review: Matched by Ally Condie

pub date: November 30, 2010
publisher: Dutton Juvenile
pgs: 384 pgs
source: ARC from ALA

Doesn't it seem like this book should be out all ready? I think I first started hearing about it sometime around April/May, which was forever ago. Finally, it's release is almost here! Just one week away! It was the one book I really, really, REALLY wanted at ALA and I was so glad I was able to get a copy and to meet Ally in person and get her signature. I was a little worried I wouldn't like the book after all the hype I'd heard, but I did. A LOT. One of my favorite books of the year.

Anyway, Cassia lives in a future where Society determines the major decisions in everyone's lives: job, city, spouse. Even the not so major decisions: recreational activities, what to eat, the time to wake up. So Cassia is surprised to find that Society made a mistake: on her microcard instead of one match, she sees two. And suddenly Cassia doesn't want Society to decide who she'll marry, she wants to decide for herself.

The Society, in the beginning, reminded me a lot of Lois Lowry's The Giver. But not for long. Ms. Condie's dystopic society is new and original and so well constructed. I believed in the world she created. It was one of my favorite aspects of this book--the world building.

Cassia's world isn't revealed all at once. We're introduced to Cassia and her family and her nieghbors and her match. Gradually, our view as a reader broadens to include the larger community she resides in. As Cassia's veiw of her world broadens, so does the readers. We learn more about the Society and the world outside of of its boarders. I loved that!

I enjoyed the romance in the story, too. I do have issues with love triangles, some more than others. This triangle made me sad, but it didn't bother me to the point that it took me out of the story.

I love dystopic YA novels and this one is at the top of my list. I adored it. I'm excited for the next books in the trilogy, though it'll be a while. I am excited to find out where Ms. Condie will take Cassia and Xander and Ky.