View source for Matched by Ally Condie

{{infobox
|title=Matched
|author=Ally Condie
|reviewer=Loralei Haylock
|genre=Teens
|summary=A stunning opening chapter to a wonderfully sinister dystopian story. Great characters and well developed romance that will have you waiting on tenterhooks for the next instalment!
|rating=5
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|pages=384
|publisher=Puffin
|date=December 2010
|isbn=978-0141333052
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0141333057</amazonuk>
|amazonus=<amazonus>0141333057</amazonus>
}}

When the Society Matches Cassia to her best friend Xander, she couldn't be more thrilled. Unlike the other girls, she knows her Match – doesn't need to read his details, go through the motions of dating as dictated by the Society, doesn't need to worry they won't get along. 

But Cassia can't help feeling a little left out of the excitement of not knowing, so she plugs in Xander's data file – an action that changes her life forever. Because Xander's information isn't the only set on the file. For a moment, the picture of another boy flashes up on screen, but a moment is all it takes for Cassia to wonder – what if he was meant to be her Match? 

I'd heard a lot of great things about ''Matched''. Now, a book having hype means one of two things – it is worthy of the hype and is going to be a fantastic read, or it's going to be a huge disappointment. ''Matched'' falls into the first category – it's definitely worth every good thing said about it. 

Condie's world is wonderfully sinister, despite the fact that her main character totally buys into the controlling Society way, believing in it even when her Match goes wrong. And the fact that Cassia does start to fall for her second Match suggests that there is something in what the Society is doing, pairing off its young people – a perhaps even more sinister detail. 

I love the lack of outright violence and how the acts of barbarism are against words – poetry, songs and novels all destroyed because they aren't in the best '100' list. The thought of a culture so limited, creativity stifled is somehow more horrific than one filled with war. But perhaps that's just the book lover in me crying out at the thought of never reading something new! 

The characters are great, the love triangle believable, the romance between Cassia and her second Match, Ky, well drawn out and developed. There is none of the instant attraction 'I'm head over heals in love with a boy I just met' that is so prevalent in Teen fiction, and the book is all the richer for it. 

A stunning opening chapter of a series that will hopefully go from strength to strength. I will certainly be waiting with bated breath for the next instalment! 

My thanks to the publishers for sending a copy. 

Fans of dystopian futures might enjoy [[The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins]] or [[Uglies by Scott Westerfeld]].

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