Matched by Ally Condie

My next stop on the Book Junkie Trials is Apothecary Towers. For this step, I need to read a book at random from my bookshelves. I had no shortage of options here - my bookshelves are stuffed with novels I haven't gotten around to yet. To make the selection truly random, I took my Goodreads owned-but-not-read shelf, put it in random order, and used a random number generator to pick a selection from that list. I ended up with Matched by Ally Condie, the first book in a pretty well-known young adult dystopian trilogy that came out in the Hunger Games era.

Matched is one of the many, many unread books I have on my Kindle, which is good, because I haven't used my Kindle in ages. It's nice to mix up reading formats every once in a while. So, I charged it up, made myself a cup of coffee, and strapped in for some angsty, dystopian teenage drama.

Matched is set in a world where the government, dubbed "The Society," rigidly controls all aspects of the citizens' lives based on data obtained from obsessive monitoring. Everything from food, to schooling, to employment is monitored and regulated. Literature and other media has been reduced to a small number of allowable pieces, and everything else has been destroyed. Recreation activities are limited and only allowable at certain times and each home is equipped with computerized device allowing officials to communicate directly with families at any time of the day. Citations are given out for failure to follow any of The Society's numerous, strict rules. Even marriage and death is regulated. In return, citizens get to live a life that is as perfect as data and statistics can make it.

The story follows Cassia, a young woman who is turning 17 as the story begins. She is about to attend her matching ceremony, where she will get to learn which man she is assigned to marry. She is very pleased to discover that she has been matched with Xander, her best friend since childhood. This is a better outcome than she could have hoped for, and she returns home delighted and excited for her future.

However, she is soon thrown into a state of confusion when she views the electronic file she was given about Xander at her ceremony. When she opens the file on her home computer, another boy's face flashes on the screen. She knows this boy too. His name is Ky and she's been a classmate of hers for years. Even though government officials quickly reassure her that this was just a mistake and to ignore it, Cassia can't help thinking about Ky. He moved to her borough when he was a young kid under mysterious circumstances and has spent his adolescence trying to fit in and slide under the radar of their world as much as possible. Seeing his face in that data file reawakens her curiosity about him. Before long, she starts to develop feelings for him, but a relationship between them can never be. Cassia is already matched with Xander. Choices about her romantic relationships are not hers to make.

This causes Cassia, who has never really questioned the way her society functions before, to see the lack of freedom everyone has and to wish things were different. Aside from her personal feelings, she can also sense a growing unrest within the community. Things are slowly becoming even more restrictive, and no one is sure why. She begins to sneak around and break rules in order to get closer to Ky. She becomes determined to follow her heart, but taking this path will mean that she has to stand up against an oppressive government and leave behind the only way of life she has ever known.

Matched was an okay read. It certainly would not be at the top of my list of dystopian novels, but it isn't at the bottom either. It actually started off pretty great. Condie did a nice job describing the setting of the world, and I was reminded of The Giver while reading about all the restrictions placed on the citizens. I thought the twist of Cassia seeing a different face in her matching ceremony file was intriguing, and I was excited to read on and find out what it all meant. The strength of the novel, in fact, was the suspense Condie created. Despite any other issues I found while reading this story, I still consistently wanted to find out what the ending was.

Another aspect I appreciated was Condie's use of poetry throughout. Most literature has been destroyed in this universe. There are 100 acceptable poems that people are allowed to read. There is an underground economy in forbidden poetry, and Cassia comes across some of the pieces throughout the plot. In particular, Dylan Thomas' "Do not go gentle into that good night," is inspiring to her, and she thinks about several lines from it at different times. The theme of this poem ties in well with the ideas explored in the novel, and it is a favorite of mine, so I really enjoyed seeing it.

What was not as strong here, unfortunately, was the character development. Cassia's personality undergoes an abrupt shift in this novel, and it felt unnatural. It is in the nature of protagonists in a dystopian novel to eventually turn against their government, but Cassia's change in thinking happened too quickly, and for questionable reasons. She goes from never questioning anything the The Society does, to being a complete rebel nearly overnight, and all to pursue a relationship with a boy she barely knows. There wasn't enough ambiguity or conflict in her feelings for this to feel genuine. All of a sudden she was willing to throw caution to the wind, completely disregard the feelings she had after a lifetime-long friendship with Xander, and take incredible risks that could put her whole family into danger to be with Ky. I might have been more on board with this if the romance between her and Ky was really well written and I was feeling their relationship, but it wasn't all that believable. All the characters were fairly bland. so her growth arc missed the mark for me.

Another issue I had while reading was with some of the plot points. Many of the twists and secrets revealed as the novel moves towards its conclusion were unbelievable, unrealistic, or way too convenient, and the writing wasn't strong enough to make me suspend my disbelief. I didn't completely dislike how the story wrapped up, but it was ridiculous enough for me to be a little disappointed overall.

That being said, I'm willing to continue on with the series and see where Cassia's story goes. Matched ends with a lot of unanswered questions, and I'm still interested enough in the world to want to find out how things end up. The themes Condie explores throughout the story are interesting and, in spite of myself, I want to see how Cassia and Ky's relationship develops. So, while this book is not a favorite for me, it's entertaining enough. I think young readers wouldn't notice a lot of the problems in it, so I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to students. As far as adult readers go, it's probably not worth your time when so much excellent young adult literature is out there.


Challenge Tally
Book Junkie Trials (Apothecary Towers - Read a book at random from your shelves) 2/17
Finally in 2019: 22/6 Books Read - Complete!

Total Books Read in 2019: 40