Matched by Ally Condie (CBR-III #46)

Cannonball Read III: Book #46/52
Published: 2010
Pages: 384 (18,389 total pages so far)
Genre: Young Adult/Dystopian

Cassia lives in a future society where the government makes all your decision for you - what you eat, what you wear, your job assignment, and your match. Teenagers can choose to get "matched" when they turn 17 (or choose to be a "single"). Those who choose to be matched have a matching ceremony where they are shown who they will be matched to. Normally they are matched with someone from another province, but somehow Cassia ends up matched with her best friend Xander. Things start to fall apart when she loads her microchip card with her match's information and she sees another person on it besides Xander - Ky Markham, a strange, quiet boy who is also from Cassia's neighborhood.

I was kind of disappointed in this book. While the premise was intriguing, the book was somewhat boring. Nothing really happens besides Cassia whining about whether she is in love with Xander or Ky. The whole Ky thing was really out of nowhere too. She sees his face on her match card and all of sudden they're in love? They used to swim together when they were kids, but other than that they didn't really know each other. They start talking when they both join the same summer leisure activity (hiking), but it seems so forced. She's already halfway in love with him before they even speak.

It wasn't even so much a love triangle at all. Cassia decides she's in love with Ky, even though she is matched to Xander. Poor Xander is in the friend zone and can't really do much about it. While I think it's very logical that a teenager girl might fall in love with someone other than who the government matches her with, I just think they could have found something a little more convincing. It probably would have made MORE sense if Cassia was originally matched with Ky, but was in love with her best friend Xander (but then she started falling for Ky). Why am I trying to make sense out of a YA love triangle again?

Anyways, I was looking for a little less teenage angst and a little more action. I'm still debating if I want to read the sequel. It's supposed to be a trilogy, but the third book hasn't been released yet. The end did sound sort of promising that the second book might have a little more action.