What to Read Wednesday: Matched

I finished the novel Matched by Ally Condie last night...thought I'd write a review in case this book happens to be on anyone's summer reading list. 

Soooooo, perhaps you've heard of a little known story called The Hunger Games. 

Ahem.

Girl lives in totalitarian society.

Girl likes boy from childhood.

Girl is put in situation controlled by society.

Girl hates the totalitarian society.

Girl decides to become a rebel.

Girl meets boy who's allll about being rebellious.

Girl decides she likes him better than first boy.

Together they change the world.

Ahh, Hunger Games in a nutshell. It's become the standard for any dystopian novel out there.

To begin with, I really really wanted to like this book. I loved Hunger Games, and I actually was incredibly fascinated by dystopian society novels long before it became so trendy.

Thank you Suzanne Collins for making these so much more accessible to me.


However... This book? I was kind of disappointed. I won't give away or spoil anything in this review, so please feel free to read this with both eyes open.  And yes, that WAS a Taylor Swift reference.


It begins following the life of Cassia Reyes, a young girl who strives for perfection living in the Society. She's a model citizen who has reached her Matching age. In this society, teens are matched by the governing body to their perfect genetic complement (basically, arranged marriages).

Cassia is Matched and couldn't be happier with her partner. That is, until, she watches the video the Matching department put together for her about her partner.... And someone else's face appears. (whoops)

This begins a chain reaction of events that challenges everything Cassia knows and trusts about the Society....


This is where I'll stop with the story so as to not spoil anything. 

And for those of you who immediately freaked out because I DID give some background, well, that info is on the back of the book. 

Anywho, the book invokes a love triangle (what teen flick doesn't these days? Thank YOU Stephanie Meyer) and a headstrong female lead. While I did like the characters, the Society itself as well as the plot was just too, umm, routine for a dystopian novel.

Nothing really stood out for me.

In addition, I don't know about you, but I could NOT put down Hunger Games. Every chapter had something. Sooo many cliffhangers. Awesome-ness.

Matched dragged. There weren't hardly any climaxes and the ones it had weren't that exciting.


I just realized I'm writing this with a gloomy face and sad eyes. People, THIS is how disappointed I am.


So, that's it. That's where it stands.

Matched is a trilogy and I DO plan on reading the second and third book (I have a thing about that, I'm weird...trust me, Twilight was my Everest).

I'm open to the idea that the story will pick up.

And, I will say, Ally Condie did leave the ending at a "new beginning" or "new phase" in the characters' lives, so you never know. 

This could could blow all other teen flicks out of the water. 

I'll let you know...but until then, what do you think? Any reactions to this book? Am I off my rocker?

Share your thoughts!


Xoxo
Alicia