“Matched” by Allie Condie is a futuristic novel set in a time when Officials decide everything, from what citizens wear to whom they will marry. No one questions it.
In this society Cassia, a young girl, is about to have her matched ball. On this night, she will learn who her husband is to be by looking at a giant screen.
When Cassia’s best friend Xander appears on screen, she knows that he is the one, until another face appears for a split second, and she begins to question everything.
Looking around for the first time with open eyes, she sees things that the Society doesn’t want her to see. She sees the suffering of thousands of people, the destruction of millions of books and music and art work, and she knows it’s not right. She has to make a choice: stay with her match and live happily ever after, or go with the deviant and into the unknown.
This is one of those rare novels that brings the reader in with the absolute strangeness of this new world, and keeps the reader in with the hope of budding love. In the end, readers will surely be grasping for the second book to find out what happens next.
Ally Condie brings to life a world not far from our own. “Matched” is a page turner for sure. This book, as well as its sequel, “Crossed,” can be found in the library. Happy reading!
