Book Review: Matched, by Ally Condie. (Matched, #1)
I don't quite understand why I didn't really like this book. I loved the premise, but the execution let it down. I spent the entire book waiting for something to happen, and then the big thing that happened was Cassia kissing a boy? Like what? It felt incredibly slow and it was really difficult to see where the plot was going.
The only good part of this novel really, aside from a chapter at the beginning (maybe that's just because I liked the Matching ceremony and the link with Cassia's dress and the front cover of the book, which I would say is really good. I really like the front cover) is the last few chapters. Something finally happens, and the pace of the book changes.
With a lackluster plot, you'd have thought that the character development would be good. But no. It's not. Cassia comes across as a love torn teenager who can't choose between Xander, her best friend who she would have a good life with, and Ky, the local mysterious bad boy who she only likes because of a mistake. I love her name, but her character is incredibly boring. Xander is basically non-existent until Cassia sees him playing games and he's signing them up to couple-y things without her permission. He totally didn't deserve Cassia's treatment of him in the book. Ky is much more interesting than either Xander and Cassia, especially as the book teases his backstory and his ineligibility to be Matched, but he's still not amazing. However, I did like Cassia's Grandfather. He's only in about a quarter of the book, but he has more sense than all the other characters combined.
I think my major gripe with this book is that it really just focused on the wrong things. Why did Society develop like this? How long has it been like this? Why can't people write anymore? How exactly do they match the teenagers? (just saying genes isn't helpful, Cassia's Official. Does she even have a name?) How did they choose the 100 Poems that survived? I get that poetry plays a large part in this books, but what else did they save besides poetry? Why were the artifacts removed? Why were the trees cut down? (just saying that its a warning isn't helpful either, Cassia) But instead of all of these questions being answered, we got learning to write in sand, jealous girlfriends and a lot of pages about a compass. I don't think I've read so much about a compass since The Golden Compass
.While I will read the read of the series, I think for dystopian future novels, I'll stick with Three Days Breathing
.Rating = 2* / 5*.
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