Matched – Ally Condie

Unlike the heroine of my last post, Cassia is a lovely girl who is popular and has always followed the rules. And the rules in Cassia's world are strict. She lives on a future earth that has reinvented itself. There was far too much information in the world so now all they have is the 100 stories, top 100 paintings, 100 poems, and 100 songs. Everything else has been erased from the human record, gone forever. This was based on the premise 'how can we anything fully, if we are overwhelmed with too much'. Life is regimented. There is allocated time for work, for school, for recreation and sleep. A time for getting married and having children (though people can choose to be 'a Single'), and a time to die (when you are 80). Food is allocated that contains the right amount of nutrients and calories per person and is delivered to homes at specified times. It is all controlled by the Society.
Cassia has waited for her Matching Day her whole life.  When she is 17 she attends a banquet and is presented with her Match that has been determined by the Society and takes into account genetics, character and interests. Cassia is surprised to find that her match is her best friend. Xander. They are excited. However when she opens an electronic document about her match another face flashes up as her match, someone she also knows. However, just as if it is a glitch in the system the face disappears and is replaced by Xander. However now Cassia cannot get this other face out of her thoughts and then finds herself drawn to the owner – Ky. However Ky can never be matched as he is an Aberation, someone who has caused an infraction against the Society. This is the start of where Cassia starts to question all that she has been lead to believe by the Society, especially when she discovers at her grandfather's Final Banquet where he will die, that he has hidden a poem other than the 100 poems.
An absolutely riveting book. I was fascinated by the futuristic Earth that Condie has invented and each chapter unveiled new ways that the Society regimented life. A love triangle always makes for a good plot line, one that I have found in a lot of the teen fiction I have been reading. Cassia finds herself stuck between her best friend who is her Match and the boy she loves but can never marry. Finally Cassia must make a decision that will effect her life and all those in it.
9/10