Matched by Ally Condie

As some of you know I attended the Launch Party for this book earlier this month. And if you check out my earlier posting or my Youtube site you can see a video of Ally introducing the book and characters.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsjjDjKOq_w  So now I have finally finished reading this book and can give an honest opinion about it. I heard at the party that Disney had already bought the rights for this trilogy so the hype around this book has been huge.
If you have not heard of this book: it is a dystopian novel in which The Society runs things. You work for them, you eat what and when they tell you, you play only when and what they want etc. We see a society in which you are not given any choices,this particular book focuses on the Marriage arraignments of the society, how your matched, to whom etc.
My opinion: The world that Ally has come up with here is very unique and interesting. At the least,  it is worth the read just to imagine what it would be like to live in this kind of world. I found the characters smart and likable. The things that I did not like about the book was the monotone feel I get from it. BUT I think it was meant to be written this way. For example the people are not allowed to run, shout, be overexcited, it's against the law. So whenever something happened that normally you'd see some acting out on, you do not get that from this story. You see the characters acting the way they always should and just say "ok I will not run." even when you want them to really badly. Even when a character "acts out" it's not even that exciting or shocking.
This story is focused on love. Cassia loves Xander but when the possibility comes up that the Society thinks Ky is her match as well. She becomes tortured on who she should be with. When I think that the choice is clear (Team Xander ;) ) So you will find that 80% of the novel is just about Cassia (ka-sha) going back and forth between who she should be married to. When really she doesn't get the choice, because the society decides everything. But as this is a trilogy there will be more to find out in coming months on who she actually ends up marrying. (or not)
And on a further note. I also checked out the audiobook and wanted to give a heads up. Although the narrator has a beautiful voice, she talks really slow and soft. But the upside of it was, it was better than taking a sleeping pill, because I was out in 10 minutes. Check out a clip at Audible.com if you want to see what I'm talking about. http://www.audible.com/search/ref=sr_lftbox_1_1

Comments

  1. Anonymous12/17/2010

    I think I am gonna leave this one on my shelf for a few months until the hype cools down a bit. I think it can spoil the enjoyment of books sometimes. Like the whole Twilight craze has caused lots of people not to like the books now (I still love them though!).

    Awesome review K =D

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