Matched

Have I ever mentioned how much I love stories about dystopian societies?  Yes, I'm sure I have.  It is why The Hunger Games and The Handmaid's Tale are some of my top favorite books ever.  It's also why I love movies like I am Legend or Surrogates.  In these stories, some governing force has completely taken over the country and inhabitants of what formerly used to be The United States of America are now just mindless pawns in a game where they have no choices.

Or something along those lines...

In Ally Condie's Matched, we find young Cassia (pronounced Cash-ya, according to the person reading the audio book) about to embark on her journey to the capital for her match ceremony.  This is where she will find out the boy to whom she is matched for the rest of her life.  They are both seventeen years old and will court for the next four year before getting married when they are 21. 

In this society, everything about life is determined for you by the Officials.  It is a perfect society where no one questions the rules or authority.  Everything is based on patters and predictions, therefore your entire life has been already programmed for you.  Each meal is delivered to your three times a day and it is created especially for you based on your bodily needs and requirements.  In school you learn only the "100 Best" of everything from before the transformation of society.  For example, you would learn about only the 100 best authors, poems, classical musicians, movies, books, artists, etc.  It has also been determined that the quality of life deteriorates greatly after the age of 80.  Therefore, you are given a poison pill on your 80th birthday in order to die at the perfect age of life maturation and not have to suffer the terrible quality of life that is surely to come after.   


My problem with this book is that the characters and plot just weren't compelling enough.  The story didn't capture me like The Hunger Games or The Handmaids Tale.  There was no shock value, and let's admit, that's what really draws people (or just me?) to stories like this.  Cassia's rebellious attitude against her society was just a little too predictable and the love triangle between Cassia, Ky and Xander was just a little too familiar.  I didn't feel the emotion; everthing was too forced and in-your-face. 

I did, however, appreciate the references to forbidden literature such as Dylan Thomas, Henry David Thoreau, and Alfred Lord Tennyson.  It is obvious that the author has her degree in English from a reputable University (Brigham Young.) 

Condie seems to be commenting on current society and our excessive need for new technology constant at our fingertips.  In her book, she alludes to the reason for the societal transformation by mentioning that everyone had too much technology, too many choices, too many freedoms.  The results were disastrous.  "We don't need to understand everything...society reminds us there's a difference between knowledge and technology --  knowledge doesn't fail us..." (page number unknown).  It's true.  How reliant on my silly iPhone have I become?  If I leave the house without it I feel lost.  Heaven forbid I can't look at google maps to see how far away I am from my destination or look at the yelp reviews of the restaurant I'm going to, or occupy my every free moment with a spontaneous game of solitaire or frogger.  I love the iPhone but I hate it too.  It's technology and it's wonderful...but is it really?  It is exactly this type of constant battle between tech and actual real life that Ally Condie touches on in her new society of Matched.  Despite the tiresome predictability and sometimes gag-factor of the love story, this book is well written and I'll probably read the rest of the trilogy when those books come out.   You know, just to find out what happens...