Review: Matched by Ally Condie

genre: dystopia
age: YA
recommend to: people who only half pay attention while reading
rating: 3/8 tentacles

Cassia Reyes has grown up in a world where every detail of life is dictated by Society, right down to it whether or not individuals are suitable for marriage and whom statistics select as their ideal spouse. Cassia has complete faith in this system until she witnesses what appears to be a mistake with her results. She then begins to wonder whether the choices the Society makes for her and her peers are really the right ones and, as her doubt solidifies, she questions the entire worldview the Society has presented to her. Is it only a facade built up to mask the Society’s careful regulation of their people’s ignorance?

Matched reminds me of a Teen Romance version of Lois Lowry’s The Giver. Both are set in dystopias governed by a group (the Society and the Elders) that uses strict control as a tool to manufacture their idea of perfect life. The most successful aspect of this book is Condie’s concept. Her futuristic dystopian society’s system of choosing romantic partners based on statistics is recongnizable as a form of our increasingly more common online dating trend. Matched asks us to imagine a world where this option is the only one. It’s fun to think about.

However, Matched fails to provide a sufficient amount of tension. I can see where Condie tried to create suspense (the Official spying on Cassia, her constant nervousness at being caught out in her disobediance, the mystery behind the red pill) but there just wasn’t enough at stake to really hook me. Also, I didn’t particularly like Cassia and I’m sure this played a role in my apathy. I prefer strong, willful, intelligent characters and found Cassia’s brand of naivete a bit irritating. One could argue that she is what her environment made her but she is naive in a simpleminded, vacant way that, say, Jonas of The Giver is not. The Giver has been one of my favorites since childhood and I couldn’t help comparing the two books as I read. Matched inevitably suffered from the comparison and I suppose some of my disappointment in the novel arose from this.

The story would have been significantly improved by more fleshed out characters (I didn’t like or sympathize with any of them), a tighter focus on the plot, a swifter pace, and more layers and complexity. This book definitely could have used some quality subplots.

I wish I could offer more specific examples of why I’m dissatisifed with this novel but am already forgetting it. Matched possesses a misty, ephemeral quality. It enveloped me briefly, like a passing cloud, and is already fading from my mind. I probably won’t read the sequel.