From barnesandnoble.com

Cassia has always trusted the society to make the right choices for her. So when Xanders face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows he is her ideal mate…until she sees Ky Markhams face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black. The Society tells her it’s a glitch and 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.

Everyone wants to know who they are going to marry and spend the rest of their life with. It’s a human fact of curiosity. In “Matched” by Ally Condie you learn that on your sixteenth birthday at your Matched Banquet. In this dystopian community the society chooses everything, basically your fate, and Cassia decides she wants to change that. I enjoyed the entire novel but I most enjoyed the plot, the characters, and the theme.

I enjoyed the complicated, yet on the edge plot. In “Matched” Cassia the protagonist is like a robot in the Society. The Society controls you, tell you, what to do, who to be with, what to eat. Everyone in Oria Province lives this way. At Cassias Match Banquet she is matched with Xander. But when she gets home and tries to learn more about him another face pops up. This face belongs to Ky Markham. The society claims it is a rare mistake. The plot is very good and well written. It is a post-apocalyptic society with twist turn and adventure romance.

The characters are the second thing I loved. Cassia the protagonist, I can very much relate to her in many ways. I don’t like being put in a box and being told what to do and expected to do so. Cassia realizes this through the course of the book. Ky is my favorite character though. He is strong and independent with a dork secret. Xander is Cassias best friend and her match. He loves Cassia and never doubts her choices to her.

The last thing I enjoyed was the theme. To me the theme is freedom and romance. I think we take freedom for granite at times. So in the book they are controlled and have not a lot of freedom. Of course romance. Your match is the person you fall in love with and is your match. Cassia falling in love with Ky. Romance is a big part of the book along with freedom as well.

Overall I loved the book and I’m going to continue reading the trilogy. It was an emotional roller coaster through the book and after the ending left me wondering and questioning. I recommend this to students who like books with a hint of romance action, and a dystopian community. Cassia is a strong independent person that will keep fighting for the right to choose. It had a well-known theme, an exciting plot with twist and turns, and amazing characters.