Book Review: Matched by Ally Condie

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Title: Matched

Author: Ally Condie

Series: Matched #1

Genre: Dystopian

Audience: Young Adult

~ MY REVIEW ~

**3.5 stars**

While I still plan on finishing this series, Matched by Ally Condie just didn't rise up to my expectations ... didn't quite do the cover and story description justice.

I picked it up because, DYSTOPIAN! I'm loving intriguing, futuristic novels these days. And that cover. It said to me: "You must read me. At least give me a chance.". Anyway, the main character, Cassia, lives in a society where everything is decided for her. Who she marries. What she eats. When she dies. Etc. She's living in a bubble of sorts, where free will is all but gone, because the leaders of the world she lives in were determined to get rid of pain, tragedy, evil, and the like. Now everything is carefully and perfectly planned out ... safe. The problem is, Cassia happens to fall for a boy who isn't her match. And then she starts rethinking everything.

My main issue with this book: not much happened. It was pretty slow paced. Very little, if any, action. I was waiting and waiting for something to happen ... but nothing really happened. To be fair, there was forbidden love, even-more-forbidden poems, and some arrests of sorts, and also an incident with a red pill. Matched does have a very interesting world; a story with so much potential! That's why I want to continue this series. But this first book, while it captured my attention, didn't exactly keep me captivated. I really hope the next book will pick up the pace and get some exciting things happening!

Another thing to mention ... the leaders' whole plan of bringing people "back". Whenever someone dies, they swab a patch of their skin so they might be able to bring them back to life at some point. Okay. Weird. Not only could I not even begin to wrap my mind around this concept, it just really rubbed me wrong. No matter how advanced your technology and science, I don't believe you have the ability to resurrect a soul. Thank you.

Oh, and also, was I the only one to picture Cassia, Ky, and Xander (perhaps all the people in their group!) as younger than they were? For some reason, I was seeing Cassia as more 13 or 14 rather than 17/18. I had a hard time getting into the romance at times, because I kept picturing them as younger people who weren't really deeply in love.

*Sigh* So yes. Didn't really delight me all that much. But the dystopian aspect still has me fascinated, so I shall seek out the next book, and hope for the best! *smiles*