Matched by Ally Condie

Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander’s face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate… until she sees Ky Markham’s face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black.

The Society tells her it’s a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she’s destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can’t stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society’s infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she’s known and a path that no one else has dared to follow (Goodreads)

Hey Guys! So, I got back from Italy yesterday and obviously I have some reviews for you because I took a few books to read! I had a great time and managed to read my way into a very tanned bliss. Here is the first review:

This book was ok. When I first read the blurb, I thought the idea was great and I was drawn in by the idea of The Society which reminded me a little bit of Orwell’s 1984. However, actually reading the book, whilst the world was developed, I thought it was a bit under developed and I didn’t really feel myself connecting with any of the characters. Sure, I felt sorry for them in some places, but I didn’t feel myself actually wanting to change things for them. I felt like shouting at some of the characters because they kept making stupid decisions despite the fact that they are seemingly more intelligent than they make themselves out to be.

Let’s start off with Cassia. Cassia is one of our main characters. She is one of those characters who believes in the government etc at first, but then certain events begin to change her mind. I actually found her to be really annoying and I felt fairly sorry of Xander because he didn’t deserve to be treated in the way that he was. She is one of those characters who acts more stupid than she actually is – Makes you want to scream at her. I couldn’t really connect to her as a character because I felt that she wasn’t very well developed. She was a shallow person who wouldn’t quite make it in the real world.

Ky is ok. He is fairly cutesy and you can see his battle scars. He has been through a lot and keeps being walked all over by the government. He is intelligent but constantly acts average so that he is a low flyer under the radar. He doesn’t want to draw more attention to himself than is necessary. I didn’t connect to him either. His story is a sad one, but again, the character development was lacking here.

Xander. He is the supposedly best friend of Cassia (even though she treats him horribly after they’re matched!) He tries to help out where he can, even if he doesn’t know why. We saw some of Xander, but I didn’t really feel like I saw him enough considering he is supposed to be matched with Cassia. I felt like he was only around when one character or another needed him. The lack of connection meant that I didn’t really care what happened to him.

I nearly dnf – ed this book. I found it so hard to get into the whole love triangle thing that I just didn’t want to read it anymore. However, I stuck by it. I am still deciding whether I really want to move on to the second book…

I gave this book 3/5 stars