Matched

Apparently, my sappiness knows no bounds as this was yet another book that made me cry at the end. In fact, it was the kind of crying that turned my eyes into little slits and made my husband pat me awkwardly on the shoulder and say "It's only a book. It's OK."

It's funny, when I first started reading it, I didn't think the society sounded so bad. You don't have to date. You don't have to make any career decisions. You don't have to cook dinner. It sounded like a vacation!

And at first Cassia (Cassia?!? What's up with young adult writers and their weirdo character names?) didn't mind the optionless society either. And then she wanted more than what was expected of her -- more freedom, more choice and at that point her world became too small.

She was matched with two boys - her primary match was her best friend and her accidental match was an acquaintance. She fell in love with the acquaintance. And that's what caused all the trouble.

I liked Cassia a lot - she was strong, not simpering. The world was detailed and I felt like I was there. I thought the rest of the characters were a little flat, including the two love interests.

Best quote was from the best friend Xander (Xander?!?): "I came up on the screen, too, Cassia. But he was the one you chose to see."

While parts of this book were outstanding (particularly toward the end), the book itself lacked luster. It was very hard to identify or even connect with Cassia and for most of the book, Cassia wanders in a dreamlike state. Though it's fairly obvious to the reader the flaws in her Society, she continues blissfully unaware.

Ky and Xander (especially toward the end with Xander) are very poignant by comparison. Their allure is that we can't get into their heads and our only glimpses of their natures are from their interactions with Cassia.

It is intriguing to think about how much the Society has taken away, beyond the ability to choose one's own "Match". At the same time, the larger issues, such as who the Society is fighting against, why they feel the need to be so restrictive and yet, not everyone adheres to the requirements, and the Society's origins remain a mystery. These elements, unexplored, are far more compelling than Cassia's story.

Cassia does not appear to be struggling nor worthy of sympathy from the reader at first and, even as the story progresses, sympathy is much more readily available to Ky and Xander. Those two actually suffered as a result of Society and Cassia's actions.

Will I read the sequel? From the brief excerpt, it sounds like they've eliminated the mystery surrounding Ky. It's a shame. Ky is only really compelling because we can't get into his head. I'm not sure whether this is a reflection on her writing style or just her characterization. Pity.

This entire book felt like I was traveling through a sixth grader's angsty after-school special. The poetry quoted in this story felt cheaper than a fourteen-year-old whispering "Wherefore art thou romeo," as she watches her boyfriend of two days laugh at another girl's joke in the school cafeteria. I couldn't bring myself to finish the series--and, I'm kind of notorious for having a soft spot for klutzy, dramatic romance sub-plots.

The first book is the best of the series in my opinion

I think I would be doing a disservice if I didn’t mention how much I

loved

Matched when I was thirteen. I also suppose that this is one of those books that made me want to write, so I have to give it

some credit, but not much.

The most egregious issue I have is, unlike

The Hunger Games which is threaded through with radical acts of love, I’m unsure that the central relationships of the book can be characterized as

loving. Cassia constantly claims that she loves Ky, yet her actions are incongruous. For example, Ky’s whole thing is that he tries to stay under the radar and out of view of the government officials to protect himself

and his remaining family members. Cassia should know this, especially since she insists that she knows Ky and “sees” him, yet, as part of her job training, sorts Ky at his workplace into an above-average group, directly putting him on the officials’ radar, and this results in him getting conscripted into the military. To be fair, their government shouldn’t be doing any of this, but Cassia could have respected Ky’s wishes without too much effort. Likewise, an official meets with Cassia and threatens to dole out consequences on Ky (he’s of a lower social class, so more extreme consequences for someone of his class isn’t viewed as unfair) if Cassia keeps pursuing him. One would think Cassia would at least question herself a little bit, but no, she simply keeps pursuing Ky. Where’s the radical inclination to protect other people? Clearly not here, gorl.

Worse than not truly loving Ky, I have suspicions that Cassia doesn’t see Ky (or Xander) as a person. Instead of imagining all the fun things she could possibly be doing with Ky, or laughing at the improbability of Ky wanting to do things that Xander wants to do, she just recasts Ky as Xander in her memories with Xander, suggesting that the two boys are interchangeable. At the end of the book, she even manages to ensure that Xander is still an option for her if her plans to find Ky fail. Similarly, her other fantasies consist of shoving Ky into her existing life, ignoring how much of that life doesn’t suit/is impossible for Ky. To her, the boys are just products that she should be able to afford, given her social class, to decorate her life—the boys themselves don’t matter. This sentiment might work in another context, but is out of place in a dystopian romance.

Not to drag the book review out, but I additionally think that Condie underestimates the power of propaganda. People can make the masses believe anything if they use the right propaganda, and, trust me, it can be difficult to break out of brainwashing (for lack of a better term) without a drastic jolt and continued effort. I just don’t understand how Cassia can contemplate the downfall of their government, but has never attempted to write by hand when she knows how to read and write (by typing, Condie makes sure to inform us). Like, is the brainwashing working or not working??

Anyway, the point is I don’t like

Matched anymore.