Genre: Young Adult Dystopian
Author: Ally Condie
Synopsis: 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.
Likes: The Society, is a faceless entity that pulls all the strings in Cassia's world. They are always watching and compiling data about the citizens. As a lover of mathematics and statistics, I found the Society's ability to predict the expected outcome based on their data impressive. Their creepy controlling ways. . .not so much.
The Officials who make sure everyone follows Society's rules are also citizens and can be punished by the Society. That makes me wonder, who is pulling the strings. I hope the rest of the series explains, who is in charge or are computers in charge and everyone just does what the supersmart program says to do?
The story kept me questioning what was next. I grew ever more appalled with the depth of the Society's determination of sameness. I grew to look toward Cassia's time spent on the hill as much as she did and I hoped for a magical solution to all the problems Cassia and her family and friends face.
I love the themes of strength and choice. At any age and in any society, I think it is important to examine if you are strong enough to take the risks, to make the choices, and to go in search of the life you want.
CROSSED, the sequel, will be out in November.
Favorite Line: "What is it about your voice that makes me want to hear you speak?"
Recommendations: If you like YA Dystopian you will of course love it. Also MATCHED reminded me of THE GIVER, I haven't read that in years but if you liked it, you will probably like MATCHED too.
Next Week: Wither by Lauren DeStefano
0 comments:
Post a Comment