Matched

Condie, Allie. Matched. 2010. 369p. ISBN 9780525423645. Available at FIC CON on the library shelves.

In the month of their 16th birthdays, teenagers participate in a matching ceremony. During this glamorous event, each girl is matched with her perfect companion, a boy from somewhere within the Society. Each are perfectly compatible with each other and will bring the best genes to their offsprings. Cassia is very excited to attend, and cannot wait to discover who her match is.

When it is her turn, the crowd gasps. She has been matched with Xander, her neighbor and a boy she’s known all her life. This rarely happens, as all matches are with people who do not live in the same city. So unlike her friends, Cassia’s courtship and getting to know her romantic partner will be much different.

When on the next morning she looks at her match card, she sees Xander’s face, but it quickly changes to that of Ky, another boy from the neighborhood. How could that be? Two different matches, both from the same neighborhood? The odds are astronomical that this would happen. But suddenly Cassia is curious. Why Ky?

An official from the Society meets her later that day, and advises her there was a malfunction in her match identification card and it was an error. But the Society doesn’t make errors. Cassia is confused, but as she gets to know Ky, who moved in her neighborhood from the Outer Provinces, she realizes that they have more in common than she does with Xander.

All around her, things are changing rapidly. Officials are cracking down on infractions, and are punishing people seemingly without cause. Her mother is called away repeatedly to investigate problems. Their artifacts are confiscated. And Cassia lives in fear of being caught, because what she’s doing with Ky is not permitted. It’s a dangerous game she plays, and more scrutiny seems to follow her. How will she resolve her dilemma between Xander and Ky? And what’s actually happening in the Society?

Matched continues in Crossed, the second installment of the Matched trilogy.

If you liked Matched, you will enjoy The Selection. You may also like reading about Cinder's exploits and her relationship to Emperor Kai in the Lunar Chronicles. For a different look at a planned and organized Society, read The Giver.