Matched

 

Bibliography:

Condie, A. (2011). Matched. Penguin Young Readers Group.

ISBN: 9780142419779

Plot Summary

Cassia lives in a world controlled by the Society. The Society decides it all. Who you love, where you work, and when you die.

Cassia has always trusted the Society’s choices. And when her best friend appears on the Matching screen, she is certain he is the one, until she sees another face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black. Now she is faced with impossible choices: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she’s ever known and a path no one has dared to follow. A path between perfection and the truth.

Critical Analysis

Matched is considered a YA novel because Cassia is a 17-year-old girl who starts to question the rules and control of the Society. She is finding out who she is and what she believes in while starting to make her own choices. This connects to teens because it explores what they are typically dealing with. Finding their independence means making hard choices about loyalty and thinking for themselves. 

Compared to other books, does not have high-stakes action, but it mostly focuses on emotional depth and philosophical questioning. It was a different take, and it uses love and art to awaken individuality. The Society took away so much of that and limited the selection. As the reader, it felt like everything they selected came off as perfection (no sadness, sickness, struggles, etc.) and were carbon copies of one another. Ally Condie makes readers think about the cost of perfection by showing how little things like taking away paintings, poems, and books limit how people can see and think differently about things in life. 

I really enjoyed this book, and I loved finding the different symbolism in the story. The part that hooked me from the beginning was the pills. I found it so crazy to give kids these three little pills. I wanted to know about them, especially the red one. My oldest has been reading over my shoulder, too, and she is now reading this book. What hooked her was the fact that Cassia’s grandfather had to die just because he turned 80. She wanted to know why and kept questioning me. I finally gave her the book to read. It’s funny hearing her point of view when she first started, she loved how you would be matched with someone to love the rest of your life, like, Cassia she found it romantic and loved the idea of it. But then when she was not reading it she would ask me random questions that would question the choices that were being made. She sounded a lot like the Cassia. It was fun to watch and watch how she was growing with the character and seeing the other side of this perfect world. It brought on a lot of fun conversations and begging on her side to tell me how it ends. We already have the next two books on hold at the library. I know the moment I finish them, she will be ready to dive in.

Review Excerpts

“[A] superb dystopian romance.” —Wall Street Journal

“A fierce, unforgettable page-turner.”—Kirkus, starred review

Awards and Recognitions

• #1 New York Times Bestseller

• YALSA's 2011 Teens' Top Ten

• Publishers Weekly's Best Children's Books of 2010

• 2010 Whitney Award for Best Youth Fiction: Speculative

• #1 Pick on the Winter 2010/2011 Kid's Indie Next List

• YALSA 2011 Best Fiction for Young Readers

• YALSA 2011 Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers

• Amazon Best Books of the Month, December 2010