But when Cassia slides Xander's microcard into her port to learn his data (a system designed for the more typical Match to a stranger), Xander's face on the portscreen dissolves-and another face appears. In a tranquil future with clean streets and no illness, Cassia excitedly anticipates learning who will be her government-dictated marriage Match. Condie's dystopian setting is vivid and her story is thought-provoking. When Cassia is unexpectedly "matched" with two of her (male) friends, she struggles between a safe, predictable Society life with Xander and the unknown world of passions, choices, and possibly danger in the Outer Provinces with Ky. The Society has calculated every aspect of existence-meals, jobs, family, life span, marriage-for its citizens.
However, the author just as easily tears this world apart while deftly exploring the individual cost of societal perfection and the sacrifices inherent in freedom of choice. Some readers might find the Society to be a close cousin of Lois Lowry's dystopian future in The Giver (1993), with carefully chosen work placements, constant monitoring, and pills for regulating emotional extremes. How could she love him as much as Xander, her match and best friend since childhood? The stunning clarity and attention to detail in Condie's Big Brother–like world is a feat. What's worse, she knows him-his name is Ky, and he is an orphan from the Outer Provinces. Not only does she now possess an illegal poem, but she also has a lingering interest in the boy who fleetingly appeared on her viewscreen, the one who wasn't her match, the man she will eventually marry. "Do not go gentle into that good night." Cassia's feelings of security disintegrate after her grandfather hands her a slip of paper just before his scheduled death at age 80. Look for CROSSED, the sequel to MATCHED, in Fall 2011! But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow. The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate. ( Baker & Taylor)Ĭassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her, so when Xander appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows he is her ideal mate-until Ky Markham's face appears for an instant before the screen fades to black.