Review: Matched by Ally Condie

Matched
Author: Ally Condie
From: Purchased
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Cassia knows exactly how her life is going to play out...she'll be matched on her birthday to her future husband, she'll be placed in an occupation for life, and she will only live to be 80 no matter what. The Society has kept track of her data from before the she was born and can even tell you the probabilities on the decision(s) she'll make next! In Cassia's world, The Society controls absolutely everything!

Meals are delivered to you 3 times a day and are designed only for their necessary caloric needs, a person may have only 1 "artifact" from the "past", plants and trees must serve an actual positive purpose or they will be removed and replaced. All things in life have been simplified so as not to "overwhelm" anyone and so there are only 100 Poems, 100 Songs, etc. All others have been destroyed if they do not meet The Society's standards. Everything is as it should be until Cassia has 2 images of 2 different boys on her Match microcard! Why has this happened? Which one is correct? How is it possible that The Society has made a mistake?

This was an interesting read and I am looking forward to her already announced 2nd in this series, Crossed, to be published! As an educator, this dystopian look into a society who values data over everything else is a very interesting thing to read about! We have become so obsessed with data in our own society lately, especially in public schools. Everyone in our country wants the proof of progress, growth, and most importantly, money well spent! This book really made me look at how ridiculous the extreme of this looks and of course how dangerous it can become when you hand over your own ability to make your own decisions and replace them with data.

The only reason this got a 4 and not a 5 is that it was sooo very predictable. I still can't wait to see what happens next though! There's always hope for a new idea, or a new path not taken...

View all my reviews