Cassia has been anticipating her matching ceremony for years, and now it’s finally here. Society will tell her which boy she will spend the rest of her life with: her perfect match. Soon after it will provide her and her husband-to-be with the perfect job, the perfect number of children, the perfect life. But then Cassia gets a peek at a different life–a life with choices–and everything changes.
Can we just start with how PERFECT THIS COVER IS. Seriously, just gaze in wonder at the cover of this book. Haven’t read the book? Go read the book and YOU WILL GET IT. Love, love, love, love. Okay, now that that is out of that way…
On my writing wall I have a post-it note that says “Matched – society that makes all your major choices, like love”. That’s right, before I’d heard of Matched I came up with the same idea and darn it wasn’t I angry to see that someone had come up with it first! I’m happy to say that Condie delivered a great book to match a great idea, so I’m hardly at all bitter that I didn’t think of it earlier…
I really enjoyed the society (and the Society for that matter). The plot could be a bit slow at times, but I’m expecting it to pick up in the second. I made the mistake of falling for what is obviously not the love interest, so that was disappointing, but as I almost always fall for the third wheel in the love triangle (I think the only exception was Twilight) I’ve gotten used to my heart being broken.
One thing I really liked was the secondary characters and their lives. Cassia’s parents, her grandfather, the government official… I would love to know more about them, and I don’t think we’ll get that chance which disappoints me. Also, I loved the pills! An odd thing to love, but it was seriously a brilliant plot device and it left me with so many questions at the end.
Novels with similar aspects
Divergent by Veronica Roth
XVI by Julia Karr
Delirium by Lauren Oliver
recommended to dystopian fans.
not recommended to someone looking for a 1984 remake.
Don’t just take my word for it! Be sure to check out these other reviews…
“Even though Matched‘s society was very rigid and computerized, it scarily does not seem that far off from the future.” ~ Kyle @A Reader’s Pensieve
“Good concept, a little shaky on the dismount.” ~ Blogs-of-a-Bookaholic (warning, there are spoilers in this review)
“…you can say I was hesitant about Matched. But that was only until I cracked open my copy and read the first page. Then I was hooked.” ~ Samantha @ An Aspiring Receptionist
Have you read and reviewed Matched (or any of my other reviews) already? Link me and I’ll quote and link you in my post!
No plans to make a discussion post for this one, but if you have some spoiler-filled comments to make, let me know and I’ll make one for you. 🙂
coffeeandwizards 
I liked Matched a lot too. Not my favorite dystopian, but not many can live up to Delirium! Loved the cover too. However…I am reading Crossed right now and I’m sorry to say that the plot doesn’t really move any faster
Here’s my review of it: http://areaderspensieve.blogspot.com/2011/11/review-matched.html
Well that’s disappointing. I was trying to give the series the benefit of the doubt because I do really like the concept
thanks for adding my review!
no problemo
Great review, Meg! It thought Matched moved at a pretty slow pace too (though, Delirium kind of does that as well, so I have no idea why I enjoyed it more than Matched…), and YES, the secondary characters are brilliant in this book. I think this is one of the few books where I didn’t so much (at leas, not yet) mind the love triangle, when usually it drives me mad. Mostly because I also honestly like Xander, and it’s obvious that she will end up with Ky, if she ends up with anyone at all. But I also really like Ky, and she has legitimate relationships (rofl, as opposed to illegitimate relationships… asdkhkdghgh, you KNOW what I meant, right?) with each of them, so the love triangle doesn’t hurt my brain… yet. Can’t wait for your thoughts on Crossed!
The love triangle hurt my heart a lot. Stupid love triangles. I always pick the loser. (Ohh I also picked right in The Hunger Games! Two points to me!)
Hey, nice review, I agree with your comments about the cover, I love the design and it was what first attracted me to this book. I also found the plot of Matched quite slow, I thought it was good but I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would. You can check out my review here http://beckysblogs.wordpress.com/2011/10/05/matched-by-ally-condie-good-concept-a-little-shaky-on-the-dismount-review-35/ although it was one of the early reviews I did on my blog so it’s not the best haha 🙂
Thanks for stopping by!
I adore the cover as well. As much as I really enjoyed the book, and the characters, and the plot, if I’m going to be honest I think the cover is what I love most of all, lol. It’s just so beautiful, and simple, and elegant, plus it fits perfectly with the novel. It represents everything this story is about. I just, ugh, love that cover. 😀
Here’s my review of it: http://anaspiringreceptionist.wordpress.com/2011/09/01/book-3-matched-ally-condie/
It is probably one of my favourite covers ever.
I just finished this book and saw you’d read it on Goodreads, and had to check out your review. I totally agree with you on many points. Slow = yes Pacing was one of my biggest issues.
I loved the tablets too! They have great possibilities and it was a fresh idea that was both very dystopian in nature, but hadn’t been done before.
And I fell for the wrong guy too 😦 I loved how quick-thinking, cheerful, and intuitive Xander was. I really liked him. I didn’t have the same feelings for Ky.
And yes. Ally Condie’s book covers are GORGEOUS. I love them. And I love how they have a lot to do with the story too!
Lauren @ Hughes Reviews