on the microcard: It's someone else's. Suddenly, Cassia begins to question her whole world, everything she's ever known to be true, as she starts to fall in love for the first time, and just how perfect her life is. Guys, this book is one of the best books ever for me. I love it and you guys should check it out!

By the way, the discussion guides for each of the novels (Matched, Crossed, and Reached), can be found on the author's website.

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