Matched by Ally Condie | #magicalreadathon2020

Matched by Ally Condie
Pages: 366
Release Date: November 30, 2010
Rating: 💜💜💜💜
Buy it: Amazon | Book Depository

In Cassia's society, Officials decide who people love. How many children they have. Where they work. When they die.
But, as Cassia finds herself falling in love with a boy who isn't her match, she is determined to make some choices of her own. And that's when her whole world begins to unravel...


Read to complete the prompt: read a book that starts with an 'M'

Okay so as the world is crashing and burning around us, my brain automatically turns to dystopian romances as a way to deal with it all. Trust me, I don't understand it either. 

This book came out a long time ago. I was thinking about this earlier, but it has only just occurred to me that when this book came out my brother wasn't even in nursery yet and now he is almost in his second year high school so...wow. There's late to the party and then there's whatever I am with this book. This might have worked in my favour, because it meant I wasn't still caught up in the dystopia craze of the early 2010's. Nowadays I only read one dystopian series a year, so whenever I do read a new dystopia novel it feels a little more unique, but I can definitely see why people think this novel is just a rehash of some other books (I've included a list of the books it reminded me of at the end of this review).

First of all, the characters in this story all felt so 3D and multi-layered that it was kind of surprising to me. You could definitely see that Ally Condie had spent a portion of time developing each character, giving them hidden complexities that we slowly get shown throughout the novel. In the case of personalities, Condie utilises the phrase 'show not tell' which makes the story more captivating. I have read a couple of reviews since finishing the book and I saw that most people hated the characters (found them annoying, one-dimensional etc...) but I really loved them. If I were to be perfectly honest I enjoyed reading about the secondary characters more than Cassia and Ky, purely because they had a little more depth to them. However, this cast of characters was one of the more well developed ones that I've seen in a 2010 dystopian book and I genuinely loved them all.

Next, the love triangle! A lot of people hate love triangles but honestly I'm not mad about them, and this one was really great. It reminded me a lot of the love triangle in the Infernal Devices series, especially because I wanted Cassia to end up with both of the love interests and if it had gone either way I would have been happy.  It is very clear who she is going to end up with (we don't need three books to figure that out) but there was a sense of competition between the main love interests that still kept the triangle alive. I would like to say if you don't love triangles don't read this book. Although there is the beginnings of a subplot of anarchy and taking down society (!) this book heavily focuses on the relationships shared between Cassia, Ky and Xander.

Admittedly, the writing style was quite basic and the plot did seem to jump around a little, but it honestly didn't bother me at all. Much in the same way that the Selection series is a fun story, this has the 'fluffy writing with a little bit of drama to keep you gripped' structure. The focus was placed on the romance, with action happening around it that hardly affects the main character's desire to end up with the boy she loves, giving it high-stake Bachelor vibes. As result, the descriptions of the place they live and the activities they are partake in is basic, giving you the bare bones of what you need to be able to place yourself in the story. 

If you like character driven stories then this book will be for you. Not a lot happens throughout the book, but we spend so much time learning about Cassia and her world that it kept me hooked. The story was entertaining and despite the fact that many people seem to hate this book (seriously, have a look at the Goodreads page) I had a fun time and am looking forward to carrying on with the series.

Bonus section of books this one reminded me of:

- The Giver
- The Selection
- Wither
- Legend
- Delirium
- Uglies