Matched

4.8 (4)

4.0 (37)

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14 reviews with 5 stars

37 reviews

5 stars

38%

4 stars

38%

3 stars

16%

2 stars

1 star

Overall rating

4.0

Plot

4.0(37)

Characters

3.9(31)

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3.9(30)

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GREAT Dystopian Read

July 07, 2011

Overall rating

4.7

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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!

Geeky Beach Babe Top 500 Reviewer 15 reviews

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A tremendous dystopia for a brave new generation.

June 11, 2011

Overall rating

5.0

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Reader reviewed by Scattered Laura

If it is possible to be both a self-confessed pessimist and a hopeless romantic then that's me. This is perhaps why Matched appealed to me so very much.

Matched is a young adult dystopian romance which brings many Orwellian questions home to a younger audience.

These days the idea of Big Brother brings to mind a voyeuristic television show where exhibitionists parade around a glaringly bright house, making fools of themselves in hopes of making a quick buck.

Thankfully, Condie reminds us what Orwell and Huxley were trying to say with their original dystopian masterpieces. She takes familiar ideas of society being controlled by government indoctrination and propaganda, and manages to rejuvenate them. The pessimist in me thoroughly enjoyed hating the society in which Cassia, the heroine, lives. It is a society which controls where people work, when they die, how many children they have and even who they love.

Of course, anyone who has ever had a crush on completely the wrong person, (and surely that's everyone?) knows that love and lust cannot be weighed and measured. It cannot be controlled.

Matched provides an interesting love triangle between the three main characters. Cassia and Xander are matched and you are glad that they are! Xander seems like a great guy: a sensible choice. But what teenage girl, what woman, chooses "sensible" when shown the option of "mysterious" and "exciting"? Ky provides both and is the proverbial spanner in the works.

As a reader I was drawn into this triangle and really felt for Cassia. Because hers is a tough choice! I found myself rooting for both the male leads, especially at first.

The underlying conflict of the seemingly "ideal" society of Matched, works to beautifully highlight the conflict raging in Cassia's own heart.

We live in a world where we are pretty much always on somebody's CCTV, where advertisements corner us from every form of media, and where Internet dating sites tell us that they can "match" us to a perfect partner based on deep aspects of our personalities. Matched is a poignant and intelligent book which will leave you both asking questions and positively drooling for the sequel.

Guest #1 Reviewer

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A love triangle that shouldn't happen in the perfect Society.

March 16, 2011

Overall rating

5.0

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Reader reviewed by iLive, iLaugh, iLove Books

Read the original post at iLive, iLaugh, iLove Books

Got this one from the library, picked it up, and read the whole thing in about two readings. One of them involved staying past bed time, which seemed great at the time, but not so lovely when I had to get up at 6:15 in the morning to get ready for school.

Matched is one of those books that you just can't put down because you need to know what's going to happen next. The book just has that fast-paced tension. In the Society, everything is planned. There is no free will, no thinking on one's own. Food, jobs, marriages, even deaths are calculated and worked out.

Cassia is Matched with Xander, her best friend, and it's possibly the best that she could have hoped for. Later, it seems a cruel trick is played on her and she has also been paired with Ky. Two Matches? It's not even supposed to be possible. Everything in the Society is about probability. Who is to be Cassia's true Match? The Society seems to be on her side, but later, they appear to be cruel and malicious.

The best part of this book was its characters, and their individuality. Which is ironic, since in the Society, there's supposed to be NO individuality. But there is: in Cassia, Grandfather, and Ky. Cassia is a strong-willed girl who doesn't really understand her life, but knows that it's not really right. She is trying to understand true love, not the "love" that comes from the Matching. Grandfather is possibly my favorite character. I can't give away too much about him, but he is the wise mentor in Cassia's life. Ky is the most developed and dimensional character, but also the most mysterious and unexplained. I definitely want to learn more about him and his secrets.

This book has been compared to The Hunger Games, but I don't see much other than the fact they both have strong female characters, a best friend/love interest love triangle, and a Government that controls everything. THG were much more dark and violent.Matched, on the other hand is clean. Clean, safe, sterile.

The other book I could compare this one to is The Giver. In fact, both Societies in the novels seem very similarly designed. The difference is that the basic idea and plot is different. But I must say that I liked Matched much more than The Giver. (I wasn't a huge fan of the book. It was pretty good in the beginning... but I didn't like the ending. I guess I didn't realize there were sequels until two years later. But now I don't even want to read them.)

Matched: It's about finding true love, your individuality, and your place in a Society that seems to have all control. Maybe even the Society's place. The sequel, Crossed, is coming out in the end of this year, and I am very excited!

Guest #1 Reviewer

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Another great dystopian!

February 20, 2011

Overall rating

5.0

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Reader reviewed by Meghan

Matched intrigued me when I first read about it here on Goodreads. I picked it up at the bookstore when it came out, remembering it out of all the other books I wanted to read. The premise reminds me a lot of the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld, so of course, I had to read it. The book lived up to my expectations and more. It's a heroic story woven with threads of love, friendship, betrayal, and curiosity. What would you do if a seemingly perfect Society that was in charge of telling you who your future spouse was, who rarely made mistakes, made an error? What would you do if you'd already been Matched, yet you saw someone else's face, where your Match's should have been? These are just some of the trials that Cassia will have to face in the first book of the Matched series.

I love books that follow the same bones as the book Matched, and Ally Condie provided me with a fresh imaginative world where everything was decided for you and everything was based on data. No luck, just data and math and science. Ally Condie wrote the book beautifully with just enough twists and turns to keep you guessing and wanting more. Most of the characters leave you feeling like they are real, complete characters, not just ones in a book. One minute I was disliking Cassia, the next feeling for her and understanding why she does what she does. By the end of the book, I was rooting her on and with each turn of the page, hoping she'd get what she wanted and the Society would get what they deserved.

Matched gets a five out of five stars from me.

Guest #1 Reviewer